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This is such an encouraging and promising area, esp. for those who suffer from long-term depression and PTSD. MDMA and ketamine are also potential non-traditional therapeutics which aren't discussed in this article.
There has been growing interest in this research area in recent years; hopefully this leads to the establishment of effective dosages and treatment regimes!
sensusquaeramSeptember 22, 2020
Thank you for posting this! It's a fantastic field of study. Psilocybin is being fast-tracked through the testing and approval process in the U.S., and is already being cleared for clinical use in regular depression (originally the bar was set at treatment-resistant depression).
Two excellent books I just read, if anyone's interested -- "Sacred Knowledge" by William Richards (Johns Hopkins), and "How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan. Both give a lot of history.
gold_bee [OP]September 22, 2020
Psilocybin is being fast-tracked through the testing and approval process in the U.S., and is already being cleared for clinical use in regular depression
This is such wonderful news! Very exciting to think about the profound relief that this could bring to millions of people.
sensusquaeramSeptember 22, 2020
Isn't it? I've been diving into the history of prohibition, and it's unconscionable that these medicinals were locked away in 1970. Very excited to see this unfolding!
gold_bee [OP]September 22, 2020
Indeed! I'm relieved to see research funding going toward improving our understanding of how "bad" drugs can be beneficial, as opposed to earlier studies (that I was aware of) which showed that frying your brain on MDMA or taking massive doses of THC was not beneficial - which ultimately served the "just say no" agenda. Most drugs (legal or otherwise) are dangerous when not taken correctly or without properly accounting for the risks.
[Deleted]September 22, 2020
I wonder how these would interact if one has more bipolar-like symptoms, rather than solely depression (along with additional ptsd and anxiety)?
I have bipolar, ptsd and anxiety, and I agree with everything else said in these comments and the article. I think psychedelics are a valuable coping tool to many mental illnesses. They don’t cure anything, but provide fantastic, profound insights, if your mind is open and you are ready.
I say this as someone who has tripped many times. I encourage people to go into a trip with intentions to learn something about themselves; like others said, it’s better to take them with spiritual/psychological intentions, rather than for recreation.
I think most people should trip on acid, DMT or shrooms at least once in their life, if they are psychologically capable for it; for instance, I wouldn’t recommend them to those with schizophrenia. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion. But the world might have more empathy if more people did psychs ;) (especially men!)
[Deleted]September 22, 2020
Wow, thanks for this detailed info and sagely advice (hehe!). Sounds like we have similar mental health issues. Though I've never been brave enough to try anything like this (and I'm not quite sure I'm 'psychologically capable' at this point), I'm glad to know it's been helpful for others.
And what you said about men on psychedelics made me lol... imagining a bunch of dudes so chilled out they can barely move, let alone harm any women. ;D
TheEthicalHedonistSeptember 23, 2020
How did you do DMT? I’ve only snorted it and it was a much different experience from smoking it, or so I’m told.
It lasted for at least 90 min, but was profoundly impactful on my recovery.
[Deleted]September 22, 2020
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[Deleted]September 22, 2020
Thanks for the input! Don't worry, I wouldn't try to take anyting like this without a ton of research, but I was just curious, mainly cause I know that traditional anti-depressants don't interact well with bipolar disorder either.
Good to know that about the PTSD. I'll have to look into this subject more...
MDMA sent from me into a hypomanic episode into the most depressed episode of my life the next day after I took it, and it destroyed my life for months. Personally I wouldn’t recommend it to those with bipolar, but that’s just my opinion. I did do a LOT, so it at least would be much better to do in small doses/“microdoses”.
sensusquaeramSeptember 22, 2020
This is an excellent point -- not only are clinical doses being studied, but microdosing is getting a lot of attention. My guess is we'll have a variety of psychedelics with different titrations.
TheEthicalHedonistSeptember 23, 2020
The serotonin depletion after MDMA can be really hard to handle, especially on top of Bipolar (II I’m assuming since you said hypomanic?)
For me, taking MDMA helped me cope with my PTSD and kinda solidified that my ADHD was misdiagnosed as Bipolar II. I had minimal issues post-trip, even with higher doses.
I could totally be talking out of my ass with that one, but it’s what makes sense to me :)
Have you microdosed it yet? I’d be curious to see if that was better for you.
sensusquaeramSeptember 22, 2020
That's a very good question. AFAIK the only absolute contraindication is schizophrenia.
I can say that 4 ayahuasca ceremonies over the course of a week and half made a universe of difference for my PTSD/anxiety.
I also used MDMA and mushrooms over the last 4 years for the same reason. All are incredibly helpful.
That said, it didn’t replace therapy. But it made it so much more useful.
I've only done 1 psilocybin trip so far, but it clarified things I wansn't seeing after a decade of therapy.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm glad that you found an approach that it worked for you.
Ayahuasca is such an amazing experience, but it is definitely not something to be taken lightly. It is NOT recreational and it horrifies me when I hear people thinking of it like that.
I know it can sound pretentious, but I don’t recommend it if you don’t have a calling to it. And a “calling” is different for everyone, and I really don’t mean to gatekeep. I just have seen how powerful the medicine can be.
Four years later and I still have moments that I feel 100% comfortable attributing to aya. It kinda blows my mind.
If you ever considering doing it (if you haven’t already), always vet your ceremony carefully! I spent a few weeks in Peru and I know I’ll be going back as soon as the universe tells me it’s time.
It would be great if we could eventually have a psychedelics/cannabis circle. I’m in the legal cannabis industry and it is definitely male-dominated. Which is a shame since it’s the female plant that we all know and love!
That makes sense, we all have different comfort levels when it comes to treatments, and it is important to be fully aware of the risks going in. Using psychedelics should not a casual undertaking.
I've noticed this as well... not a shock but unfortunate!