E176 | LSD, Narcissism & the Science of the Self (w/ Dr. Anjali Bhat)
episode
The Thinking Mind: Mental Health & Personal Growth
1h 18m
1 speaker
7 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the high‑dose LSD brain‑scanner study and why is it important?
What we're doing is giving people high doses of LSD and putting them in a high resolution brain scanner and mapping their subjective experience over time. There's something about the intensity of the psychedelic experience and all of this evidence that we're having about a very different way of treating mental illness that is forcing us to question assumptions, particularly around the separation of the mind and the body. To put it very simply, I would say that we connect with each other by feeling together. People first kind of discovering the concept of narcissism. One of these ways in which the word is used, I think incorrectly, is just to simply mean someone who loves themselves. Actually underpinning all of it is actually quite a profound self-loathing or self-abandonment.
Today, I'm so happy to be speaking with Dr. Anjali Bhatt. Dr. Bhatt, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for having me. I can see that you're involved in a lot of things. It kind of reminds me of the way I went about my career, for better or for worse. You're a neuroscientist, therapist, writer. One thing I noticed on your website, you mentioned that you're drawn to uncertainty when it comes to human interactions. And I'd love to know a bit more about what intrigues you about that.
Yeah, I think it's the one area that I could find that really connected all of these different areas that I've explored in my life and my career. I think fundamentally what draws my attention naturally is the way that human beings communicate. and the ways that there are things that are unsaid or things that we don't manage to communicate with each other, the conversation under the conversation, if you like. I feel like my eyes are trained on that underlying conversation. I think that's fascinating, both in a psychological, experimental kind of domain, but also in art. So I would say that that's the level on which I meant it, but I think it goes a lot deeper than that as well. Yeah. Do you think that's the cause of a lot of human suffering, this misunderstanding each other? Definitely, yes. I definitely think that if we knew how, not just to communicate better, because I think that that could be understood a little too superficially, but I think if we really learn to see and understand each other, I think that the world would be a lot easier, a lot more peaceful. I guess what I'm thinking of as well is,
Maybe when people think about communication problems, they think, I know what I want to say. Could I communicate it better? But I also think at the deepest level, communication problems can arise when people aren't self-aware. They themselves aren't quite sure what they want to communicate because they don't understand themselves well enough.
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think sometimes there are situations where we might be using strategies that we've learned. We might use I statements and use all the right terminology, but something is not quite happening there. And I think the piece that is sometimes missing is fundamentally empathy, like actually being able to put ourselves in each other's shoes. and feel what it's like. But on the converse, on the happier side of that coin, one of the things that I've found really useful to observe and to realize as a therapist is that on the deepest level, there's so many different types of clients that I've been exposed to now, so many different types of people I've had the fortune of meeting in my life. And
On the deepest level, I really do believe that the language of emotion is a universal one. And that if we can actually reach that, which I think it takes self-awareness to reach, we can connect with almost anyone. Perhaps I'm an optimist. So saying that we all have a universal emotional life. And if we can just understand that about each other, it opens up an avenue for empathy, which would otherwise be difficult.
Yeah, to put it very simply, I would say that we connect with each other by feeling together. That's interesting. And maybe too often we communicate more through intellectual means. I'm thinking especially online.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the high‑dose LSD brain‑scanner study and why is it important?
0:00–10:09
2
How does the guest define narcissism beyond simple self‑love?
10:09–20:46
3
Why does communication breakdown cause suffering, and how can empathy help?
20:46–34:23
4
What is predictive processing and how does it explain perception?
34:23–48:09
5
How do psychedelics change brain connectivity and the default mode network?
48:09–1:01:31
6
What are the promises and limits of psychedelic‑assisted therapy?
1:01:31–1:15:44
7
How can we recognize healthy versus unhealthy narcissism and improve self‑regard?
1:15:44–1:18:40
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Thinking Mind: Mental Health & Personal Growth
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