In all honesty, mushrooms, weed and alcohol taught me one thing.
Do I like being simply sober!
I prefer my mental quickness and sharpness over anything. When I smoke weed, I lose my English (lol) and only speak Dutch. When I take shrooms, I don't even dare to get off the bed. Hell, I don't even know what a bed is! And when I'm drunk, that's just a horrible feeling, while I'm drunk. I'm actually much more fine with a hangover, since I'm already more mentally sharp then (with a huge headache).
Drugs are fun to debug your brain with, but ultimately:
- Sex
- Exercise
- Meditation
- Yoga
- The Wim Hof Method
- Amazing food
That's my favorite type of drugs.
With that said, if you prefer to take drugs, by all means: go ahead ;-)
Full disclaimer: weed on a very light dose (Dutch weed though) and MDMA can be exceptions to this on very rare occassions, according to some people I know. They can be relationship enhancing (friends or SO) in the right setting.
Every time I took mushrooms, it felt like everything went in HD, no mental hinderance (as compared to say alcohol or weed) and even increased creativity/critical thinking. Good ol' college days.
Is it possible that you might have taken a bit to big of a dose for your "abilities"?
Not trying to debate your point or take any validity away from anything you said, I am 66% with you. Just curious about your thoughts, since we seem to have had a different experience in that case.
A few times yea and a few times no. I think the bigger the dose, the more dangerous my behavior became. The lightest dose I had made me feel like a 10 year old kid. That was interesting.
So there’s definitely something to it.
The same goes for alcohol and weed.
Now that I think about it more sharply, my favorite doses:
- alcohol: 1 to 3 glasses
- weed (Dutch): 1 to 3 puffs
- truffles (Dutch as sold in smartshops): half a standard dose sold
Thanks for making me more aware on this. I was only hyper aware of this with weed. Too much weed always makes me feel I’m dying. The first few times I had that, I even believed it.
While too much mushrooms or alcohol are no joke either, the experiences were more positive (mixed in with a lot of less positive things).
It doesn’t sound you’re suffering from depression though. If you’re healthy stay that way. Some people need help and psychedelics can provide the answer
My point always is: they can. I’ve experienced the awesome interconnectedness of psilocybin. But they can also leave you in a state where you might become suicidal on the spot. And since we didn’t have a tripsitter that became an issue.
It’s experiences like those that I realized that I like being sober.
But I agree they can, especially with more professional guidance. If anything, those people are sober and a tripsitter is a necessity.
I've tried yoga and salvia once each, and i much preferred the salvia.
Where i live, weed is usually the narcotic, body-high type that makes you sit there quietly in an anaesthetised stupor - stereotypical indica. I don't enjoy that all. But occasionally, you come across the head-high type that makes you energetic and giggly - the stereotypical sativa. That's really good fun! It's like the best parts of being drunk, without some of the downsides.
How man sessions of yoga did you try, literally just the one? The benefits of yoga really come when you practice regularly in a sustained way and you get to know the poses and can feel how your body reacts differently each time you go into them, when you learn how not to hold tension, when you learn to follow the breath and when you learn to accept and trust your body's limits and strengths.
To me it's someone saying they tried therapy for one session and didn't feel any benefit!
Then that stuff is not for your metabolism, or too strong/too much. I can relate to that, because alcohol is usually just a downer for me, but sometimes that can be ok, especially when one does not know what a hangover is.
Regarding the weed, ONE small piece the size of a matchhead/pin-head can make me different for 2 to 3 days, turning into some overdrive mode. Even when worked into a slim cigarette with extra long 2cm filter with 6mm diameter. That is insane!
Extasy i liked very much decades ago, but abstained from it because of too much "russian roulette".
Sex i couldn't care less, my cats give me all the cuddling i need.
Exercise? I bicycle and walk all year around during all weather.
Meditation, Yoga? Don't care.
Food? Don't care that much. Like to abuse mild Sri Racha (green cap) on everything :)
edit: Ah, forgot Shrooms. Would like to have them more often! And anything else with the reputation of expanding consciousness. But again, in a safe way, without russian roulette.
That's interesting because quite a lot of people on reddit seem to believe that drugs is the only fun thing to do in life, and the rest is horrifying - work, money, relationship problems, housing and so on.
