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US could soon approve MDMA therapy

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Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#331

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #55
jonfw wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that designing the TV layout is not the point, the point is opening yourself to new ideas and empathy, facilitating compromise

This handwaves the problem that two adults cannot reach a compromise without taking a drug. That's a personal problem not being solved, but actually being masked and brushed under the metaphorical rug. Perhaps what they need is relationship counselling? If you anesthetize me, I will protest less when you do something that would otherwise cause me pain, but you haven't taken away my ability to feel pain in the long-te…

it has been the state of humans throughout history that we could not all universally reach a compromise without taking a drug, which makes sense given that we haven't had a lot of time to evolve since then

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#332

Post by _a_a_a_ »

DiggyJohnson wrote: post #327
_a_a_a_ wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The subculture is very quick to brush away anything that goes against the narrative of... Oh here we go again. Give me three comments below (in direct links) that "brush away" the obvious risks. I think you just made stuff up. Of course there are risks. Maybe the reason a whole lot of people are not complaining about bad experiences is that they are maybe, maybe, not as common as you want them to be. If you want ra…

This content and tone of this comment is completely out of place, and a perfect example of what GP is criticizing.

No, it's precise. I like to be precise.

He claims things get brushed away by a certain subculture but can't or won't give examples.

He provides his bad experience but seems to believe that must overshadow any good experiences of others' like mine. It doesn't because my experience with drugs has been generally positive and MDMA actually turned my life around. Without it my life would not be worth living now (and I assure you it's not much fun even now) after a childhood you could not imagine.

He laments that nobody told him the risks but clearly didn't make sufficient effort to determine them. Two words and one click on the web and he would have found plenty.

Respond to what I said, not what you want me to have said.

(edit: cleanup & clarify)

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#333

Post by SoftTalker »

QuercusMax wrote: post #189
SoftTalker wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Way more people are run down by cars while crossing the street, but the media has decided to get hysterical over a blue moon.

Top two causes of under-18 death in the US are guns and cars.

I was speaking specifically of people getting shot for something like knocking on the door of the wrong house. That's a tiny minority of gun-related deaths and not something anyone really needs to worry about any more than they worry about getting in their car or crossing the street every day.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#334

Post by Alupis »

taeric wrote: post #329
Alupis wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> high powered rifles with high capacity magazines And you'd be wrong with this assertion again, because the definition of "high powered" and "high capacity" are vastly different for your anti-gun advocates versus reality. A .223 Remington cartridge is not "high powered". A 20 round magazine was what the gun was designed for, making that the standard capacity magazine, not 10 rounds like some advocate for. A .50 BMG…

I'm not wrong, you are just looking to nitpick your way to success here. You are the one poisoning the conversation with supposed mistakes and nitpicks. I could as easily nitpick that arsenic is perfectly fine to feed to people, so that we should not have laws against poisoning. The statement on hollow and incendiary isn't ignorance, it is somewhat flat disbelief that it is typically successful at the things you put…

It's a lot like arguing with a child about why the sky is blue. Facts and realities don't apply.

Your comments about HP bullets, and particularly incendiary munitions (lol) are absurd and uninformed. But it doesn't matter, you will not educate yourself on the topic no matter how wrong you may be, and therefore we cannot have a productive conversation regarding gun control.

The "I fired a gun once, and now I'm an expert" crowd is exhausting. You've spent hundreds of words here, in public, clearly demonstrating your staggeringly poor command of this topic.

