Kitty Sipple - Psychedelic Accessibility: Disability, Chronic Illness, & the Psychedelic Experience

Psychedelic accessibility requires a transition from the medicalization model of psychiatry to a framework centered on justice and equity. Institutional gatekeeping frequently pathologizes altered states of consciousness, stigmatizing individuals with mental health conditions and disability. This exclusion reinforces the damaging belief that individuals living with these conditions are broken and require fixing rather than accepting diverse forms of human experience. Addressing these systemic barriers involves recognizing that healing is not strictly a binary state between sick and cured. Instead, this process remains a fluid, non-linear journey that can exist alongside symptoms. Embracing diverse perspectives in decision making positions and research is therefore vital to dismantling the oppressive structures that currently alienate and silence neurodivergent voices.