Perhaps that's why governments try to ban drugs: because given a chance, most people would prefer NOT to stay sober, except for few exceptional individuals.
I am changing my attitude on it by asking relentlessly: how is this fun?
For work the answer is: a 4 day work week helps a shit ton. I am free on Wednesday. So if I dread the workday then I am free the next day or the day after that which puts me at ease. Also, then when I am free, I am noticing that I don’t like the day much more. That gives me a powerful perspective to not blame work for when I feel unhappy.
Also, my work feels kind of easy. CRUD apps are not tje difficult beasts I studied during college.
It also helps that the founders guard work-life balance.
I don't think that most people would prefer not to stay sober. Given my experience it really depends of your age. 22 years old me would have laughed if I said that I now prefer to spend times with my friend playing board games in the afternoon instead of just drinking all night. I see a lot of people in my circles that were heavy drinkers in their 20's and now in their 30's are naturally drifting towards enjoying other things more. The catch is to not cross the line to addiction during that time, and here being middle/upper class makes the difference because it usually means your life is mostly on tracks (like having a job), with positive social pressure from friends and family to go too far. Not everyone has the chance to have that.
Well anything involved with traditionally working for a living is hellish to this generation (myself included). Given a choice I would wake up and do what I wanted that morning which usually is productive but not always and there’s no requirement it should be. But what are you going to do, work makes society run so we must do it.
For many people - they don't really have the quickness you speak of and even if they do, they haven't found a way to apply it in a way that they enjoy.
The problem many people are fighting is boredom. Hence the prevalence of alcohol. It makes time go by, it turns off the brain that is largely capable of haphazard worrying and complaining.
For those who are smart enough to assemble hierarchies of meaning and play with them, sobriety is great. For most everyone else - regular drug use is probably an optimal strategy.
That’s a very clear vivid picture. I find it very hard to imagine if I am honest. However, your comment made it a bit easier.
It sucks to live like that. I wish I could help. I’ll take a few minutes to see if there is some low hanging fruit. I know a few people quite close to me who fit this description.
Just curious. In the coffeeshops in Amsterdam, are electronic vape products and edibles becoming more prevalent? Or is it still mostly flower culture. Where the primary method of consumption is the long cone joint or "spliff", generously mixed with some fine tobacco...
True, sorry for that. I responded to the title and to the comments.
I feel people are a bit too hyped about this and since I have used stuff like this to help me with my mental state, I hoped that my comment might be interesting food for thought.
My opinion feels a bit like a counter comment to what I read in the comment section. Since it was so different, I felt the need to make it.
Apologies for not responding to the main article. I support drugs research though. It’s silly that we as a society don’t learn about all our tools, we should learn how to use them.
Is there any form of exercise you like? Get addicted to that. See how it compares to drugs and alcohol.
For me, my favorite type of (running with my favorite pumped up music) is remarkably similar to what people I know report when they are on MDMA, and I know these people virtually as well as I know myself.
Note: you don’t have to go all the way with exercise. Exercise is not about training your body. It’s about feeling good about moving.
Example: when I lift weights and feel not into it anymore then I do one more rep to see if the feeling stays. If it does, I stop.
Don’t exercise to train. Exercise because it feels so damn good. And the moment it doesn’t, then stop.
This line of reasoning is also applied to yoga. I am the stiffest person in the world, but I love my stretches because they feel good.
Do I improve? A bit but I care way more about performing healthy behaviors while feeling good. For me, it is the only sustainable way to be healthy.
I would say that I struggled with depression for a good chunk of my life. Then I tried some psychedelic drugs, very low doses in a safe environment and things changed dramatically very quickly. It is as close to night and day difference I think I have ever experienced. I still have my issues but they are much more in line with just the challenges of life as compared to before when just getting out of bed was nearly impossible.
I am a stoner, decent weed tolerance and smoking just about daily. Took shrooms twice. one time was shwag shroomers that did nothing. Next time i ate one single shroom (not a big one either) . My buddy was there all fucked up like dude keep eating. Well i tripped balls for 6 hours including a phone call back home to my wife to get myself grounded haha.
