Pattern Breaking: A Complex Systems Approach to Psychedelic Medicine

Psychedelics may help treat mental health conditions by acting as psychological and neurophysiological destabilizers. Drawing on the entropic brain hypothesis and the REBUS model, this theoretical paper proposes that psychedelics break reinforced patterns of thinking and behaving by destabilizing fixed attractors in the brain. The resulting increase in brain entropy disrupts neurophysiological set-points, allowing for new conceptualizations of psychedelic psychotherapy. These insights have implications for risk mitigation and treatment optimization, both during the peak psychedelic experience and the sub-acute recovery period.

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Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated the potential of psychedelic therapy for mental healthcare. However, the psychological experience underlying its therapeutic effects remain poorlyunderstood. This paper proposes a framework that suggests psychedelics act as destabilisers,both psychologically and neurophysiologically. Drawing on the "entropic brain" hypothesisand the "RElaxed Beliefs Under pSychedelics" (REBUS) model, this paper focuses onthe richness of psychological experience. Through a complex systems theory perspective,we suggest that psychedelics destabilize fixed points or attractors, breaking reinforced patternsof thinking and behaving. Our approach explains how psychedelic-induced increases inbrain entropy destabilize neurophysiological set-points and leads to new conceptualizationsof psychedelic psychotherapy. These insights have important implications for risk mitigationand treatment optimization in psychedelic medicine, both during the peak psychedelicexperience and during the sub-acute period of potential recovery