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Just imagine for a moment that everything you’ve built your professional life on—everything that has motivated you, inspired you, defined you—begins to feel irrelevant. It’s as if you no longer fit in with who you wanted to be in the world.
Maybe we don’t have to imagine. You don’t have to. After 20 years of her covering news with a capital N, I found myself craving a different kind of inner exploration. It’s about the human condition, and that’s what this series is all about.
The same thing happened with Dr. Roland Griffiths. Today, he is known as the scientist who proved that psychedelics, especially a drug called psilocybin, can reduce depression and emotional distress in cancer patients and those facing terminal illness. Prior to that, his professional focus was on the risks of mood-altering drugs, including various sleeping pills.
But after embarking on a personal meditation practice, Griffith began asking a different question—a question that felt out of place in the scientific world. Is there a god? Such a question. do we have souls? And is it not possible to use the mind to somehow alleviate physical suffering?
Working with a group of researchers and enthusiasts, he began developing a series of experiments to test the medical value of psychedelics.
Griffith told me the results were astonishing. Not only did the drug reduce anxiety and depression in patients, it also provided a spiritual experience for some patients.
Now Griffith sees all this from the other side. Diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in early 2022. Doctors believe he has only a few months left to live. I had a wonderful conversation with this world-famous scientist and healer about how he perceives his own mortality and the mystery of what happens next. did
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Rachel Martin: You started a lot of research with psilocybin. Could you please explain what that means?
Roland Griffith: A classic psychedelic. It is derived from psilocybin-containing mushrooms and has been used for hundreds and thousands of years with indigenous cultures for ritual healing and sacramental religious experiences. It works fairly quickly and doesn’t last as long as LSD or mescaline, so it’s easier to handle.
Martin: Do you use the expression “travel”?
Griffith: No, I avoid it because it just contains all the 1960s luggage.
Martin: You were explicitly performing these trials on cancer patients to see how psilocybin would affect them.
Griffith: This was the first therapeutic trial we conducted with psychedelics at Johns Hopkins University. I remember being very cautious about how this kind of experience would affect someone facing the gravest possible survival threat.
After all, the effect was amazing. People in this cohort who met criteria for clinical depression or anxiety experienced significant, immediate, and significant and permanent anxiety and depression after a single dose of psilocybin under conditions we support. decreased significantly. That was the most important feature. We followed the people for 6 months and their symptoms remained very low.
Martin: What did they tell you about how they lost their sense of fear and anxiety?
Griffith: I remember a man I hesitate to give this example, but I will. He came to believe in the reality of God. But what is very interesting is that this changed his entire frame of reference.
It wasn’t filled with spiritual words like “God will save me.” No, it was an acceptance of his condition, a reassurance that all was well and all was as it should be for those he loved most, and they felt lifted by it.
Martin: I would like to ask, why did you hesitate to share that example?
Griffith: God’s language.
Martin: We are all limited in some way by our language, right? Perhaps some people use the word God because they do not know what other words can describe these thoughts and experiences.
Griffith: I think that’s exactly right. We live in the midst of this amazing mystery. And there is no consistent scientific explanation for what is happening. Our best understanding of the experience of perception is that we are aware of what we are aware of. That we have an interiority and that only we, as individuals, can affirm it.
Martin: You find yourself on the other side of this whole, as one pondering these existential questions with renewed urgency. When were you diagnosed with cancer?
Griffith: In early 2022, thinking I was perfectly healthy, I had a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. And, improbable as it may seem, it became a call to celebration. My wife and I had such a condition despite multiple surgeries and chemotherapy.
Martin: Do you plan to take psilocybin someday?
Griffith: No, at first I didn’t want to touch anything psychedelic. It was because I was afraid that my condition would change.
Martin: You didn’t want to interfere with this mental clarity you had.
Griffith: yes. right. That led me to wonder if I was protecting myself from something or hiding something as the reason for my refusal to take psychedelic drugs. There’s a skeleton in my closet and I’m just saying it’s fun, everything is beautiful.
So I decided, “Okay, let’s take a sip of psychedelic drugs.” I took LSD.
Martin: how was it?
Griffith: wonderful. I have treated cancers as other, but in general I don’t think it is wise to embody what is in the mind as something other than the object of the mind. But in this case, I mentioned cancer itself and said, “Okay, what’s going on here?”
Gunn didn’t answer. Then I entered the conversation and said: “You know, I’ve considered you a blessing. I actually really admire everything that’s happened to me since this diagnosis. I really appreciate the diagnosis, but I must I kill?” “
Martin: Wow. Did you have an answer for that?
Griffith: Yes, the answer was, “Yes, you are going to die, but this is a given. There is a deeper meaning. A deeper purpose. And you should continue what you are doing.” is.”
I felt it implied that I should be more vocal about what I was going through. So here’s what I want to say. So I asked, “Would you mind giving me more time?”
Martin: I’m glad you went to follow up.
Griffith: I went to follow up. But the radio went silent. I didn’t get an answer. Was I interacting with cancer? No, it doesn’t apply to my worldview. Some would say I am, but it felt like a deep affirmation and empowerment of what I was doing.
My farewell invitation is a celebration. I invite you to celebrate what I am celebrating and it is this experience of the miracle of where we found ourselves. You don’t have to have a terminal diagnosis to work more seriously, but I promise it’s worth it.
To ensure the continuation of his research, Dr. Griffith established Dr. Roland R. Griffith. The Teaching Fund is dedicated to the study of psychedelics “in the service of the prosperity of mankind for future generations.”
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