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How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

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Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took mushrooms three years ago and immediately gained a pervasive baseline anxiety in my life. Haven't been able to shake it since. Wouldn't recommend if you have any issues with anxiety in your life beforehand.

I developed an anxiety condition from extensive periods of deep meditation. In my viewpoint it had been there all along and I had mostly just covered it up with other emotions - but the meditation amplified things a lot , I went through a crisis lasting months about a decade ago. I still get anxiety attacks sometimes and had never had them before. I don’t know if your trip caused something new or just uncovered somet…

I'd agree with the uncovering sentiment, I had been very good at ignoring and repressing anxieties up to that point. Maybe the trip just permanently ruined that illusion, since then I haven't really been able to handle anxiety well at all.

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a risk that many psychonauts seem unwilling to accept. Hope you're doing okay. That anxiety is something that's almost impossible for people to understand if they haven't experienced it.

I'm doing okay. You are right, it's a very vulnerable and almost inevitable feeling, like I've been shown who I "truly" am inside, something that I only accessed directly during that trip, but which exists below the surface all the time. Which obviously cycles heavily back into the anxious feelings. I've never really put this experience in to words before, reading it back maybe it's time for me to try something other…

God I know exactly what you mean. There's this feeling that surfaces during the trip that's so familiar and so real and you realize it's always there, but hiding under the surface. And now that you've seen it, you can never quite fully ignore it again.

> maybe it's time for me to try something other than waiting for it to burn itself out.

It hasn't burnt itself out for me either. I don't think it ever will. But therapy has helped, as has leaning into life, and getting lost in it a bit.

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#73

Bad trips are a real risk with all psychedelics. I don't like the attitude in psychedelic communities that there's "no such thing as a bad trip, only a challenging one". I had a couple bad trips. It felt like living in hell for a literal eternity. It's almost impossible to describe the agony that the human mind is capable of experiencing. It's absurd how much suffering the human mind can experience. The main message…

I took mushrooms three years ago and immediately gained a pervasive baseline anxiety in my life. Haven't been able to shake it since. Wouldn't recommend if you have any issues with anxiety in your life beforehand.

I have a similar problem. I did a lot of psychedelics in high school and eventually developed a weird issue with anxiety. I don’t have panic attacks. Rather, I constantly imagine every possible thing that could possibly go wrong in my life and fret about it, even though 99% of the time my worry is unfounded. I’ve spent so many nights waking up at 3am and not sleeping all night because of some obscure, 1/1,000,000 scenario I’ve concocted.

If it’s any solace, I’ve come to enjoy this aspect of my personality. My constant worrying annoys my wife, but I’ve come to accept that this is how I think, and that has given me solace. I’m not sure I would change it if I could now.

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I developed an anxiety condition from extensive periods of deep meditation. In my viewpoint it had been there all along and I had mostly just covered it up with other emotions - but the meditation amplified things a lot , I went through a crisis lasting months about a decade ago. I still get anxiety attacks sometimes and had never had them before. I don’t know if your trip caused something new or just uncovered somet…

I am sorry to hear that. You might find very useful this EP about meditation from Andrew Huberman: https://youtu.be/wTBSGgbIvsY It’s the first time I saw someone differentiating different types of meditation and it seems to match your experience. Basically, we can either exercise and build up our focus to our internal state and bodily sensations OR do the same but focusing externally. The interesting thing is that so…

The alternative is: now that you've found this anxiety you have, you should challenge it, and work on root causing, mitigating, and resolving it.

I get super anxious about doing anything I haven't done in a while, but falling off the bike solves the fear of falling off the bike real fast. For me, at least

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#75
post #60
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just buy spores, they are legal.

If you want to be under the radar go ahead. It is a strict controlled substance. Spores are just loopholes but can't be sure if you don't get a visit one day.

I imagine growing spores with the knowledge that you can grow mushrooms that can be used for psychedelics from them is similarly illegal to buying/growing poppy flowers knowing that they can be used for opium.

It's only legal if you don't know -- a thought crime

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#77
post #70

Ayahuasca ceremonies are among the most profound, cherished experiences of my life. I prepare for months before partaking in them to make sure my emotional, physical, and spiritual health is in a good place. And I can't imagine taking this drug without being under the care of experienced guides. I also wouldn't recommend it for anyone except those who really desire to push the limits of their mind. Some trips have fe…

I’ve had similar experiences on large doses of mush. I think it’s in your head, but it’s something that your subconscious self really wanted your conscious self to acknowledge. For you, perhaps you are in the habit of “rationalizing” away profound experiences which serves to protect you from being overwhelmed by life. But sometimes you need to be swept away by life and give in to your senses. There’s truth in our subconscious reactions, truth beyond what our conscious selves can reason about.

I believe psychedelics make it easier to become religious, because they teach you how to have faith in a higher power than your conscious self. I now have a deeper trust in the universe, which is another word for God, which is another word for my subconscious.

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#78
post #70

Ayahuasca ceremonies are among the most profound, cherished experiences of my life. I prepare for months before partaking in them to make sure my emotional, physical, and spiritual health is in a good place. And I can't imagine taking this drug without being under the care of experienced guides. I also wouldn't recommend it for anyone except those who really desire to push the limits of their mind. Some trips have fe…

I’ve had dreams where I carry on actual conversations with people in my own life and or strangers.

Realizing that I’m dreaming, I ask questions and to my surprise their answers and reactions are not of my doing. I ask in the manner of only listening immediately (clear minded with no thinking) so as to not influence their response. The brain is truly mysterious.

I wonder if hidden personas are created and stored and revealed in our dreams?

Or that our brain is connected to a plane that actually exists outside of our reality.

Maybe one day I’ll experience what you have.

Thanks for sharing.

Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#79
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate on what exactly you experienced (and your takeaways) from your bad trip? Do you feel like set and setting or your previous mental state going into the trip caused the bad trip?

> Could you elaborate on what exactly you experienced (and your takeaways) from your bad trip? I experienced the worst pain I could ever imagine, felt my consciousness stretched to fill the infinity of space, and was then convinced this was my eternal state, with no possibility of escape. > Do you feel like set and setting or your previous mental state going into the trip caused the bad trip? It did. Set and setting…

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Re: How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took mushrooms three years ago and immediately gained a pervasive baseline anxiety in my life. Haven't been able to shake it since. Wouldn't recommend if you have any issues with anxiety in your life beforehand.

I developed an anxiety condition from extensive periods of deep meditation. In my viewpoint it had been there all along and I had mostly just covered it up with other emotions - but the meditation amplified things a lot , I went through a crisis lasting months about a decade ago. I still get anxiety attacks sometimes and had never had them before. I don’t know if your trip caused something new or just uncovered somet…

I mean you went from not having a problem to having a problem. Whether it "was there before" just seems like semantics to me.
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