Psychedelic Medicine at the End of Life: Dying without Fear

by Richard Louis Miller, Rick Doblin (Foreword by)

Overview

• Outlines 10 steps for dying gracefully with the help of psychedelics, including how to navigate the complex legal landscape and find the right guide and therapy

• Looks at clinical studies of psychedelics from UCLA, Johns Hopkins, and NYU School of Medicine that show dramatic lessening of end-of-life anxiety in terminally ill patients

• Shares wisdom from experts on psychedelic research and palliative care, including Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, Ira Byock, and Anthony Bossis

Examining the evolving landscape that is found around end-of-life psychedelic care, Dr. Richard Louis Miller, a clinical psychologist for more than half a century, looks at how LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, and ayahuasca can be vital tools in allowing individuals in all stages of life to confront fears of dying and, in so doing, lead richer lives.

Miller shares wisdom from experts on the frontiers of psychedelic research and palliative care—including Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, Ira Byock, and Anthony Bossis—and examines cutting-edge studies from Johns Hopkins, UCLA, and NYU School of Medicine that show dramatically decreased anxiety in terminally ill patients through the use of psychedelics. He explores how different substances can help the dying overcome their end-of-life distress. He also provides testimony from researchers and patients participating in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy that helps convey the experience of ego death at the heart of the psychedelic experience.

Miller outlines 10 steps for dying gracefully, without fear, with the help of psychedelics. He examines how to navigate the complex legal landscape and find the right guide, dose, and therapy. He also includes reflections from key figures in the psychedelic community as well as some of his own psychedelically informed mystical and near-death experiences.

Revealing psychedelics as a portal of transformation, Miller shows how they are singularly valuable in helping individuals face the end of life with courage and serenity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644119822
Publisher:	Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Publication date:	11/05/2024
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Richard Louis Miller, M.A., Ph.D., has been a clinical psychologist for more than 60 years. He is host of the internet radio broadcast Mind Body Health&Politics, the founder of the internationally acclaimed Cokenders Alcohol and Drug Program, and creator of the Health Sanctuary at Wilbur Hot Springs. He has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan and Stanford University and an advisor on the President’s Commission on Mental Health. He lives in Fort Bragg and Wilbur Hot Springs, California.
Dr. Richard Louis Miller, MA, PhD, has been a clinical psychologist for more than 50 years. He is host of the syndicated talk radio show, Mind Body Health&Politics. The founder of the nationally acclaimed Cokenders Alcohol and Drug Program, he has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan and Stanford University, an advisor on the President’s Commission on Mental Health, a founding board member of the Gestalt Institute of San Francisco, and a member of the national board of directors for the Marijuana Policy Project. He lives in Fort Bragg and Wilbur Hot Springs, California.
Rick Doblin is the president of MAPS.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD BY RICK DOBLIN, Ph.D.

PROLOGUE

PART ONE

THE CASE FOR PSYCHEDELICS
AT THE END OF LIFE

CHAPTER 1
Ego Death

CHAPTER 2
From Taboo to Trials: Pioneers of the Psychedelic
Renaissance

CHAPTER 3
Studies of Psychedelics for End-of-Life Distress:
Proof of Safety and Efficacy

CHAPTER 4
Mechanism of Action: How Psychedelics Help the Dying
Overcome End-of-Life Distress

CHAPTER 5
Understanding and Treating End-of-Life Distress

PART TWO

THE STEPS TO DYING GRACEFULLY

STEP 1
Confronting Death

STEP 2
Discerning Candidacy for
Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

STEP 3
Navigating the Legal Landscape

STEP 4
Selecting the Guide, Dose, and Therapy Type

STEP 5
Managing Set and Setting

STEP 6
Surrendering

STEP 7
Integrating the Insights

STEP 8
Reckoning with the Afterlife

STEP 9
Living Fully

STEP 10
Dying Gracefully

Reconnecting in an Age of Separation

EPILOGUE
The Way Forward

AFTERWORD

REFERENCES

INDEX

Editorial Reviews

Miller starts with a gripping and inspiring story and then continues to ply us with vital information. Psychedelics may offer a mini-death rehearsal, offering a glimpse of spiritual oneness, enabling us to be less afraid at the end of our lives. This peacefulness resonates with family and friends, allowing us to stay connected to loved ones throughout the process.

Julie Holland

From my earliest exposure to psychedelics, I have always carried the pivotal understanding that they showed to me: that death has a bad reputation but is perfectly safe. In Psychedelic Medicine at the End of Life, Miller has supported and elaborated upon that perspective, integrating his clinical expertise, his personal experiences, his appreciation for the developing body of research, and his encounters with a unified vision of reality in a book that will be instructive and inspiring to readers from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines.

Mariavittoria Mangini

Miller writes personally, emotionally, wisely—unafraid to talk about dark and difficult parts of his own life and enthusiastic about every day remaining. Thoroughly grounded in his own close-to-death experiences and insights gained from his and others’ psychedelic journeys, his refreshing understanding of what dying brings to living is healthy and sane. He has given us a needed alternative to our current death-phobic and deathdenying usual narrative. He makes a strong case for benefitting from different psychedelic plants and fungi, most of which can reconnect people to the underlying unity in which some parts are being born and some dying but none are ever lost. This is a deeply uplifting, clear, and compassionate guide to dying and how psychedelics, used correctly, diminish our fears about approaching the door that opens at the end of our life.

James Fadiman

A masterful overview of an area of vital importance to our modern world rapidly attracting interest and support. Through his own moving life stories and those of his friends, colleagues, and patients, Miller shares insights on how we may more effectively approach and prepare for the end of life. He wisely states that psychedelics under optimal conditions have a unique application for those mired in psychospiritual suffering and asserts that these are existential medicines of inestimable value. This book is a valuable resource and contribution to the growing field of psychedelic medicine along with our ever-present struggle to find meaning and value to our lives while we still inhabit this mortal coil.

Charles S. Grob

We needed a guidebook on how to face the end of our lives with the wise application of psychedelic medicine. Dr. Richard Louis Miller is the people’s psychologist. His kind voice, six decades of requisite personal and professional experience, and relentless dedication to the very best for all shines through in this book. May reading it help you and your loved ones on your journey toward transcendence.

Sunil K. Aggarwal

This inspiring book is semi-autobiographical as Miller shares several personal brushes with death and his experiences with psychedelic substances such as morning glory seeds, LSD, DMT, and MDMA. He includes episodes and insights from his academic career and from his work as a clinical psychologist. As he relates his life story, Miller weaves in commentary from interviews with experts in psychedelic research. A captivating read for those interested in this field.

Nicholas V. Cozzi