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Explainers, essays and interactive guides, newest first. Every claim is referenced, and each post says when the evidence is thin.
Elsewhere on the site
- When the trip doesn't end
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder from the neurons up: why edges go fuzzy, how common HPPD really is, who's at risk, what helps, and what the psychedelic trials are finding. Psychedelic medicine, Mind & perception, Psychopharmacology
- Ten signposts out of the woods
Ten playful meditations I've taught for a decade, reread as a psychiatrist: the stories, what the research says about each one, and a way to try every practice on the page. Mind & perception, Therapy, Meditation & mindfulness
- The hidden therapist
Music is the one thing we deliberately put inside a psychedelic session. How a sound wave becomes a feeling, what psychedelics change along the way, and why the playlist may matter more than we admit. Psychedelic medicine, Mind & perception, Therapy, Music
- The life of an adverse event
How a participant's words become a code, a table in a package insert and, years later, a label change, and why session-based treatments and psychedelics strain the system. Psychopharmacology, Psychedelic medicine, How research works
- Meditation, deconstructed
A field guide to training attention: what meditation is, what it changes, what the trials actually show, how to begin today, and where the mystery still lives. Mind & perception, Therapy, Meditation & mindfulness
- How much of the change is the molecule?
Psychedelics clearly do something. What is doing the work: the drug, the person beside you, or something neither fully owns? Adapted from my talk at Utah Fungi Fest 2026. Psychedelic medicine, Therapy, How research works
- Heart Risk Navigator
What your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers mean for your heart: a calm, visual guide and 10-year risk calculator built on the AHA PREVENT equations. Body & health
- The orexin frontier
Orexin is the brain's switch for staying awake. The biology, the sleep drugs that block it, and the new orexin-2 agonists learning to turn it up. Psychopharmacology, Mind & perception, Sleep
- The reuptake era
How blocking the pumps that clear serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine built modern psychiatry, from Prozac to centanafadine, the first triple reuptake inhibitor. Psychopharmacology, Depression & mood, ADHD & attention
- One size fits few
Precision psychiatry: where it stands, how far it has come and where it goes next, with a plain-language guide to pharmacogenomic (PGx) test reports. Psychopharmacology, Mind & perception, Depression & mood, How research works
- The doubting disease
What OCD is, where it comes from, how it's measured, why it travels with anorexia, and how exposure therapy works, with a guided practice you can try. Anxiety & OCD, Food & eating, Therapy
- Gluten is (usually) not the enemy
Celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, fructans and the nocebo effect, and why a gluten-free diet matters so much in eating disorders. Food & eating, Mind & perception
- No one chooses this
For families: what eating disorders are, where they come from, what starvation does to the brain, what treatment works, and what to say and do. Food & eating, Therapy, For families
- The worry engine
Generalized anxiety disorder up close, the rest of the DSM anxiety family, a validated self-check for each, an interactive anxiety map, and the MM120 (LSD) trials. Anxiety & OCD, Psychedelic medicine, Therapy
- The warning in the box
Why some psychiatric medicines carry a suicide warning, which ones do and don't, what twenty years of science shows, and how to stay safe when treatment starts. Suicide prevention, Psychopharmacology, ADHD & attention, Depression & mood, How research works
- New ADHD medications since 2021
Every ADHD approval since 2021: the new molecules (Simtriyo, Azstarys, Qelbree), the new forms (Onyda XR and others), what they cost, and four FDA labels to explore. ADHD & attention, Psychopharmacology
- The committee inside
Internal Family Systems: parts, the 8 C's of Self, what the evidence says, and free tools to map your parts and check your Self-energy. Therapy, PTSD & trauma
- The gentlest experiment
Hakomi: mindfulness, the body and loving presence, with guided explorations and an honest look at the research. Therapy, PTSD & trauma, Meditation & mindfulness
- Feelings are data
An emotion primer through Emotion-Focused Therapy: what feelings are for, the layers underneath, the research, and self-checks for your emotional style. Therapy
- What lies underneath
How science understands suicidal pain: the leading theories, from Joiner's interpersonal theory to the three-step model, and the neurobiology underneath. Suicide prevention, Depression & mood
- A plan for the hardest hour
Safety planning: what the evidence says, how to make a plan, and a free tool to build yours, save it as a PDF or text it to someone you trust. Suicide prevention, For families
- Not evenly shared
Who suicide touches most, by age, place, condition and community; why LGBTQ+ people carry higher risk; and what protects. Suicide prevention
- Keeping people safe
What prevents suicide, how to check in on someone, the honest science on SSRIs, and what each of us can do. Suicide prevention, Depression & mood, For families
- Ketamine and the suicidal crisis
What we know and what we don't, plus a white paper (PDF) that separates rapid relief of suicidal thinking from the unanswered question of prevention. Psychedelic medicine, Depression & mood, Suicide prevention
- The Gray Vial Years
How injecting a peptide bought online became normal, and the three earlier times America medicated its waistline. Little Chapters, no. 1. Food & eating
- Sweet Nothings
Artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, rare sugars and food dyes, every claim graded, with a calculator for your own intake. Food & eating
- Why does that chord feel sad?
