The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance

Psychedelics Offer New Solutions for Social Isolation – Dr. Julie Holland with Dave Asprey : 757

Nov 6, 2020

Dr. Julie Holland, a psychiatrist and author of "Good Chemistry," dives into the crucial role of connection in overcoming social isolation. She argues that psychedelics, like MDMA, can catalyze deeper interpersonal connections and transform psychotherapy by reducing barriers to trust. Holland discusses how the pandemic exacerbated isolation and emphasizes the need for innovative solutions. She explains how brain chemistry, including oxytocin, influences our behavior and the potential of microdosing psychedelics to enhance mental well-being and foster creativity.

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INSIGHT

MDMA in Psychiatry

MDMA can be a valuable tool in psychiatry, offering effective and efficient therapy.
It enhances the therapeutic alliance and allows for deeper processing of trauma.

INSIGHT

Oxytocin's Dark Side

Oxytocin, known for promoting connection, has a less discussed role in social cohesion and tribalism.
It can strengthen in-group bonds while exacerbating us-versus-them mentalities.

ANECDOTE

Crowd Control Experiment

Dave Asprey used a tearjerker video to induce oxytocin in conference attendees, fostering trust.
He told them his intentions, but the oxytocin increase still created a positive atmosphere.

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Psychedelics Offer New Solutions for Social Isolation – Dr. Julie Holland with Dave Asprey – #757

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest today is psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist Dr. Julie Holland. In her newest book, “Good Chemistry: The Science of Connection, From Soul to Psychedelics,” she explains why we need connection, how we’ve lost it, and how we might find it again. She believes psychedelics can help.

“We're really not built to be isolated,” Dr. Holland explains. “We're social primates, we're built for connection. It's how we survive.”

Dr. Holland stands on the frontlines of some of the nation’s leading and most exciting research surrounding psychedelic medicine and connection. “If we ever needed less suffering and more creativity, it is now. We need outside-the- box solutions to our current psychospiritual problems,” she says.

Psychedelic medicines, taken under the direction of a trained psychiatrist, can catalyze a connection with the self, nature, or the cosmos.

Dr. Holland reveals how we can “turn on” and “tune in” to the brain chemistry that supports connection and tamp down the fight or flight mode that derails sleep, metabolism, libido and much more. She helps us understand that our behaviors are driven by the hormones and neurotransmitters that make up good (and bad) brain chemistry, including; testosterone, estrogen, dopamine, serotonin and most crucially, oxytocin.

“The thing that we really haven't heard enough about and that I am sort of preaching is the parasympathetic nervous system,” Dr. Holland says. “It's the exact opposite of fight or flight. It's not all about attacking and running away. Sometimes survival is about staying and connecting and collaborating, getting input from people, making good decisions.”

“The parasympathetic is where the body can repair itself and it's also where we can repair our relationships,” she says. “It's where we can sort of tend and befriend and mend the connections, it's where we can be social.”

Listen on to the end to hear Dr. Holland’s top three recommendations for enhancing connection in your life.

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