And gun control advocates always ask, why has no progress been made? Because the conversation is not being held from a rational position.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#335

Post by wnolens »

waboremo wrote: post #259
wnolens wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice to read your journey. Glad you found a way through. I had a similar experience to the first half of your story. Was so unfulfilled in tech that I ended up quitting and took time off not working, trying lots of different things, getting very frustrated and depressed along the way. I did try LSD (ok, a lot of LSD) and instead of it helping me process/sort through/integrate some of my troubles it added new ones and…

Are you in contact with a therapist you enjoy talking to? They're phenomenal when it comes to helping tackle ruminating and intrusive/impulsive thoughts. If you don't, you'll want to go through the (unfortunately tedious) process of finding one that deals with CBT or ACT. I suggest this to people even when they feel they are out of a pit primarily because being out of the pit is the perfect time to get help, as they…

I've seen 5-6 therapists over the past decade. I'd love to find the right one, but so far my experience is between neutral and strongly negative. My closest friends are far more empathic and life-experienced people, a few quite capable of removing themselves from a conversation for my benefit.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#336

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #97
eimrine wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for definition. The thing is that I might have a depression and an understanding of what to do with mdma but a lack of trust to every psych* specialist because they are educated by govt who just wants some obey from everybody.

I've also struggled with depression. If you're certain there's no rationality behind it (self-esteem, family ill, money problems, war, health etc), it might be worth considering medication of some description, but most depressive episodes can be solved without any kind of medication. Most medications simply mask the problem and don't deal with the root cause. That's not to say that medications can't be useful in tack…

it's worth noting that MDMA generally doesn't seem to be one of those drugs that "masks the problem", and can be quite useful in "dealing with the root cause"

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#337

Post by bheadmaster »

AlecSchueler wrote: post #295
bheadmaster wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Realistically, your argument isn't to lessen trauma, but to simply normalize it. Which is exactly what American culture already does No, actually, my argument is that killing or injuring a person in self-defense is less traumatic than being helpless while getting assaulted. Besides, trauma is relative - "normalizing" trauma is another way of saying "being desensitised" - which is exactly the process therapy itself…

There's also different levels of trauma involved in the kind of assault you're likelyt to come up against. Being held up at gunpoint is something I can't imagine happening in my life.

Oddly, I've once had a dream that I was being held at gunpoint.

A person unknown to me was holding a submachine gun, and I could literally feel the muscles tensing in my stomach, where the gun was pointed at, anticipating the pain of a bullet. It was one of the most uncomfortable and frightening things I've felt in my life, so much that I still remember the dream quite vividly.

I assume being held at gunpoint in real life would be even more frightening.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#338

Post by abyssin »

eimrine wrote: post #127
starkd wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But do you believe it because of the science or because you really really want to believe it? That's a serious question. I don't expect a ready answer.

Your forgot to mention one more possible case: it is not science because of some political reasons.

Research was made impossible for 30 years but now there’s a thriving literature.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#339

Post by abyssin »

starkd wrote: post #102
abyssin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe in the medical potential of compounds like MDMA and I don’t think the science is especially flawed. What I’m questioning is the motivation of some lobbying organizations’ members.

But do you believe it because of the science or because you really really want to believe it? That's a serious question. I don't expect a ready answer.

I started with really wanting to believe it, and personal experiences have made it more mixed. I keep believing because of science, but the antiscientific attitude of some of the psychedelic community makes me wary about the future.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#340

Post by loeg »

systemtest wrote: post #268
loeg wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the US is significantly south of much of continental Europe (not just Scandinavia), as a point of comparison. We (broadly) experience longer days in the winter than Europeans.

Stockholm has 1973 hours of sunshine a year, compared to 2100 hours in Seattle. The US has more sun, but not enough for a significant difference.

GP is talking about winter sunlight, not year-round numbers. (Longer summer days don't help seasonal affective disorder.) Stockholm sees about 6 hours of daylight at winter solstice, while Seattle sees 8.25.

And Seattle is sort of cherry-picked -- it's one of the northern-most cities in the continental US, representing 1.2% of the US population (including the full metro area). LA sees 9.75 hours of daylight on the solstice. Honolulu sees 10.75 hours.

The US population-weighted centroid is approximately Missouri[1], which sees 9.5 hours of daylight on the solstice -- more than 50% more than Stockholm.

[1]: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/mar22/center-population.h...

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