An interactive lab on music and emotion: play chords, morph a major third into a minor one, tour the seven modes, and see what your brain does with them. Mind & perception, Music, Creative code
- The Impossible Country
A century of strange science in the Himalayas: yetis, inner fire and levitating lamas, with a verdict on what is real, unknown or disproven. Body & health
- MDMA, measured
An evidence-graded harm-reduction reference: history, chemistry, an interactive dose curve with boosters, side effects by dose, and what supplements actually do. Psychedelic medicine, Psychopharmacology, PTSD & trauma
- Caffeine, America's favorite psychotropic
A personal caffeine dashboard: your dose, your curve, your sleep window, your dependence profile, and a taper plan if you want one. Psychopharmacology, Body & health, Sleep
- Food Noise
The thoughts about food you didn't ask for: what they are, why some brains make more of them, how to measure yours, and what turns them down. Food & eating
- Pattern: a field guide to the diet wars
An evidence scoreboard for dietary patterns, a confidence-versus-impact food guide, Mediterranean meal plans, and a graveyard of fads. Food & eating
- Sugar & Shadow: the placebo effect
Not sugar, sugar pills. Placebo, its twin nocebo, and why expectation is a real, measurable force in every clinical trial. Psychopharmacology, Mind & perception, How research works
- How therapy works
Your brain doesn't perceive the world; it predicts it. An evidence-graded guide to the predictive brain and why talking with someone changes it. Therapy, Depression & mood, Anxiety & OCD
- Seeing Things
Why a psilocybin session, a sleepless night and a failing retina all produce the same images, and what that tells us about how every brain builds the world. Mind & perception, Psychedelic medicine, Sleep
- Your attention isn't broken
It's exhausted, and it can be trained. What changed, what it costs and how to get your focus back, with a switch-cost demo and a do-nothing timer. ADHD & attention, Mind & perception, Meditation & mindfulness
- Serotonin & serotonin syndrome
What serotonin is, what serotonin syndrome actually is, how to recognize it (Hunter criteria), which drug combinations matter, and what to do. Psychopharmacology, Depression & mood
- The Lifespan Atlas
You don't age all at once. An atlas of aging, fitness and healthspan, organ by organ and decade by decade. Body & health
- Burn Clock
An evidence-based sun dosimeter: how long your skin can take today's sun, and what UV actually does once it gets in. Body & health
- 4-OH-DiPT: a research report
The shortest-acting oral psychedelic Shulgin ever described, now a prodrug in three Phase 2 trials. Psychedelic medicine, Anxiety & OCD
- 5-MeO-DMT: a research report
The largest reported effect size in the field, from the shortest session, and an indigenous tradition that appears to have been invented in 1984. Psychedelic medicine, Depression & mood
- MDMA: a research report
Two positive Phase 3 trials, a 10 to 1 advisory vote against, and the rejection that reshaped a field. Psychedelic medicine, PTSD & trauma
- LSD: a research report
A circulatory stimulant that failed, became a counterculture, and is now in Phase 3 for generalized anxiety. Psychedelic medicine, Anxiety & OCD
- Psilocybin and psilocin: a research report
Two completed Phase 3 trials, an NDA in preparation, and an effect size worth arguing about. Psychedelic medicine, Depression & mood
- Methylone: a research report
Thirty years from a Shulgin patent to a Phase 3 PTSD candidate, by way of a smoke-shop shelf. Psychedelic medicine, PTSD & trauma
- VO2maxmaxxing
The fitness number that predicts the most, how it falls with age and how to train it, with a fitness-age calculator and a 12-week plan. Body & health
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Keeping people safe
What prevents suicide, what lies underneath it, who carries the most risk, what the medicine warnings really mean, and a plan you can make in fifteen minutes.
- Keeping people safeWhat prevents suicide, how to check in on someone, the honest science on SSRIs, and what each of us can do.
- A plan for the hardest hourSafety planning: what the evidence says, how to make a plan, and a free tool to build yours, save it as a PDF or text it to someone you trust.
- What lies underneathHow science understands suicidal pain: the leading theories, from Joiner's interpersonal theory to the three-step model, and the neurobiology underneath.
- Not evenly sharedWho suicide touches most, by age, place, condition and community; why LGBTQ+ people carry higher risk; and what protects.
- The warning in the boxWhy some psychiatric medicines carry a suicide warning, which ones do and don't, what twenty years of science shows, and how to stay safe when treatment starts.
- Ketamine and the suicidal crisisWhat we know and what we don't, plus a white paper (PDF) that separates rapid relief of suicidal thinking from the unanswered question of prevention.
If you or someone you love is struggling right now, call or text 988 (US) or text HOME to 741741. Everything on this topic.
Research reports
Long, sourced reports on the compounds in clinical development: where each came from, how it works, what the trials show, and what is still unknown.
- Psilocybin and psilocin: a research reportTwo completed Phase 3 trials, an NDA in preparation, and an effect size worth arguing about.
- LSD: a research reportA circulatory stimulant that failed, became a counterculture, and is now in Phase 3 for generalized anxiety.
- MDMA: a research reportTwo positive Phase 3 trials, a 10 to 1 advisory vote against, and the rejection that reshaped a field.
- 5-MeO-DMT: a research reportThe largest reported effect size in the field, from the shortest session, and an indigenous tradition that appears to have been invented in 1984.
- 4-OH-DiPT: a research reportThe shortest-acting oral psychedelic Shulgin ever described, now a prodrug in three Phase 2 trials.
- Methylone: a research reportThirty years from a Shulgin patent to a Phase 3 PTSD candidate, by way of a smoke-shop shelf.
Reference sites
- White papers Long, fully referenced briefings, one clinical question at a time.
- The psychiatry wiki A field guide to psychiatry from the ground up: conditions, pharmacology, rating scales, a mechanism lab and the receptor “bloom” drawings.
- NooGrade Nootropics graded on the evidence.
- Cannabinoid Dose Lab Finding the lowest dose that works, and why it varies.
- ED Currents Eating-disorder science, with Anya Ragnhildstveit.
- Psychedelic Therapy Frontiers The podcast, 220+ episodes with Dr. Steve Thayer.