https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ZL-axoqKU
Expert Summary: How Spiritual Experiences Fit into Mental Health
May 17, 2025. Alexander Moreira-Almeida, MD, PhD, gives his hourlong acceptance speech for the Oskar Pfister Award at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Conference.
Dr. M-A is a prolific researcher, who has also written many published articles and books on the subject of spirituality, mental health, and consciousness. He graciously challenges the notions of close-minded physicalists and clears the way for deeper thinking and scientific research about the reality and the benefits of spiritual experiences.
Expert Summary:Time Stamps
Below is a guide into where in the talk you can find him speaking on certain topics. Good to watch with captions on. His English is excellent but his accent sometimes makes it difficult to be certain of the words he is saying. He covers a lot of ground very quickly. Time stamps below are approximate.
First 5 min: Introduction to the award and its origins
5-10:00 minutes: Dr. M-A gives acknowledgements to his supporters
11:18—Working definition of spiritual experience and spirituality
13:12-Research on those having spiritual experiences
15:06- How spiritual experiences have been pathologized
15:54-The history of his work and his focus
16:20-The nature of spiritual experiences
17:50-Some misguided assumptions about spiritual experiences
19:05-Famous people studying spiritual experiences throughout history
20:30-Quantity of people having spiritual experiences. Their ages and education levels.
24:00-Research with 200,000 people in 22 countries re: belief in life after death
25:30-Prevalence of spiritual experiences not related to mental imbalance
28:00-Research on spiritual emergencies
30:00-Cognitive disorder as an indicator of psychosis rather than spiritual experiences
32:00-Guidelines to differentiate spiritual experiences and pathology
34:10-Conventional hypotheses re: spiritual experiences not proven
40:45-Consciousness exists within and beyond the brain
41:40-Does brain produce mind?
45:20-Life after death
46:00-Book: “Science of Life After Death”
48:05-Myths about the brain
49:15-More on contents of “Science of Life After Death”
50:00- Research on near death experiences, NDE
51:15- End of life experiences of a spiritual nature
53:12-Mediumship. Possibly related to certain genes.
1:00:00- Past life memories. 1/3 of world population believes in reincarnation
1:00:02-Mind-brain studies
1:04:00-Summary includes his contact information
1:05:20-End
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