The article argues that the humanities and social sciences are essential for understanding psychedelic experiences, because these experiences are shaped by context, culture, and personal history—factors often overlooked by biomedical research. It introduces the concept of "anthropotechnics" to analyze how cultural practices and settings influence the outcomes of psychedelic use. The authors contend that integrating humanistic perspectives can provide a more complete picture of how set and setting affect psychedelic experiences, moving beyond purely neurobiological explanations.
This article argues that future research on psychedelics and sexuality must account for sexuality as culturally produced, historically contingent, and geographically specific. Drawing on three recent studies showing a positive connection between psychedelic use and sexual well-being, the authors contend that ignoring social and cultural contexts undermines reliability and efficacy. The psychedelics field has faced ethical dilemmas regarding sexual interactions in therapeutic and underground settings, yet clinical research rarely reports on sexuality. Gendered dynamics of sex and sexuality, and their impact on perceptions of therapeutic repair versus enhancement, have received scant attention. The article outlines key concerns and priorities for research in a post-#MeToo era.
Psychedelic substances have shifted in public consciousness over the last 15 years, yet influential first-person narratives of psychonauts and 'scientist-shamans' have largely excluded women's experiences and voices. Psychedelic feminism has emerged to signify how consciousness expansion might rejuvenate feminism's collective imagination and undo the historical silencing of women in psychedelic culture and research. Drawing on Mark Fisher's acid communism, feminist psychedelic humanities, narcofeminism, and autobiographical life-writing by women on experimental psychedelic substance use, this article investigates the promise of acid feminism for the wider narcofeminist movement and its implications for undoing key precepts endemic in psychedelic culture and research.