logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
44m 19s

111. OCD and Psychedelics with Rose Cart...

DRUG SCIENCE
About this episode

In this episode, Prof Nutt meets with Rose Cartwright as she discusses the impact of psychedelics on her Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She reflects on some of the common misconceptions around OCD as well as the impact diagnosis and traditional treatment had on her life. Throughout the episode, she reflects on her own psychedelic experiences, mistakes made along the way and the steps she would have taken differently going into this with the knowledge she has today.

Rose Cartwright is a screenwriter whose memoir, Pure, about her life with intrusive sexual thoughts, was adapted for Channel 4. Her revolutionary new memoir, The Maps We Carry, reveals how the failure of the mental health system to cure her OCD led her to radical action. While she explored her trauma through a series of mind-bending psychedelic trips, she began to interrogate our dominant medical paradigm. Her writing about psychedelics, consciousness and mental health has also been published in The Face, Vice and the Guardian. Rose is a writer on the Netflix adaptation of Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem.


The Maps We Carry
Rose Cartwright 

OCD

Bulimia 

PTSD

Pure 

Intrusive thoughts

Psychodynamic therapy

Person centred therapy

MDMA 

Psilocybin

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
Up next
Oct 2
137. Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom with Dr Andy Letcher
In this episode of the Drug Science podcast, we speak to Dr Andy Letcher, a religious scholar and author of the book Shroom: the Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. He explores his complimentary background in science and the humanities, depicting how this combination structur ... Show More
43m 33s
Sep 17
136. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology with Jenny Chapman and Dr Stephen Naulls
Tune into the latest episode of the Drug Science Podcast, where we talk to Jenny Chapman and Dr. Stephen Naulls, researchers at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) and authors of ‘Psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health: Policy considerations, a brief ... Show More
47m 2s
Sep 3
135. Ethnomycology with Darren Le Baron
In this episode of the Drug Science Podcast, we speak with Darren Le Baron, an accomplished mycologist and educator. He discusses how his hardships from his upbringing in East London have informed his current work, where he uses horticulture to connect with children at risk of be ... Show More
45m 59s
Recommended Episodes
May 2025
Episode 143, ‘The Philosophy of Mental Health’ with Rose Cartwright (Part I - The Maps We Carry)
We’re living through a mental health crisis. In Europe, use of antidepressant has more than doubled in the past twenty years, and one in five children are now living with a recognised mental health condition. These numbers are striking, and the suffering they reflect personal, an ... Show More
35m 55s
Jun 2025
Episode 143, ‘The Philosophy of Mental Health’ with Rose Cartwright (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)
We’re living through a mental health crisis. In Europe, use of antidepressant has more than doubled in the past twenty years, and one in five children are now living with a recognised mental health condition. These numbers are striking, and the suffering they reflect personal, an ... Show More
30m 33s
Jul 29
Bonus Episode: The OCD Experience with Neurobiologist Uma Chatterjee
This one’s all about lived experience: What's it like to have OCD? What’s the therapy all about? How do you support people with it? And how to accept the darkest thoughts that might haunt you. As a bonus to last week’s OCD Neurobiology episode with Dr. Wayne Goodman, the wonderfu ... Show More
48m 38s
Sep 12
Psychedelics and the structure of reality | Julian Baggini, Eileen Hall, and James Rucker
Truth, delusion and psychedelic realityDo psychedelics reveal hidden layers of reality, or are we simply tripping?Psychedelics are back in the cultural zeitgeist, this time as a treatment for mental health issues. However, critics argue that psychedelics only work by replacing me ... Show More
46m 51s
Jul 2024
#377 — The Future of Psychedelic Medicine 2
Sam Harris speaks with Dr. Jennifer Mitchell and Dr. Sarah Abedi about recent developments in research on psychedelics. They discuss the history of this research and the war on drugs, recent setbacks in the FDA approval process, MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disor ... Show More
1h 16m
Apr 2025
Melanie Klein, Symbol Formation, and Autism: A Psychoanalytic Conversation with Dr. Ben Morsa
What happens when the ego fails to form a symbol? In this episode of Acid Horizon, we're joined by Dr. Ben Morsa, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic thinker working at the intersection of queer theory, neurodiversity, and mental health. Together, we dive into Melanie Klei ... Show More
1h 18m
Jul 23
Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD) with Wayne Goodman
Ruminations and reassurances. Checking and counting. Suffering and stigmas. It’s OCD, babes! OCD is now considered one of the most common psychiatric conditions, afflicting 2% to 3% of the general population, and this episode is among our top-requested topics. So we snagged a top ... Show More
1h 19m
Nov 2022
Story: Brooke Miller (#357)
In episode 357 I interviewed Brooke who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us. In this episode we discuss her story and journey through therapy, medication, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), panic, control and OCD, relationship themed OCD, over exercising ... Show More
53m 26s
Mar 2025
Oprah and Harvard Professor Share How Psychedelics Are Actually Healing
BUY THE BOOK! “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence” by Michael Pollan “Fire in the Hole!: The Untold Story of My Traumatic Life and Explosive Success” by Bob Parsons In this ... Show More
57m 47s
Nov 2022
Dr Amy Mariaskin - OCD and Sexual Intimacy (#356)
In episode 356 I interviewed Dr Amy Mariaskin. Amy is a licensed clinical psychologist and director at The Nashville OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center.  In this episode we discuss her new book, ways OCD can affect intimacy, when taboo intrusive thoughts interrupt sex, issues with or ... Show More
1h 1m