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Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

nytimes.com

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Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#11

Post by ChatGTP »

suzzer99 wrote: post #9
swalling wrote: post #3

What's missing from this article is that people are reaching for this because the standard medical treatment for these disorders, SSRIs, are pretty terrible. In the mild case, the common side effects are blunting of your emotions and sexual dysfunction. So you don't have panic attacks, but you live in a gray fog and your relationships suffer. In the worst case, they cause suicidal ideation. Psychedelics also have psy…

As far as the risks, I have a friend who's been "microdosing" acid and shrooms for a while, and recently had a legitimate psychotic break, thinking all of her life-long friends were in some kind of Truman Show-esque grand conspiracy against her. She ditched town and cut us all off for over a month. I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all hav…

I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all have experience with psychedelics, mostly in our younger days)

I mean a cup of coffee might push the wrong person over the edge if they’re already in the midst or about to enter a serious mental health crisis?

Of course you’d have to assume a psychoactive substance might contribute but maybe not?

I’ve had serious depressive stints of existential crisis where the world felt like it was telling me I don’t need to exist anymore and I’ve had them before and I’ve had them before and after smoking pot, did it contribute maybe ? Maybe not. I’ve smoked pot since and never had the same symptoms.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#12

Post by pstuart »

It comes at a price point many can't afford. There should be more options.

As noted elsewhere, it is powerful medicine and not without risks. But we also need to remember that many other medications come with significant risk as well, including suicidal ideation.

So yes, it's powerful and should be treated with respect, but many of those other medications don't require you to spend thousands of dollars to have a baby sitter whilst taking it.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#13

Post by uoaei »

suzzer99 wrote: post #9
swalling wrote: post #3

What's missing from this article is that people are reaching for this because the standard medical treatment for these disorders, SSRIs, are pretty terrible. In the mild case, the common side effects are blunting of your emotions and sexual dysfunction. So you don't have panic attacks, but you live in a gray fog and your relationships suffer. In the worst case, they cause suicidal ideation. Psychedelics also have psy…

As far as the risks, I have a friend who's been "microdosing" acid and shrooms for a while, and recently had a legitimate psychotic break, thinking all of her life-long friends were in some kind of Truman Show-esque grand conspiracy against her. She ditched town and cut us all off for over a month. I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all hav…

> We know that the microdosing also turned into macrodosing on a lot of occasions.

It's pretty easy to slip into this. I don't have a good answer for solving this but criminalization is definitely a bad answer, so we will have to find a way to discourage such tendencies. It may be that it is mostly or entirely a cultural thing in which case public understanding of the drug is a prerequisite, so I'm glad more are starting to learn about it as a result of decriminalization and legalization.

I hope she can find some way to be comfortable again.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#14

Post by suzzer99 »

valec wrote: post #10
suzzer99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as the risks, I have a friend who's been "microdosing" acid and shrooms for a while, and recently had a legitimate psychotic break, thinking all of her life-long friends were in some kind of Truman Show-esque grand conspiracy against her. She ditched town and cut us all off for over a month. I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all hav…

is she bipolar by any chance? if not, does she have a family history of bipolar or schizophrenia? or, does she have any cluster-b personality disorders?

She's not bipolar. I don't know family history other than her brother is an addict and her mom posts 20 political memes a day on FB that venture into conspiratorial stuff (but that describes a lot of people I know).

The only signs we can come up with were a few times going back 20 years, either at a party (drugs) or a canoe trip (drugs) where she thought people were talking about her/plotting against her. I wasn't on the canoe trip, but I always believed her that some people in another group of friends we know were mercilessly cruel to her. Now I tend to think it was a manifestation of whatever this is.

Other than that she's been one of my most solid friends and always had her shit together, very successful career, someone I would call when I needed life advice, etc.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#15

Post by hunter2_ »

uoaei wrote: post #13
suzzer99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as the risks, I have a friend who's been "microdosing" acid and shrooms for a while, and recently had a legitimate psychotic break, thinking all of her life-long friends were in some kind of Truman Show-esque grand conspiracy against her. She ditched town and cut us all off for over a month. I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all hav…

> We know that the microdosing also turned into macrodosing on a lot of occasions. It's pretty easy to slip into this. I don't have a good answer for solving this but criminalization is definitely a bad answer, so we will have to find a way to discourage such tendencies. It may be that it is mostly or entirely a cultural thing in which case public understanding of the drug is a prerequisite, so I'm glad more are star…

Could this be the manifestation of an overdose? I'm not a medical professional, but this got me curious what the "LD99" would be for avoiding this (not literally lethal, but long term dibilitation), or if it's statistically unclear?

