Posted by Hooke 16 hours ago
I write in only to say that I’ve taken MDMA under the guidance of a specialist, who had MAPS training and a lot of experience. MDMA is typically not considered to be a psychedelic, but it’s in-family with psychedelic therapy.
Two sessions, separated by about 6 months, helped me to see many relationships in my life in a new way. There was intention setting beforehand, and notes taken during session, and integration afterwards. All that seemed very important to the process.
Interested people could check out Julie Holland’s book on Ecstacy, or Rachel Nuwer’s book I feel love, or of course Michael Pollan’s wonderful book How to change your mind.
These drugs are generally much less addictive than alcohol, nicotine, opiates, and amphentamines, drugs which are considered to have medical uses of some sort and are not criminalized as energetically as the psychedelics, which is a bit odd.
I suppose if you want an orderly obedient population not given to asking difficult questions of the established authoritarians (such as 'why are we paying you taxes that you use to live in a big mansion with lots of servants'), then you might be concerned about psychedelic use for reasons having nothing to do with medicine. You might be afraid of losing control, of random ideas popping up and spreading through the population, a questioning of long-established social norms, etc. I really wonder if that's where the control freak hysteria on this topic comes from.
The Atlantic is clickbait for the professional-managerial class.
The irony is when you're under the influence of psychedelics, "weak science" is the least likeliest thought you'll have.
We know psychedelics change perception and mood significantly. That should be the starting point. I'm surprised anyone bothers with placebos. Lab coats and data analysis only gets you so far. Leary was right, set and setting is crucial. We come from a 'billion years of evolution', and the idea is to reflect on your own humanity and consciousness. If you attempt that within a 4 walled room, you're asking for trouble.
Temporary loss of ego is a whole topic that needs to be part of the learning. Big doses push perception outside yourself. That effect alone is beneficial, if unsettling. If in doubt, avoid. Climbing a mountain or going on epic multi-day adventure in nature is healthier anyway if you have the opportunity.
When one disses the site, the one must mention better site.
(Replying to the comment that you made before completely rewriting it.)
You're completely wrong about the sugar pill (or at least whether or not it matters) - it's one of the issues with psychedelic medicines: there's no viable placebo at higher doses, and it's the higher doses that seem to have the deepest and longest lasting impact on depression.
Most people certainly aren't capable of having the same kind of experience without the substance, goes for all of the ones I mentioned and more.
And while we haven't been able to do the amount of science one could wish for, because of criminalization; there's plenty of experience out there and enough science to understand how the drugs deliver their effect.
Using psychedelics to improve anything (except maybe some forms of art) seems to me like when writers would drink to help them write. There's never going to be any rigorous evidence for any benefit.
However, eating a piece of chocolate also makes you feel good. Doesn't mean chocolate is an effective treatment for depression. Whether psychedelics are effective treatments for various psychological conditions, I don't know. Whether the risks outweigh the benefits, I don't know.
I've grown more conservative about drug use over the past few years. I hope we keep up the research but it is very clear that -- as the article argues -- these drugs have been overhyped.
Sadly, hen and hens family desperately need help.
How would you feel if the tables were reversed and you were being pushed into tripping instead of therapy?
These are the kinds of choices that we have to learn to respect, for all of us, which means less judging.
There may be other ways to help if that's really what you want to do.
But it would be wiser to base it on empathy and understanding than ego.
Agreed, but you need to keep it on a leash, or it will ruin your life.
I’ve only seen the opposite. I won’t touch them because my brain is poison, but the people I know who have, they are all in legitimately better places, and this is without regular redosing.
They try quite heavily to sell me in the idea of these things, but again, I know they just are not for me and my brain.