With the collapse of the SSRI hypothesis, I feel like there was a missed opportunity to interrogate what it is about the affluent, technological society that makes such a staggering number of people so depressed.
It seems that we will instead (characteristically) plow forward with even more powerful drugs.
The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
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Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#12I recently did LSD. It wasn't my first encounter with psychedelics but none have done what LSD did. I have a good bit of trauma that I'd attempted to work through throughout my life. The thing is, many of those things are settled. I cannot change them, I've course corrected my life away from my actions being influenced by these things, and on the exterior I think most people would find me well adapted. I was pretty m…
I think most of us are desperate to see ourselves from a different perspective (whether we realize it or not), but that's really hard to do when success in our day-to-day lives depends on us having a stable vision of ourselves and our place in the world. I think a lot of experiences, including a lot of drugs, can help either provide a temporary new perspective, or even shift our everyday view of ourselves and our lives more permanently. LSD seems to be one of the most effective.
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#13It's sad that the only way to legalize is to force people to see a qualified therapist and take patented psychedelics in order to benefit from the experience, but that's what the normies want. I've taken them with a therapist and it was meh because the doctor/patient relationship became weird under the influence. On the other hand I've had peak experiences by myself alone in a redwood forest on a fresh clear morning.
Mushrooms are being lightly legalized in some cities and states. And while a lot of that is under the umbrella of mental health or spirituality, it is not being confined to medical environments. The normies appear to be losing that particular battle. And I think they're set to lose a lot more.
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#14It's sad that the only way to legalize is to force people to see a qualified therapist and take patented psychedelics in order to benefit from the experience, but that's what the normies want. I've taken them with a therapist and it was meh because the doctor/patient relationship became weird under the influence. On the other hand I've had peak experiences by myself alone in a redwood forest on a fresh clear morning.
Is it really what "normies" want? Or is it just what drug companies/lobbyists want?
I think at least some normies want that. I'm pretty much as normie as it gets and I've been watching Michael Pollan's series on Netflix How to Change Your Mind. One day I might want to try LSD, psilocybin, or MDMA (those are the episodes I've watched) but probably wouldn't until I could buy from an FDA regulated company. I don't trust dark web sources or the neighborhood guy who knows a guy.
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#15Do we really need new ones? Maybe, we just need to decriminalize nature and let a shamanic class arise to guide us on a spiritual journey of self-awareness.
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it really what "normies" want? Or is it just what drug companies/lobbyists want?
Probably a mix of both. People who have some experience with drugs might want the benefit of the trip, but people who are a little more hesitant of the idea of mind-altering substances that last 8+ hours, such as LSD, might be more comfortable with some sort of watered-down experience backed by a major pharma brand and delivered by a licensed therapist. Of course, drug companies and lobbyists also dream of such outco…
Is an inexpensive drug that can "cure" PTSD after a very small number of doses a dream or nightmare for drug companies and lobbyists?
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it really what "normies" want? Or is it just what drug companies/lobbyists want?
I think at least some normies want that. I'm pretty much as normie as it gets and I've been watching Michael Pollan's series on Netflix How to Change Your Mind . One day I might want to try LSD, psilocybin, or MDMA (those are the episodes I've watched) but probably wouldn't until I could buy from an FDA regulated company. I don't trust dark web sources or the neighborhood guy who knows a guy.
You can and should test any substance you acquire from an unregulated source.
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#18[deleted]
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#19There was an NYT article not too long ago whose entire point is that "true" psychedelic drugs are too dangerous to go mainstream, but isolated chemical compounds that provide some of the chemical effects of LSD / Mushrooms / Ketamine without the "trip" were a much better way to go. The reasoning was that they could engineer a way to chemically induce neuroplastic change in the brain without the liability of visual or…
the word you were looking for was probably “psychoactive” not “neuroplastic”
Re: The high-stakes race to engineer new psychedelic drugs
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably a mix of both. People who have some experience with drugs might want the benefit of the trip, but people who are a little more hesitant of the idea of mind-altering substances that last 8+ hours, such as LSD, might be more comfortable with some sort of watered-down experience backed by a major pharma brand and delivered by a licensed therapist. Of course, drug companies and lobbyists also dream of such outco…
Is an inexpensive drug that can "cure" PTSD after a very small number of doses a dream or nightmare for drug companies and lobbyists?
A nightmare - as said companies will have a fixed amount of revenue per patient, and it won't be recurring.
Wall Street doesn't like companies that go against the ingrained model of "extremely expensive long term care as a service".