Paul Fletcher is a doctor, a researcher, and the Bernard Wolfe Professor of Health Neuroscience at Cambridge University. During our conversation, Paul talks about psychosis and the brain, the sheer strangeness of psychotic episodes, why the human mind produces delusions and hallucinations, some triggers and causes of temporary psychosis, how we might more ethically treat homeless people in a psychotic state, and how we have improved in our treatment of psychotic people.

I also share my own experience with the terror and confusion of marijuana-induced psychosis. I hope that such stories might help others facing such a destabilizing and debilitating human experience feel less alone and less stigmatized.

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(00:00) Intro

(00:51) Get to know Paul Fletcher

(01:48) Paul Fletcher’s background and how he developed an interest in psychosis

(04:38) Understanding Jerome Lawrence’s quote on psychosis

(11:53) The difference between hallucinations and normal human experiences

(23:49) Dan's marijuana-induced psychosis

(37:45) What one can do to avoid transitory psychosis

(41:39) The prevalence of transient psychotic breaks

(45:46) Regaining normalcy after a psychotic break

(49:15) Decreasing ignorance about psychosis and reducing its stigma

(57:16) The video game "Hellblade," which highlights psychosis

(01:05:02) The need to empathize with those experiencing psychosis

(01:11:03) Alan Graham’s Community First! Village in Austin, TX

(01:18:02) Psychedelics’ effect on the human brain

(01:21:36) Potential ways to treat mental illness in the future