Plain definitions of the words leaders use for how they feel, and of the terms they meet when they look into psychedelic-assisted work. Each entry says where the term comes from, what the research shows and where the evidence stops.
Some of these are clinical terms; others are everyday names for an experience, not diagnoses. Every entry says which, cites its sources and links to the page where the subject is covered in depth.
The arrival fallacy is the expectation that reaching a long-chased goal will make you happy for good. A popular term, not a diagnosis.
An estimate of how far the body has aged, as distinct from years lived. Epigenetic clocks are research tools; one test result says little about a person.
A psychologically difficult psychedelic experience, from fear and paranoia to a sense of dying or going insane. The research term for a “bad trip.”
A temporary loss of the usual sense of being a separate self, reported mainly with high doses of psychedelics. A research construct, not a diagnosis.
The variation in time between heartbeats, at rest shaped largely by the vagus nerve. Useful in research and tracking; one reading is noisy.
The tendency to drift back toward a usual level of happiness after good or bad life changes. Research shows the return is often incomplete.
An informal term, not a diagnosis, for burnout in someone whose work still looks fine while exhaustion and detachment grow.
The tendency to expect a future event to move your feelings more strongly and for longer than it does. A core finding of affective forecasting research.
Psychotherapy combined with ketamine sessions. Ketamine is used off-label; the only FDA-approved form for depression is esketamine nasal spray.
A state of low well-being in someone with no mental illness, where life feels stalled and flat. A research term from sociologist Corey Keyes.
An experience of unity, sacredness and timelessness that can occur with psychedelics or on its own. Measured in research with the 30-item MEQ30.
The low or empty mood some people describe after reaching a big goal, such as a promotion or an exit. An everyday name, not a diagnosis.
A psychedelic compound made by certain mushrooms and tested in trials for depression. As of October 2026 it is not an FDA-approved medicine.
Conditions or medicines that make psilocybin likely to harm more than help: psychosis and bipolar disorder, heart risks and lithium.
Services and practices that aim to reduce the health, social and legal harms of psychedelic use without requiring people to stop using.
The work after a psychedelic session of making sense of the experience and turning it into lasting changes in daily life.
Taking small, repeated doses of a psychedelic, below a full trip, to lift mood or focus. Placebo-controlled studies find little effect beyond placebo.
A drug reaction from too much serotonin activity, from mild to life-threatening. Severe cases almost always involve an MAO inhibitor.
The mindset a person brings to a psychedelic session (set) and the physical, social and cultural environment it takes place in (setting).
A body-oriented trauma therapy developed by Peter Levine that works with bodily sensations rather than retelling the event. Its evidence base is small.
Hardi Põder, Co-founder, CEO