While it's encouraging to see a relaxation of attitudes toward drugs in general, and some degree of acceptance by medical professionals, I take exception to the idea that professional head-shrinking is required for benefit. Some people are helped by clinical psychology and psychiatry. Many people would do well to avoid all psychoactive drugs without oversight and guidance from a trained professional. But many of us have been self-medicating for decades and we're well aware of the benefit of burning a joint after work or going on a canoe trip with some mushrooms. Such an approach is still stigmatized by many mental health professionals. It takes a huge ego to think you've got a monopoly on managing my mental state for me.
>> It takes a huge ego to think you've got a monopoly on managing my mental state for me.
Funny because I though destruction of the ego was one of the requirements to achieve good mental health ;-)
Someone described their drug experience to me and said it was very important to have their trusted friend there to help ground them as needed and guide them through it. That guy is now ready to take on that role. Apparently going it alone at first is a really bad idea. Do you need a psychologist? Doubt it. They have their own issues.
The phrase 'get a second opinion' applies tenfold to anything mental health related. Far too many practitioners are enamored of pseudoscience, have massive biases or are just trying to coast along the easiest possible path.
A good therapist can make a big difference, but I personally had to go through at least 5 before I found that one for me, and in discussions with others I've learned that my experience is not at all uncommon.
Part of the problem is that by the time a lot of people break through the perceived stigma of seeking help, they're so desperate and depleted of energy that they're willing to take the first thing offered without question rather than have to run the gauntlet. For anyone in a precarious position with regard to spare time & money, I would currently recommend against seeking professional help except in outlier situations. I hope to be able to change this position in the future-- there are at least some signs of positive change (such as the increasing acceptance of psychedelics and self-treatment).
It seems like a stepping stone. The idea of accepting that sort of full freedom is frightening to people not familiar with it. If a someone trained to evaluate mental health can be standing by saying "yes its worked, they've benefited" then its an easier pill to swallow for people who haven't been educated out of "this is your brain on drugs!"
I have struggled with anxiety. It's always been a low-level constant in my life with suicidal ideation and mild panic attacks. I have never treated it beyond irregular talk therapy and CBT.
The lockdown in the US and the safety of my family has triggered me severely. I found myself unable to function, and would doom surf, opening tabs, refreshing news, watching graphs move up and to the right. No thought, just monkey level reactions.
I started taking medical THC, and my life has changed for the better. I can focus. I can relax. I can live a normal life. I can approach the covid situation with thought, not gut level reaction.
All of this is to say, if the article's drugs work for some, they need to be available. Legal marijuana in my state has made a huge difference in my life -- if other psychotropics or psychedelics help others, then let's get them out there.
I feel bad for people that aren't in a pot-legal state during this. I've definitely added some munchie weight beyond my usual but I've barely drank a drop since April. If I hop on twitter it seems like one of the common conversations is drinking nightly, same with my colleagues.
I hope people with addiction problems are able to get support and help through this. If I hadn't moved here years ago I'd probably be right there with you and waking up like every day was groundhog day again.
Now I just need to flip this lazy-pot-smoking-time-spent back into a workout routine which will take about 3-4 weeks of me working out consistently to a strict habit for myself, motivation there is almost non-existent though. Thankfully I've gone through ups and downs with exercise so many times now that I know not doing it is self fulfilling prophecy and leads to no improvements.
> I found myself unable to function, and would doom surf, opening tabs, refreshing news, watching graphs move up and to the right. No thought, just monkey level reactions.
No, but it's how I recognized something was wrong with me. I recognized I wasn't me.
I'm not saying I need pot to be me, but I need a little help to get through this, and right now THC is helping me. I can be more patient with my family. I can let myself explore my work, and I am a little more relaxed to step back and look at my problems, and say, "I can fix these, let's start on this one."
If your reply isn't a joke, maybe you need to find your outlet. It doesn't have to be what I found, maybe yours is painting models, or writing a screenplay, or playing video games. I hope you find it.
I definitely think that we shouldn't be criminalizing drugs. I've had some good experiences and some bad experiences on both LSD and mushrooms and believe that they could be beneficial in medical settings under the right supervision. That being said, people are still going to have bad reactions sometimes. I would think that the benefits are better than the risks, especially compared to our current approach to medicating away depression.
My current view is that I can reach similar states of joy and grounding (including oxytocin release) through meditation, yoga, exercise, play, community, etc. I have been in groups where everyone is partaking in psychedelics - I choose not to and still have wonderful experiences. I think that the drugs taught me how to get to those states but there are not the only way.
