Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

independent.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 236 posts

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#161

Post by o-__-o »

bordercases wrote: post #125
pmoriarty wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Generally speaking psylocibin is more prone to culminate in a really bad trip than delysid if the participant doesn’t have their mind settled" One of the most interesting interviews about psychedelics that I've heard is one with Stanislav Grof, who personally supervised over 4,500 LSD sessions throughout his life (many of them during his research in to its effects, back when LSD was legal) and at about 1 hour and 56…

My bad trips made me learn to stop tripping. But my good trips made me learn a whole lot more about what might have been possible for myself and my social anxiety after I stopped. I'm still learning lessons related to those insights but compared to the confidence I had on a trip versus the confidence I have now I say I'm 70-80% at that level.

Just want to point out you are taking the chemical at recreational doses and not therapeutic doses. This is why a professional administrating the drug is key. Look at it this way, Zoloft may give you a bad experience but not the same bad experience at 5mg vs 100mg. You can recognize the bad experience and work towards something else at 5mg vs 100mg (or replace with your favorite drug/dose) where you may end up in an outpatient hospital.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#162

Post by trekrich »

globular-toast wrote: post #24
trekrich wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They wont change it, as they will be paid lots of lobbying money to not change it.

Yes. Unlike alcohol, there is very little money in those drugs. Most of them aren't even addictive!

Yep, and big pharma dont want people having access to cheap non addictive drugs. It not good for their shareholders. I could never work at a drugs company.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#163

Post by 01100011 »

coffeemug wrote: post #130

Counter-anecdote: I've experimented with this stuff extensively in various settings and have known many other people who did, and in my experience it's unequivocally bullshit. Here's what happens. First, any given trip alleviates depression for about a month or two. That makes sense to me in a sense that the word "trip" isn't a coincidence-- a really fun intense vacation in a foreign country also alleviates depressio…

IME, my various neuroses are correlated with my productivity. Sure, I can eat shrooms and feel better, but I'm too happy and mellow to get anything done. Soon, the stress from not keeping up builds and I'm back on the wheel again.

I did have some luck using mild amounts to combat the negative cognitive effects of smoking too much pot(mostly verbal deficiencies), but in the end it was better to just stop smoking pot.

I'm glad we're finally discussing the potential of psychedelics. I think they will help researchers understand what makes us who we are. I know we're better off not locking people up for using or possessing these substances. I do not think that the personal use of these drugs will notably advance society however.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#164

Post by 01100011 »

ergothus wrote: post #6
sawyerjhood wrote: post #2

I'm personally excited to see what sorts of new treatments will come out of using psychedelics medically. I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, but I have a feeling that LSD and psilocybin can really provide mental turning points and help people break out of depression.

> I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, Really? I've always found the milder claims fairly believable (fighting nausea or chronic low level pain relief). As an anecdote, I can attest to dealing with kidney stone pain well (rather than stopping the pain it reduced how much I noticed it) and it ended up more effective and felt less dangerous than the opiods…

IME, weed is shit for headaches and great for arthritis or pain from working out. It also reduces the amount of opiates you need to take, post-surgery. That said, I feel better without it. To each their own.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#165

Post by bordercases »

o-__-o wrote: post #161
bordercases wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bad trips made me learn to stop tripping. But my good trips made me learn a whole lot more about what might have been possible for myself and my social anxiety after I stopped. I'm still learning lessons related to those insights but compared to the confidence I had on a trip versus the confidence I have now I say I'm 70-80% at that level.

Just want to point out you are taking the chemical at recreational doses and not therapeutic doses. This is why a professional administrating the drug is key. Look at it this way, Zoloft may give you a bad experience but not the same bad experience at 5mg vs 100mg. You can recognize the bad experience and work towards something else at 5mg vs 100mg (or replace with your favorite drug/dose) where you may end up in an…

The point I'm trying to make is that for all the risks I was taking none of the outcomes were psychologically unrecoverable or fatal. Using the word "bad" was just pointing to the class of experiences that people on the psych might consider, "not pleasant", but "not pleasant" doesn't mean "not valuable". Quite the opposite, I learned from basically every experience both through its intrinsic and extrinsic qualities.

