When the Altered State Finds You First

Altered states of consciousness are having a pronounced cultural resurgence. From psychedelic-assisted therapy to breathwork and dreamwork, people are actively seeking to explore perception, deepen healing, and access experiences beyond ordinary awareness. But what happens when an altered state finds you first—before you’re ready, without a container, and without a process for integration?

Today, carefully facilitated psychedelic experiences are increasingly treated with reverence—emphasizing "set and setting," trained guides, and post-experience tools as essential to success—while spontaneous altered states continue to be pathologized as "psychosis" and approached solely as conditions to be eliminated.

Those hospitalized for psychosis are often given no meaningful guidance about their experiences, during or after. They frequently emerge feeling traumatized, ashamed, and broken. These extreme states are seen only as symptoms to be suppressed and forgotten, with no potential hidden wisdom or value of any kind.

But what if these states exist on the same continuum as those sought-after healing experiences, just more intense, unregulated, and, for now, unsupported by the standard of care?

I have experienced three manic psychotic episodes and was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder. After discovering metabolic therapies and the emerging science of metabolic psychiatry, my life has completely transformed. I have been using metabolic therapies as my sole form of treatment for over four years now*, and am only just beginning to look back on my experiences of mania with a sense of fascination instead of fear.

I don’t wish to romanticize psychosis—it is overwhelming, dangerous, and profoundly destabilizing, and I remain optimistic I’ll never have to endure it again. But when we begin to see those prone to psychosis as energetically sensitive, new possibilities emerge. Supported and grounded by metabolic strategies that help stabilize and regulate energy, this sensitivity can become a source of strength. Approaching psychosis through metabolic psychiatry allows us to see energetic sensitivity not as a flaw to correct, but as a meaningful signal, one that can guide prevention, treatment, and long-term stability, and support individuals in flourishing and continued self-development.

Metabolic psychiatry tells a new story—not just about how we treat symptoms, but about what might be causing them in the first place. It reframes psychosis as a form of energy dysregulation rooted in mitochondrial dysfunction.