The conspiracy theorist in me does not think that "the Man" wants us to be grounded and open in general, including through means of drugs.
Have absolutely seen first hand the positive effects of psychedelics when done right. I've also seen/experienced the negative effects. If there's one thing I really hope this doesn't lead to is more certainty in spirituality.
It's totally awesome if someone wants to follow what-if-ism ("I like to think this, but know it's wrong and will cede the point in a serious context"). If people like to put up crystals and imagine them doing things, go for it. Brains are weird and organic, there's no happiness in being purely sterile about them. Everyone believes in some fantasy narrative most of the time, doubly so when they're happy.
But if we start allowing each-other to really, fully believe in these happy thoughts, we'll be setting ourselves up to be taken advantage of.
"more certainty in spirituality" sounds like a contradiction in terms :)
Many spiritual traditions hold the primacy of Mystery and the unknown as axiomatic.
Well-facilitated psychedelic-assisted therapy naturally provides a safe space for each individual's experience of the transpersonal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpersonal_psychology). Given that these experiences occur in reality, they are, by definition, non-dual. In other words, beyond (or before) polarized concepts like "happy" or "sad". The guide and the medicine will help people integrate these experiences back into their daily lives. What this can look like, for one, is a much greater capacity to sit with uncertainty and discomfort.
If psychedelic therapy is regularly egosyntonic, that's something to track very closely and can indicate inefficacy / weakness of one or more aspects of the process (e.g. inadequate preparation, not working with a trained guide, etc).
You're free to express your doubts about my reality and my interpretation of it, but you sound close to saying "some thoughts are too dangerous to thunk," and don't we already have enough of those?
> but you sound close to saying "some thoughts are too dangerous to thunk,"
Some thoughts are too dangerous to be thunk indefinitely. Thoughts can trigger the release of chemicals in your body, essentially acting like a drug themselves.
This can be highly addictive. Addiction can easily make a person cruel. Poorly thought thunks are indeed very, very dangerous (ie self inflation, blaming others for everything, believing things will fix themselves).
This doesn't mean these thoughts shouldn't ever be thought, but we should never lose our way back home to reality. I've seen many a hippy who followed spirituality too far, and became so hooked on their own vibe juice that they are no longer capable of basic scientific conversations.
The therapy in question isn't replacing your prozac with magic mushrooms, it is a series of brief intense therapy sessions where the patient is given a dose and talked to while they are under the influence of the drug.
It's just really obvious to everyone involved whether the patent got psilocybin, LSD, or whatever else. Double blinds would work to an extent with dosages, but still limited.
You can't do a double blind study of the effects of lighting someone's hair on fire on their ability to solve math problems, that's about the realm of the situation here.
Researchers need to study therapy sessions compared to therapy sessions with psychedelics. If they have enough people, include a third arm with traditional antidepressant medication.
It's not blinded, but at least we would have data to compare to existing treatments. Double-blind isn't the only way to run a trial.
My understanding is that they achieve "double-blind" by giving everybody either a low dose or high dose. So everybody gets mushrooms, and the effect is based on the difference between a low dose and high dose. Experimenters don't know the dose that a subject gets, and subjects don't know that there is a difference in the dose they could get, so they can't try to guess what dose they got. It does tend to be obvious to the experimenters who got which dose when it kicks in though.
at least sometimes they've done blind experiments with an "active placebo" - give the subject something like Ritalin that makes you feel like you've taken a drug, but no psychedelic effect
I mean haven't you ever had/heard about that guy who would describe what an amazing experience he had on drug X when someone gave him fake drugs.
It's easy to distinguish if you tried it, otherwise autosuggestion etc. could play it's part of you actually tell the placebo group you are giving them pshychodelics (not disclosing/mentioning placebo)
I have anxiety and used to have REALLY bad anxiety. My girlfriend at the time encouraged me to try weed because it helped her. I was incredibly nervous and after just one inhalation I had one of the worst panic attacks of my life. It was as if I had no control at all.
I understand how psychedelics can help in theory, but man I'd be so freaking scared to even try them because I hate that feeling of losing control.
It's important to reaffirm before, during, and after the trip that you're totally "normal" and going to stay "normal". In my experience a "bad trip" is an anxiety/panic attack through the lens of whatever drug you're on.
