Dr. K breaks down how psychedelics actually work not from hype or hearsay, but through neuroscience, psychiatry, and lived experience. He explains that psychedelics don’t “heal” you by themselves; they temporarily put the brain into edit mode, a state of heightened neuroplasticity where your thoughts, emotions, and physiology can be rewritten for better or worse. Through a detailed look at serotonin receptors, brain connectivity, and decades of clinical research, Dr. K shows how substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, and MDMA can rewire the brain and why they can just as easily cause harm if used without structure, safety, or integration. The episode also explores why guided psychedelic therapy — in a clinical or spiritual context — can lead to long-term healing, while unsupervised trips can lock trauma in even deeper. Dr. K ties it all together by connecting ego death to meditation and Vedic philosophy, revealing how both psychedelics and deep meditative practice dissolve the sense of self — and why that dissolution is often the real mechanism of healing. Topics include: The serotonin 2A receptor and why psychedelics increase neuroplasticity and neurogenesis How “edit mode” rewires your brain and how it can backfire Why integration therapy is critical after a psychedelic experience Set and setting: the real difference between healing and harm Which psychedelics work best for depression, PTSD, and addiction Why microdosing feels good but may not create long-term change The role of ego death and why it mirrors advanced meditation experiences Psychedelics vs. antidepressants - what the data actually says about efficacy and risk This episode is a deep dive into the science, safety, and spirituality of psychedelics offering clarity in a space often clouded by hype, myth, and misinformation. HG Coaching : https://bit.ly/46bIkdo Dr. K's Guide to Mental Health: https://bit.ly/44z3Szt HG Memberships : https://bit.ly/3TNoMVf Products & Services : https://bit.ly/44kz7x0 HealthyGamer.GG: https://bit.ly/3ZOopgQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Hey y'all, if you're interested in applying some of the principles that we share to actually create change in your life, check out Dr. K's guide to mental health.
And so we start by understanding what literally is meditation. How does experience shape us as human beings? How do we strengthen the mind itself as an organ? And so by understanding our mind, we understand a very, very simple tool, a crucial tool that we have to learn how to use if we want to build the life that we want to.
So check out the link in the bio and start your journey today. Hey chat, welcome to the Healthy Gamer GG podcast. I'm Dr. Alok Kanuja, but you can call me Dr. K. I'm a psychiatrist, gamer, and co-founder of Healthy Gamer. On this podcast, we explore mental health and life in the digital age, breaking down big ideas to help you better understand yourself and the world around you.
So let's dive right in. Hello, Internet. Today we are going to talk about the most important things you need to know about psychedelics. Just as a quick background, my name is Dr. Alok Kanogia. I spent seven years studying to become a monk where I did weird esoteric spiritual practices in places like the Himalayas.
And then I went and became a psychiatrist, trained at Harvard Medical School where I served on the faculty for a couple of years. And today I'm going to explain to you all what I think you need to know about psychedelics. So everyone's super excited about psychedelics.
There are studies that show that in treatment-resistant depression and PTSD and even addictions, psychedelics have therapeutic potential. But more than that, there are Netflix series about psychedelics. And all of the podcast bros are talking about psychedelics. And everyone in Silicon Valley is using psychedelics. And everyone is having transformative and healing experiences.
So that means that everyone should be doing them, right? Not exactly. So when I hear people talk about the excitement of it, what I oftentimes find is that there is a very, there's just a huge lack of sophistication about understanding how psychedelics work and like really what they do. So just to give you all a couple of examples.
So as a medical doctor, you know, if you ask me, hey, does this treatment work? There are all kinds of questions we ask, like what is the dose? which psychedelic are we talking about? Are all the psychedelics the same? Do different doses of different psychedelics produce different effects? Which ones are effective for addictions? Which ones are effective for trauma? How effective are they?
How long does the efficacy last? If I use psilocybin, does it help me for a year? Does it cure me for life? Does it help me for a day? What about microdosing? So there's a bunch of details around psychedelics that which people don't usually talk about. But if you want to make an informed decision, you need to understand all of those things. So this is how I think about them as a psychiatrist.
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