Supple bodies, healthy minds: yoga, psychedelics and American mental health.
Lucas Richert, Matthew DeCloedt
Med Humanit March 30, 2018 DOI: 10.1136/medhum-2017-011422 via PubMed Central
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMental health knowledge is not a neutral product but is shaped by politics, economics, and culture. This article examines how mental health practices—sometimes scientific, sometimes spiritual—have been conceived, debated, and applied by researchers and the public, drawing on case studies of yoga, religion, and fitness. It specifically interrogates the relationship between yoga, psychedelics, South Asian and Eastern religion as understood and practiced in the USA, and mental health.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psychedelic-assisted therapy |
| Keywords | Mental health Yoga therapy Integrative medicine |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key finding | Mental health practices and knowledge are shaped by political, economic, and cultural contexts, as illustrated through case studies of yoga, religion, and fitness in the USA. |
Abstract
Much discussion about mental health has revolved around treatment models. As interdisciplinary scholarship has shown, mental health knowledge, far from being a neutral product detached from the society that generated it, was shaped by politics, economics and culture. By drawing on case studies of yoga, religion and fitness, this article will examine the ways in which mental health practices-sometimes scientific, sometimes spiritual-have been conceived, debated and applied by researchers and the public. More specifically, it will interrogate the relationship between yoga, psychedelics, South Asian and Eastern religion (as understood and practiced in the USA) and mental health.