Happiness On Demand

Hello Reader,

I recently came across an interesting study about major life changes following psychedelic use*.

Basically, It looked at individuals who use psychedelics naturalistically, and found that 83% of the participants had experienced at least on major life change.

But what's interesting about the study isn't really the effects of psychedelics (though they remain a fascinating subject for ongoing psychological research) or the results per se.

Looking at this study made me realize, that the people who experienced these major life changes underwent a total Epistemic Shift (epistemic referring to what you know and HOW you know it).

So they didn't just "fix" their old lives; they changed their core values, their goals, and their very identity.

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I explore these ideas in more depth and share my conclusions in the full article on the blog:

​The Epistemic Shift: Why True Healing is a Deconstruction of the Self​

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We’re often told that depression and anxiety are biological "glitches" that need a chemical patch. But this research suggests something far more profound.

These are the ways suggested by research, that psychedelics can trigger major life changes:

• Increased openness to experience​
  Psychedelics can temporarily raise openness, making individuals more willing to explore new perspectives, ideas, and life directions.
• Heightened sense of insight​
  Users often report powerful feelings of “realizations” or deep understanding.
• Rapid changes in identity and sense of self​
  Psychedelics can disrupt and reshape one’s self-concept, sometimes leading to sudden and significant shifts in identity, values, or life direction.
• Increased neuroplasticity and sensitivity to context​
  Psychedelics may enhance the brain’s plasticity, making individuals more receptive to environmental and psychological inputs. This creates a window where lasting changes in neural patterns and behavior are more likely.
• Transformative experiences​
  Psychedelics can occasion deeply transformative events characterized by profound shifts in perception and understanding. These experiences can alter personal values and priorities in ways that are difficult to predict beforehand, often acting as catalysts for major life changes.

Now,

doesn't that read like a list of what traditions have described for centuries?

• Letting go of rigid identity → “ego dissolution”
• Seeing things differently → “insight” or “awakening”
• Shifting values → “realignment” or “truth”

Modern neuroscience talks about neuroplasticity. Contemplative traditions talk about awareness and presence.

But they’re really pointing at overlapping territory, just from different directions.

I gather from it that when we are able to "rewire" our minds, we can completely change our lives.

Then healing, happiness, success... all follow as a "side-product".

It's also evident that the mechanisms for "rewiring our minds" and changing our lives already exist within us.

Neuroscience and psychology back this up. Neuroscience discusses "neuroplasticity", our brain's ability to rewire itself. Then there's something called Pivotal Mental States (PiMS), which are temporary, intense state of heightened mental plasticity.

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Based on my personal experience about life changes and healing, I came to the following conclusions:

1. Identity is a Variable, Not a Constant: You aren't stuck with your current "broken" self. Your brain has the innate hardware to hit a "reset button" and rewrite your life’s trajectory overnight.
2. Healing is Deconstruction, Not Repair: We don't get better by patching up the current version of ourselves. True recovery requires the courage to let the old version of you dissolve to make room for the new, like a caterpillar going through a complete metamorphosis to become a butterfly.
3. The Ego is the Gatekeeper: Your ego values "familiar misery" over "unfamiliar joy." It resists change (even if it means healing and happiness) because it perceives your transformation as its own death warrant. For your ego, who you are now is as good as it gets, because it's familiar and therefore safe to be who you're used to being.

So healing is really a process of letting go.

Letting go of who you are now. Letting go of your learned values, subconscious thoughts and beliefs. Letting go of the old patterns that you're so used to repeating.

This requires some for of inner work to convince or "trick" the ego to loosen its grip and make room for the new you. It doesn't necessarily require psychedelics or any "magic pills".

It requires commitment to doing the inner work and the courage to allow yourself to become someone you cannot yet comprehend becoming.

It's true that psychedelics can create powerful states. Extreme states reveal just how changeable the mind really is.

But it's Inner work that develops the capacity to navigate and integrate those states

You don’t need extreme states to access transformation, you already possess the ability to change yourself. And by changing yourself, you change your entire life.

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How to make these changes happen?

It's all well and good, but we all know how difficult changing our lives can be.

So here are my personal recommendations for experiencing an "epistemic shift" without psychedelics.

The AAA Framework: Awareness, Acceptance, Alignment

My signature framework that can help you discover your path to healing and to support you in listening to your own wisdom.It’s a set of tools to guide you back to your natural state of health and happiness. Find it here: The AAA Framework for Healing Depression​

IAM: The Inner Alignment Method

IAM addresses the very mechanisms for healing that the study suggests. It gives you access to your own "feelings of insight". It helps you move from avoidance to acceptance. It helps you dissolve your ego and make room for a new you. Find the Inner Alignment Method (IAM) here.

Upgrade Labs

I haven't personally used psychedelics and therefore cannot endorse them, but if you're willing to get some assistance in reaching more open states of mind, Upgrade Labs has the technology to help you (I'm not sure if they use psychedelics or just state of the art technology). If you're in the U.S. or Canada, maybe you're willing to give it a try.

Other things you can try

​Meditation is a powerful tool for inner work. Just sit or lie still, breathing slowly in and out, and see what insights come up.

And make sure to read the article about "the epistemic shift" as well: The Epistemic Shift: Why True Healing is a Deconstruction of the Self​

That's it for now,

thanks for being here :)

Next week (if all goes well), something completely different.

Until then,

Think happy thoughts!

​- Atte

P.S. There's no point in trying to fix a "broken" version of yourself that was never meant to be permanent. In the article, I explain why the most successful healing is actually a demolition job.

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*The study: Aday J.S., Glynos N.G., Baker A.K. et al. Major life changes following psychedelic use: A retrospective survey among people using psychedelics naturalistically. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-48084-3

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