I've had success nearly 100% talking people down by engaging the panic and looking for the root cause. Most of the time it seems that people have some underlying anxiety that weed/hallucinogens bubble to the surface. They're suddenly and unexpectedly faced with a completely new manifestation of their fears.
"I thought weed was supposed to be fun? What do you mean it'll force me to think about my negative mental baggage???"
It can be overwhelming if someone isn't there to talk you through it and explain that it's completely normal.
Avoiding addressing that feeling of losing control is analogous to an obese person afraid of exercise and diet. It will certainly help but is extremely difficult and painful to start.
The first time I've used weed I had one too. I still do not enjoy weed. I've microdosing mushrooms and then I was way more relaxed when I took a large dose for the first time. I was scared in the begginning, and sensing an increase in my anxiety because my GF was watching me sober, then I excused myself and laid down on the bed, watching the sky with music on the earphones. I've concluded that I can't have a nice time with drugs having people with me.
It is a common opinion of people not acquainted to mushrooms that you will loose control, as if all drugs had the same effect as weed or alcohol.
Loosing control with mushrooms is associated to high doses or previous psychotic conditions.
Periodic reminder that weed and psychedelics are _very_ different things, with different effects. One can't be compared to the other, though people sometimes describe "trippy" weed experiences. Each compound produces its own effect.
Readit News
Do I like being simply sober!
I prefer my mental quickness and sharpness over anything. When I smoke weed, I lose my English (lol) and only speak Dutch. When I take shrooms, I don't even dare to get off the bed. Hell, I don't even know what a bed is! And when I'm drunk, that's just a horrible feeling, while I'm drunk. I'm actually much more fine with a hangover, since I'm already more mentally sharp then (with a huge headache).
Drugs are fun to debug your brain with, but ultimately:
- Sex
- Exercise
- Meditation
- Yoga
- The Wim Hof Method
- Amazing food
That's my favorite type of drugs.
With that said, if you prefer to take drugs, by all means: go ahead ;-)
Full disclaimer: weed on a very light dose (Dutch weed though) and MDMA can be exceptions to this on very rare occassions, according to some people I know. They can be relationship enhancing (friends or SO) in the right setting.
Not trying to debate your point or take any validity away from anything you said, I am 66% with you. Just curious about your thoughts, since we seem to have had a different experience in that case.
So there’s definitely something to it.
The same goes for alcohol and weed.
Now that I think about it more sharply, my favorite doses:
- alcohol: 1 to 3 glasses
- weed (Dutch): 1 to 3 puffs
- truffles (Dutch as sold in smartshops): half a standard dose sold
Thanks for making me more aware on this. I was only hyper aware of this with weed. Too much weed always makes me feel I’m dying. The first few times I had that, I even believed it.
While too much mushrooms or alcohol are no joke either, the experiences were more positive (mixed in with a lot of less positive things).
It’s experiences like those that I realized that I like being sober.
But I agree they can, especially with more professional guidance. If anything, those people are sober and a tripsitter is a necessity.
Where i live, weed is usually the narcotic, body-high type that makes you sit there quietly in an anaesthetised stupor - stereotypical indica. I don't enjoy that all. But occasionally, you come across the head-high type that makes you energetic and giggly - the stereotypical sativa. That's really good fun! It's like the best parts of being drunk, without some of the downsides.
To me it's someone saying they tried therapy for one session and didn't feel any benefit!
Regarding the weed, ONE small piece the size of a matchhead/pin-head can make me different for 2 to 3 days, turning into some overdrive mode. Even when worked into a slim cigarette with extra long 2cm filter with 6mm diameter. That is insane!
Extasy i liked very much decades ago, but abstained from it because of too much "russian roulette".
Sex i couldn't care less, my cats give me all the cuddling i need.
Exercise? I bicycle and walk all year around during all weather.
Meditation, Yoga? Don't care.
Food? Don't care that much. Like to abuse mild Sri Racha (green cap) on everything :)
edit: Ah, forgot Shrooms. Would like to have them more often! And anything else with the reputation of expanding consciousness. But again, in a safe way, without russian roulette.
I agree with the Russian roulette feel.
Perhaps that's why governments try to ban drugs: because given a chance, most people would prefer NOT to stay sober, except for few exceptional individuals.
