Grief is a universal reality; how we handle grief is not.

While grief is something we will all experience at some point in life, there are so many different ways that individuals deal with it. Family history, spiritual beliefs, and cultural norms can all influence the way that somebody responds to grief, making it a complex topic without one sole answer.

Psychedelics have long been used for healing and incorporated spiritual ceremonies. If mind-altering substances have the power to elicit emotional healing, does that mean they can also help with grief?

Grief is a complex emotion that can impact the body in various ways. Did you know that experiencing grief for long periods of time can actually rewire your brain? 

Lisa M. Shulman is a neurologist who has examined the evolutionary processes that resulted in our contemporary responses to grief. In response to emotional trauma, our bodies have adapted and our neurological responses to trauma are different from that of humans centuries ago.

Grief can be complicated. A messy divorce, the sudden death of a loved one, or receiving a serious health diagnosis can all have many different emotional layers. However, at the center of grief is one thing: survival.

When the body is grieving, it strips its processes back to the basics of fight or flight. When an individual is experiencing grief, their memory, sleep, and biological processes can all be impacted. However, the effects don’t just stop there. If you’ve ever experienced brain fog while grieving, then you’ve most likely encountered the cognitive effects that result from your brain simply trying to survive.

Individuals who experience grief for long periods of time can often “push through” the effects and continue about their daily lives. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more complicated processes occurring in the brain. Grief can sometimes be ignored on a surface level, but the body remembers trauma.

It’s no secret that brain science is important, but there’s one fundamental thing to understand: when neurons fire repeatedly over a long period of time, those pathways become strengthened. So how does that transfer to grief?

When an individual’s brain becomes accustomed to grief, they can experience long-term cognitive effects such as difficulty making decisions, using language effectively, and being able to pay attention. It can be easy to dismiss these symptoms and attribute them to stress at work or aging, but many of us don’t stop to consider that grief may be the cause.

Psychedelics have been used for centuries, but there is still so much more that needs to be learned about them. In recent years, scientists have made profound discoveries about the many different applications of psychedelics, but could healing grief be one of them?

Healing grief is complicated because everyone has different coping skills and there are a variety of methods currently recognized by the psychology field that help individuals overcome trauma.

While there is still much research to be done in the areas of grief and psychedelics, there have been some studies that suggest a few different applications.

Recent research has found that ayahuasca paired with the practice of Restorative Retelling can be incredibly helpful when finding meaning in past difficulties. Restorative Retelling is a method that empowers individuals to make sense of previous experiences and adjust their present perspective in a way that serves them. 

The combination of Restorative Retelling and ayahuasca has direct implications for working through grief due to the loss of a loved one. Especially when there is a significant amount of trauma surrounding the loss, individuals can utilize the powers of psychedelics to find a way to continue forward and remember their loved ones without the immense pain that’s associated with their loss. 

While psychedelics cannot bring a loved one back and individuals may always have grief surrounding the loss, mind-altering substances can help individuals cope in a holistic way.

Psychedelics are a topic that’s being reframed within our society, but grief is also undergoing the same process within psychological circles.

Previously, grief was thought to have finite steps that were mostly focused on the individual dying. This structure is being rethought, as it fails to account for the individuals that are left once their loved one passes.

David Kessler has played an important role in this shift, as he introduced the idea of the sixth stage of grief: one that focuses on finding meaning in grief and working through challenging emotions in order to reframe perspectives. He believes that grief can work as a catalyst to help individuals grow and become better than they were previously.

This viewpoint from Kessler is definitely interesting, but where do psychedelics fit in?

Psychedelics can help individuals explore their consciousness and thoughts in ways that they would not be able to otherwise. By intentionally utilizing psychedelics to explore someone’s feelings around grief, the traumatic situation grief arose from, and where their lives are in the present, immense growth can occur.

While this may seem very theoretical, there is science to back up this idea. Psychedelics have a unique power within the brain to help reshape pathways and reframe past memories in a different light. Psychedelic therapies can help individuals not only accept past situations and work through them but teach their brains new ways in which to view the situation and respond to it.

Remember how we previously talked about the brain-building pathways? This is where the connection between grief and psychedelics can be made.

Individuals who are deep in grief often feel hopeless and lost. Psychedelic therapies can provide hope and a path forward. By working with a practitioner who has a deep understanding of not only psychedelics but also trauma, individuals can gain a new perspective and experience growth they never previously thought possible.

By taking psychedelics, individuals can confront emotions that they wouldn’t have sober and work through them in ways more powerful than they’ve ever experienced. Psychedelics can help individuals not only accept their feelings and stop pushing against them but overcome them and find empowerment in that.