John Hunter Ph.D.

Dr. Hunter teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students in research methods and psychology, and – as someone who lives with bipolar disorder himself – provides educational workshops and consults to family members and friends of those with the illness.

About Me

My Story

Dr. John Hunter is a South African researcher and lecturer, based in Johannesburg. His interest in large group awareness trainings (LGATs) – and their impact on mood and psychosis – is grounded in his personal experience of bipolar disorder and his participation in an LGAT in 2010. In 2017, he completed a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, proposing a neurobiological explanation for the relationship between LGAT conditions and results. Specifically, Dr. Hunter put forward the dopaminergic-defense hypothesis, offering insights into both: (i) the “transformational” experiences associated with LGAT participation; and (ii) the common claims of psychological harm and problematic behaviour associated with participation. In 2022, Dr. Hunter published an article explaining the dopaminergic defense in the Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion (Hunter, 2022), in July 2023 he presented this work at the annual International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and in June 2024 acted as an expert witness in a United States federal court regarding the use of LGATs in the Troubled Teen Industry. Dr. Hunter’s first book, Manufacturing Mania: The Dopamine Hypothesis of Religious Experience, is complete and is now available.

Education

2017
University of KwaZulu-Natal

Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) 

2008
University of Johannesburg

Post-graduate Diploma in Advanced Banking Law

2001
University of Cape Town

Bachelor of Business Science (Finance)

Industry Skills​

Research Supervision

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Lecturing

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Quantitative Research

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Qualitative Research

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