For work the answer is: a 4 day work week helps a shit ton. I am free on Wednesday. So if I dread the workday then I am free the next day or the day after that which puts me at ease. Also, then when I am free, I am noticing that I don’t like the day much more. That gives me a powerful perspective to not blame work for when I feel unhappy.
Also, my work feels kind of easy. CRUD apps are not tje difficult beasts I studied during college.
It also helps that the founders guard work-life balance.
The problem many people are fighting is boredom. Hence the prevalence of alcohol. It makes time go by, it turns off the brain that is largely capable of haphazard worrying and complaining.
For those who are smart enough to assemble hierarchies of meaning and play with them, sobriety is great. For most everyone else - regular drug use is probably an optimal strategy.
It sucks to live like that. I wish I could help. I’ll take a few minutes to see if there is some low hanging fruit. I know a few people quite close to me who fit this description.
Let me put it this way:
50 y/o people look at me weird when I say that I smoke a pure joint.
Edibles, don’t fully know. I do know that people that don’t like to smoke take them.
I feel people are a bit too hyped about this and since I have used stuff like this to help me with my mental state, I hoped that my comment might be interesting food for thought.
My opinion feels a bit like a counter comment to what I read in the comment section. Since it was so different, I felt the need to make it.
Apologies for not responding to the main article. I support drugs research though. It’s silly that we as a society don’t learn about all our tools, we should learn how to use them.
It's a terrible way to live. Drinking too much :-(
Is there any form of exercise you like? Get addicted to that. See how it compares to drugs and alcohol.
For me, my favorite type of (running with my favorite pumped up music) is remarkably similar to what people I know report when they are on MDMA, and I know these people virtually as well as I know myself.
Note: you don’t have to go all the way with exercise. Exercise is not about training your body. It’s about feeling good about moving.
Example: when I lift weights and feel not into it anymore then I do one more rep to see if the feeling stays. If it does, I stop.
Don’t exercise to train. Exercise because it feels so damn good. And the moment it doesn’t, then stop.
This line of reasoning is also applied to yoga. I am the stiffest person in the world, but I love my stretches because they feel good.
Do I improve? A bit but I care way more about performing healthy behaviors while feeling good. For me, it is the only sustainable way to be healthy.
Funny because I though destruction of the ego was one of the requirements to achieve good mental health ;-)
Someone described their drug experience to me and said it was very important to have their trusted friend there to help ground them as needed and guide them through it. That guy is now ready to take on that role. Apparently going it alone at first is a really bad idea. Do you need a psychologist? Doubt it. They have their own issues.
A good therapist can make a big difference, but I personally had to go through at least 5 before I found that one for me, and in discussions with others I've learned that my experience is not at all uncommon.
Part of the problem is that by the time a lot of people break through the perceived stigma of seeking help, they're so desperate and depleted of energy that they're willing to take the first thing offered without question rather than have to run the gauntlet. For anyone in a precarious position with regard to spare time & money, I would currently recommend against seeking professional help except in outlier situations. I hope to be able to change this position in the future-- there are at least some signs of positive change (such as the increasing acceptance of psychedelics and self-treatment).
I have struggled with anxiety. It's always been a low-level constant in my life with suicidal ideation and mild panic attacks. I have never treated it beyond irregular talk therapy and CBT.
The lockdown in the US and the safety of my family has triggered me severely. I found myself unable to function, and would doom surf, opening tabs, refreshing news, watching graphs move up and to the right. No thought, just monkey level reactions.
I started taking medical THC, and my life has changed for the better. I can focus. I can relax. I can live a normal life. I can approach the covid situation with thought, not gut level reaction.
All of this is to say, if the article's drugs work for some, they need to be available. Legal marijuana in my state has made a huge difference in my life -- if other psychotropics or psychedelics help others, then let's get them out there.
I hope people with addiction problems are able to get support and help through this. If I hadn't moved here years ago I'd probably be right there with you and waking up like every day was groundhog day again.
Now I just need to flip this lazy-pot-smoking-time-spent back into a workout routine which will take about 3-4 weeks of me working out consistently to a strict habit for myself, motivation there is almost non-existent though. Thankfully I've gone through ups and downs with exercise so many times now that I know not doing it is self fulfilling prophecy and leads to no improvements.
now to just.. do it..