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#16

Post by suzzer99 »

uoaei wrote: post #13
suzzer99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as the risks, I have a friend who's been "microdosing" acid and shrooms for a while, and recently had a legitimate psychotic break, thinking all of her life-long friends were in some kind of Truman Show-esque grand conspiracy against her. She ditched town and cut us all off for over a month. I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all hav…

> We know that the microdosing also turned into macrodosing on a lot of occasions. It's pretty easy to slip into this. I don't have a good answer for solving this but criminalization is definitely a bad answer, so we will have to find a way to discourage such tendencies. It may be that it is mostly or entirely a cultural thing in which case public understanding of the drug is a prerequisite, so I'm glad more are star…

Yeah I'm not arguing shrooms should be illegal. I don't think they're any worse than pot, and actually are the one drug I think everyone should do.

But I think there are some serious risks to heavy, prolonged use that probably aren't well-studied or understood. Also for all I know her problems stem from the acid and not the shrooms.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#17

Post by legitster »

I'm a fairly drug-averse person. I have no qualms about other people using them, but it took us over 30 years to really understand the implications of legalized opioids. And that was after a lengthy and expensive FDA process.

So respect to all of the early adopters who have nothing to lose and are willing to put their own sanity at risk. I just don't understand people who in one breath curse the Sackler family but then line up to try the first batch of industrialized psilocybin from Rose City Laboratories.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#18

Post by suzzer99 »

ChatGTP wrote: post #11
suzzer99 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as the risks, I have a friend who's been "microdosing" acid and shrooms for a while, and recently had a legitimate psychotic break, thinking all of her life-long friends were in some kind of Truman Show-esque grand conspiracy against her. She ditched town and cut us all off for over a month. I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all hav…

I can't say the drug use caused it, but I and the rest of her friends are of the opinion that it contributed (we all have experience with psychedelics, mostly in our younger days) I mean a cup of coffee might push the wrong person over the edge if they’re already in the midst or about to enter a serious mental health crisis? Of course you’d have to assume a psychoactive substance might contribute but maybe not? I’ve…

Yeah your brain is really good at lying to you when you're depressed. I know that's part of what she's been going through.

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#19

Post by davmre »

swalling wrote: post #3

What's missing from this article is that people are reaching for this because the standard medical treatment for these disorders, SSRIs, are pretty terrible. In the mild case, the common side effects are blunting of your emotions and sexual dysfunction. So you don't have panic attacks, but you live in a gray fog and your relationships suffer. In the worst case, they cause suicidal ideation. Psychedelics also have psy…

Counterpoint: SSRIs were transformative for my depression. Side effects were minor and manageable (eg, Wellbutrin worked well to prevent any sexual dysfunction). I was on them for several years and had no problem tapering off. My understanding is that this is a pretty typical experience. Rhetoric like this was actively harmful in dissuading me for years from trying what ended up being by far the most effective treatment for me.

(yes, I've tried psychedelics; they're fascinating and super promising, but at least for me, not transformative in the way that fluoxetine was)

No individual depression treatment works for everyone. SSRIs are not a magic bullet. Neither are psychedelics. But if you're depressed and haven't tried SSRIs, you owe it to yourself and everyone in your life to at least test the hypothesis that they might help.

Scott Alexander's page on SSRIs is a great, relatively objective resource, from a psychiatrist who regularly prescribes them: https://lorienpsych.com/2020/10/25/ssris/

Re: Psychedelic Mushrooms Hit the Market in Oregon

#20

Post by bryanrasmussen »

legitster wrote: post #17

I'm a fairly drug-averse person. I have no qualms about other people using them, but it took us over 30 years to really understand the implications of legalized opioids. And that was after a lengthy and expensive FDA process. So respect to all of the early adopters who have nothing to lose and are willing to put their own sanity at risk. I just don't understand people who in one breath curse the Sackler family but th…

I mean probably the early adopters here have already early adopted in the past.
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