Is Cyberdelic Therapy the Future of Mental Health?

Happy Monday! Welcome to another edition of The Drop In, DoubleBlind’s newsletter delivering independent journalism about psychedelics straight to your inbox.

Today’s lead story dives into VR therapy and how immersive experiences are transforming the way people heal. Could the psychedelic experience one day merge with virtual reality as a therapeutic tool? Seems likely…Pluto is in Aquarius, after all 😉. You can read all about it below.

You’ll also find stories on ketamine therapy, what to do if you get too high, and the women of the Huni Kuin.

Enjoy the ride,

Mary Carreón
Editor-in-Chief

Together With MindfulMEDS

We don’t know about you, but it feels like everyone we talk to lately is struggling with brain fog, ADHD, or just general mental fatigue.

Most people assume the only fix is pharmaceuticals or more caffeine—but research on saffron tells a different story.

In multiple clinical trials, saffron has been shown to support mood and focus on par with antidepressants—without the side effects.
👉 Source

In adults with ADHD, saffron even performed comparably to Ritalin for improving attention.

When we discovered MindfulMEDS, a Canadian brand combining nutraceutical saffron extract, functional mushrooms, and adaptogens, we were intrigued. Their blend—Brainbow—offers a gentle, steady kind of support that helps you stay clear and centered throughout the day.

Now, they’re sharing their latest Saffron Soft Start Group Study, a free guide featuring:
• Highlights from leading research on saffron and brain health
• Insights into how Brainbow may support focus and emotional balance
• Real reflections from participants who tried the blend for four weeks

✨ Download the Saffron Soft Start Study and discover a mindful approach to clarity and calm—without the crash.

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Virtual Reality Mimics the Healing Effects of Psychedelics on the Brain

New research out of Italy suggests virtual reality might tap the same creative and cognitive benefits as psychedelics, no substances required.

Maybe all we need to experience the mental health benefits of psychedelics is a VR headset? At least that’s what new research out of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore suggests. Researchers found that immersive virtual reality experiences designed to simulate the visual effects of psychedelic substances can enhance creativity and cognitive flexibility, echoing some of the benefits of psychedelics without ingesting anything. The findings, published in the journal Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, hint at a new kind of mind-expanding technology, or what the team calls “cyberdelics.”

For years, scientists have been revisiting psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD for their potential to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. But as promising as the purported benefits of these substances are, they can also come with baggage: unpredictable psychological reactions, legal hurdles, and other physiological risks.

So, a team led by Giulia Brizzi and Chiara Pupillo wondered: Could technology recreate those same perceptual shifts in a safer, more controlled way? Their answer came in the form of AI-altered VR environments designed to mimic the surreal, hallucinatory visuals seen on psychedelics.

50 healthy adults participated in the study, each donning a VR headset for two 10-minute sessions. The first was a serene 360-degree journey through a Japanese garden called The Secret Garden. The second featured the same video, but digitally transformed by Google’s DeepDream algorithm, which uses artificial intelligence to create intricate, kaleidoscopic visuals.

Before and after each session, participants completed a number of tests measuring creativity, emotional state, and physiological responses like heart rate. Cognitive flexibility was measured with the Alternative Use Task — where people dream up creative uses for mundane objects — and the Stroop Color Word Task, which tests how well one can suppress automatic responses (for instance, saying the color of ink instead of the written word).

After the trippy VR session, participants generated more flexible and semantically distant ideas, proof that their thinking had loosened. They also performed better on the Stroop task, suggesting enhanced inhibitory control. Emotional effects were subtler: both videos reduced anxiety and dampened positive affect overall, a sign of calm neutrality. Still, the hallucinatory version was rated as more absorbing, though slightly less smooth, meaning it required more mental effort to process.

Physiologically, both experiences calmed the body, according to the research. Heart rate and sympathetic nervous system activity — the system tied to fight-or-flight — dropped in both conditions. The researchers described this hybrid state of mental alertness and physical ease as “awakened relaxation.”

Professor Giuseppe Riva, who coordinated the research team, told PsyPost the implications are significant. “We have demonstrated for the first time that virtual reality is capable of replicating some of the positive effects typically associated with the use of psychotropic substances,” said Riva. “Among which the increase in cognitive flexibility and creativity is particularly significant. However, it is important to verify whether these effects are truly comparable, on a neurobiological level, to those produced by compounds such as psilocybin or LSD. The data collected, however, suggest that the path taken is promising and deserves further investigation.”

The study isn’t without caveats, however. All participants were young, healthy adults, meaning the results can’t yet be generalized to clinical populations or older adults. Future research, the authors note, should involve larger, more diverse samples and integrate deeper physiological measures — like how much electricity their skin conducted, which shows how excited or emotional someone feels — to capture more nuanced bodily responses.

As the field of psychedelic science races into the future, this experiment stands out for a few reasons. One is its subtlety: It required no drugs or trip sitters; just the effects of pixels and pattern recognition on the psyche. The second is because it speaks to the impact of immersion — or, really, immersion therapy. When visuals, audio, and spatial presence align, the brain seems to slip into the same liminal states psychedelics evoke…only sans the drugs. If future studies confirm VR’s therapeutic potential, cyberdelic experiences could represent a massive breakthrough.

Please Trip Responsibly #3

In this fiercely candid installment of Please Trip Responsibly, writer Patrick Maravelias dismantles the myth that psychedelics are a cure-all for addiction. Drawing from his own recovery and decades of failed drug policy, he argues that preaching psychedelics as miracle medicine could do more harm than good. With searing wit and hard-won insight, Maravelias traces the lineage from Nixon’s drug war to today’s psychedelic renaissance—warning that without humility, research, and restraint, the movement risks repeating the same mistakes that doomed the addicts it hopes to save.

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DoubleBlind Digs

• PsilWell is the world’s first Health Canada–approved psilocybin wellness study, developed with TheraPsil to explore how psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy can enhance well-being. To participate, complete an online interest form, pre-screening, and an onsite medical assessment at SABI Mind in Victoria, BC. Learn more here.

• Want to help bring a hand-crafted mushroom board game to life? Back Shroomscape on Kickstarter and help three independent women designers share their magical mycelial world with the world. Learn more about the project here!

• The African Rising Mushroom Festival in Hoima City, Uganda (Nov. 13–15) is a community-led gathering advancing food security, fungal literacy, and economic opportunity through accessible mushroom education. Co-organized by Myceliumatters and Eco Agric Uganda, the festival features international speakers including William Padilla-Brown, Dennis Walker, and Darren Le Baron, and brings together farmers, students, and mycophiles from across Africa. Learn more here.

• Global Psychedelic Week kicks off in early November with Women Reclaiming Space in Psychedelic Healing, moderated by DB’s very own Jenalle Dion. The summit gathers leaders across medicine, policy, and community to spotlight women shaping the future of psychedelic healing worldwide. Register here and be sure to use code DB_GPW10 for 10% off!

Together With MindfulMEDS

Brain fog? Scattered focus? You’re not alone.

Turns out, saffron—the world’s most vibrant spice—may also brighten your mind. Backed by clinical research, saffron has been shown to support mood, focus, and attention on par with antidepressants and Ritalin—without the side effects.

Our friends at MindfulMEDS are diving deeper with their Saffron Soft Start Study, exploring how saffron, functional mushrooms, and adaptogens work together for clarity and calm.

✨ Download the free guide and see what mindful focus can really feel like.

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P.S. Want the highest quality saffron? Check out their product, Brainbow. You won’t regret it.