Developing "special Interest"? about psychedelic research and experiences

please remove ur instagram link in your profile because it identifies u immediately . You are supposed to be anonymous.

apart from that Welcome to the forum  --- 

Sorry to revive this dead thread but psychedelics are my main special interest and I do have plenty of first hand experience :) Ask away

Also I think in this day and age, given the mental health crisis we seem to be having due to modern life and consumerism, that we need to start having debates about alternative therapies. We need more research into it all. But I am coming to think that those above us don't want people to have their minds opened because they want to keep us in our place and serve capitalism. I understand there are negative aspects to psychedelics but I think if it's administered properly and with the right intentions it could have a massive impact

Hi yes I understand where you are coming from and in no way am I advocating or glamorising it. I'm interested in how they alter perception of the world. How can it be that many people who have taken DMT have reported such similar events similar to near death experiences or alien abduction or contact with other beings? I have read of athiests being turned toward spirituality after these experiences. I have read how people have felt that they had died on their trip then returned to their body. All sense of self and ego disappeared.  There are so many accounts like this it has really got me thinking. In the past I woukd have just put it down to changes in the brain. But it's really making me question everything. 

Hello! I haven't heard of paul stamets but I will check him out. I've looked into robin cahart-harris and imperial college London studies and the one they are currently recruiting for isn't suitable for me. I suppose there is the idea that one is 'safer' if taking psychedelics in a medical setting but there are still risks. I'm very risk averse, I'm not sure if I ever would actually take any! What about you? I suppose frame of mind snd setting have a big impact though. 

Yes I'm taking an SSRI for GAD, it's helping with physical symptoms but they don't stop some things being difficult. Just a bit easier to manage. SSRIs were a last resort for me as I didn't want to put chemicals into my body. However I've since thought that,  it just molecules going into your body whether it be in the shape of a white pill or something more natural. I've read about how doses of psilocybin can help with poor mental health and microdosing of other psychedelics could help.

There's so much I want to say on this subject. What sparked it for me was when my friend just mentioned her fella had been at his mates house and the mates were smoking DMT "it's a chemical you release when you die". I then realised I'd watched a bamned ted talk by Graham Hancock a few months previously on ayahuasca. It all started to come together.

Imy interests have more often than not learned toward....meaning of life,  space, universe, perception, identity,  counter culture, psychology,  nature, in my younger years the paranormal, in my recent years quantum physics and science. What about you? How has it become an interest to you? 

Also,... sorry for bad punctuation I’m writing this on my phone 

... I’d also like to add that I am not advocating or endorsing the use of these substances I am purely interested in seeking a harm reduction approach as I don’t think the current situation is one that works.

I wouldn’t suggest anybody seek out psychedelics unless they have done sufficient and solid research from reputable sources as we all differ in our individual incarnations and though they may help some people out of depression and addictions they may impair others especially if a substance is not properly and cautiously used in a safe environment around trustworthy people.

In other words don’t just do it on a whim with a group of friends at a party if you’re interested in the psychological benefits. They are drugs and should be treated with the same cautious behaviour one would take towards prescription drugs. 

Had to get that out there in case anyone reading this gets the wrong impression as to my stance in this debate. 

I’m trying to seek out the balanced and honest truth surrounding psychedelics and the pharmaceutical companies as I think we have a loooooong ways to go yet but there are scientists making those first steps to the truth.

Hi there Niemand I appreciate your response and with it your concerns. They are valid concerns although I’m not interested in abusing substances or glamorising them. I’m interested in there potential to help. I’d also question exactly how many deaths are linked to psychedelics in comparison with legal substances and argue that with out proper investigation into the substances we can not draw a solid opinion.

A lot of propaganda and hysteria surrounds psychedelics and the legal status of such substances does not deter people and the supply chain will exist regardless of law. 

We would be in a better position if we had solid scientific study into all substances and the correct information available to potential users, such as myself, than the alternative of wilful blindness and scare tactics that have proven time and time again to fail as a deterrent.

The war on drugs was a failure from the get go. We only have to look to recent history, to the prohibition of alcohol and the how the power of supply and demand was placed in the hands of an unregulated criminal underworld.

We could put in as many preventive measures as possible. such as legalisation and regulation and education as people will always go against the law when it comes to drugs and I think that the illegal status of substances can even be a draw towards for some rather than a deterrent.

 I’m sorry if that was a little long winded but I’m interested in what you think of that?

My life's improved after I gave up alcohol, tea and coffee. 

I think it is a very dangerous interest. Not dangerous as in subversive, but dangerous to you. It has a glamour to it, but the way is also littered with numerous people who ended up fried or dead from taking psychedelics.

Psychedelia has left behind some great art and music (along with some pish), but I'm not sure the risk outweighs the benefits.

Hi,

I’ve been doing some research on this also. May I ask for what sparked your curiosity in the beginning?

Have you looked up Paul Stemets a mycologist whose a former associate of Terrence McKenna? He has some great insights into the subject and there is also a professor at the imperial college, London who’s conducting similar experiments into the benefits of such substances although I cannot recall her name right now.

I have ASD and with it an anxiety disorder and I have depended on pharmaceutical drugs prescribed to me for the last three years but they don’t fix things really they just mask them. I’ve read that recent studies on psilocybin have claimed that one or two sessions under the right conditions and doses can have miraculous results for helping with depression, anxiety and trauma to name but a few.

I’d be up for discussion on this subject as well as spirituality as you briefly mentioned as these are two subjects I adore.

I have in the past dabbled with different substances but I was to immature and self destructive to benefit from them in my younger years. The worse substance for me was alcohol as it became problematic...but that’s another story and I’m going off topic so..., yeah. 

Look forward to your response 

ATK