Deleted Comment
Are you trying to make fun of me?
I'm not saying I need pot to be me, but I need a little help to get through this, and right now THC is helping me. I can be more patient with my family. I can let myself explore my work, and I am a little more relaxed to step back and look at my problems, and say, "I can fix these, let's start on this one."
If your reply isn't a joke, maybe you need to find your outlet. It doesn't have to be what I found, maybe yours is painting models, or writing a screenplay, or playing video games. I hope you find it.
My current view is that I can reach similar states of joy and grounding (including oxytocin release) through meditation, yoga, exercise, play, community, etc. I have been in groups where everyone is partaking in psychedelics - I choose not to and still have wonderful experiences. I think that the drugs taught me how to get to those states but there are not the only way.
The conspiracy theorist in me does not think that "the Man" wants us to be grounded and open in general, including through means of drugs.
It's totally awesome if someone wants to follow what-if-ism ("I like to think this, but know it's wrong and will cede the point in a serious context"). If people like to put up crystals and imagine them doing things, go for it. Brains are weird and organic, there's no happiness in being purely sterile about them. Everyone believes in some fantasy narrative most of the time, doubly so when they're happy.
But if we start allowing each-other to really, fully believe in these happy thoughts, we'll be setting ourselves up to be taken advantage of.
Many spiritual traditions hold the primacy of Mystery and the unknown as axiomatic.
Well-facilitated psychedelic-assisted therapy naturally provides a safe space for each individual's experience of the transpersonal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpersonal_psychology). Given that these experiences occur in reality, they are, by definition, non-dual. In other words, beyond (or before) polarized concepts like "happy" or "sad". The guide and the medicine will help people integrate these experiences back into their daily lives. What this can look like, for one, is a much greater capacity to sit with uncertainty and discomfort.
If psychedelic therapy is regularly egosyntonic, that's something to track very closely and can indicate inefficacy / weakness of one or more aspects of the process (e.g. inadequate preparation, not working with a trained guide, etc).
You're free to express your doubts about my reality and my interpretation of it, but you sound close to saying "some thoughts are too dangerous to thunk," and don't we already have enough of those?
Some thoughts are too dangerous to be thunk indefinitely. Thoughts can trigger the release of chemicals in your body, essentially acting like a drug themselves.
This can be highly addictive. Addiction can easily make a person cruel. Poorly thought thunks are indeed very, very dangerous (ie self inflation, blaming others for everything, believing things will fix themselves).
This doesn't mean these thoughts shouldn't ever be thought, but we should never lose our way back home to reality. I've seen many a hippy who followed spirituality too far, and became so hooked on their own vibe juice that they are no longer capable of basic scientific conversations.
The therapy in question isn't replacing your prozac with magic mushrooms, it is a series of brief intense therapy sessions where the patient is given a dose and talked to while they are under the influence of the drug.
It's just really obvious to everyone involved whether the patent got psilocybin, LSD, or whatever else. Double blinds would work to an extent with dosages, but still limited.
You can't do a double blind study of the effects of lighting someone's hair on fire on their ability to solve math problems, that's about the realm of the situation here.
Researchers need to study therapy sessions compared to therapy sessions with psychedelics. If they have enough people, include a third arm with traditional antidepressant medication.
It's not blinded, but at least we would have data to compare to existing treatments. Double-blind isn't the only way to run a trial.
Do subjects really believe this?
"Even though most trials are done with placebo groups I'm sure this one will be different"
It's easy to distinguish if you tried it, otherwise autosuggestion etc. could play it's part of you actually tell the placebo group you are giving them pshychodelics (not disclosing/mentioning placebo)
Not that the FDA would allow that.
I understand how psychedelics can help in theory, but man I'd be so freaking scared to even try them because I hate that feeling of losing control.
I've had success nearly 100% talking people down by engaging the panic and looking for the root cause. Most of the time it seems that people have some underlying anxiety that weed/hallucinogens bubble to the surface. They're suddenly and unexpectedly faced with a completely new manifestation of their fears.
"I thought weed was supposed to be fun? What do you mean it'll force me to think about my negative mental baggage???"
It can be overwhelming if someone isn't there to talk you through it and explain that it's completely normal.
That's what comparison is for.