Giving psychedelics the psychiatric treatment and connoting that there are hard distinctions between "recreational" and "therapeutic" doses for some of these drugs fundamentally misunderstands them. I had therapeutic effects from "recreational" doses.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#166

Post by sev »

coffeemug wrote: post #130

Counter-anecdote: I've experimented with this stuff extensively in various settings and have known many other people who did, and in my experience it's unequivocally bullshit. Here's what happens. First, any given trip alleviates depression for about a month or two. That makes sense to me in a sense that the word "trip" isn't a coincidence-- a really fun intense vacation in a foreign country also alleviates depressio…

It is not a cure for the root cause of anything.

I like to think of it as a tool that helps you get out of writers block. You still have to write once you’re unblocked; it won’t be able to write for you.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#167

Post by malux85 »

coffeemug wrote: post #130

Counter-anecdote: I've experimented with this stuff extensively in various settings and have known many other people who did, and in my experience it's unequivocally bullshit. Here's what happens. First, any given trip alleviates depression for about a month or two. That makes sense to me in a sense that the word "trip" isn't a coincidence-- a really fun intense vacation in a foreign country also alleviates depressio…

No, your conclusion is bullshit.

> First, any given trip alleviates depression for about a month or two. That makes sense to me in a sense that the word "trip" isn't a coincidence-- a really fun intense vacation in a foreign country also alleviates depression for a month or two. You swear that when you come back things will be different, but then you have to answer slack messages at 9pm, and your project is slipping at work, and your wife is flirting with strangers every time you go to a bar, and well... in a month or two you're back to feeling exactly the same way you did before (until you take the next vacation

Your problems are situational, and when you remove yourself from that situation (using mushrooms or not) your life gets better and when you come back it's worse. It's not the mushrooms fault your life is a mess. Why are you answering slack messages at 9PM? Quit your job or just don't do it. Get rid of your wife if she's making you unhappy.

Do you think that maybe you should be giving your wife your attention at 9PM, rather than slack? How is this not painfully obvious?!

Some people just love misery, it's like - you have identified all your problems but rather than solve them you'll just sit around and point fingers and complain.

What did you expect? You'd take a mushroom and your wife disappears? Or transforms into a princess? You take a mushroom and your slack messages start answering themselves at 9PM?

What did you actually expect from the mushrooms?

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#168

Post by markdown »

r00fus wrote: post #25
ianai wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d steer you toward kava kava as a legal and otc way to change your mind and emotions for the better or more open. Also St. John’s wort.

What source would you recommend? I've tried some name-brand kava tea and it didn't seem to do much.

Avoid any product called "kava tea". It's not tea and can't be drunk like tea. Kavalactones aren't water soluble so simply steeping a teabag filled with powdered kava root in water won't do anything.

Head over to /r/kava and the read the FAQ in the sidebar which includes a list of recommended vendors (and which ones to avoid).

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#169

Post by sneak »

vmchale wrote: post #18
kasperni wrote: post #12

Now that mainstream club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, and LSD/Magic Mushrooms are finding their way into therapeutic usage. I'm wondering if and how governments will change the current narrative about "all drugs are bad for you". Edit: I'm not advocating recreational drug usage. Just saying, that if mum is on magic mushrooms and studies like these have established safety dosage and clear therapeutic benefits. You ca…

I don't think Psilocybin mushrooms or LSD are used as a club drug.

There is an entire genre of club/nighttime music called “acid”, fwiw.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#170

Post by throwbackThurs »

say_it_as_it_is wrote: post #96
sawyerjhood wrote: post #2

I'm personally excited to see what sorts of new treatments will come out of using psychedelics medically. I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, but I have a feeling that LSD and psilocybin can really provide mental turning points and help people break out of depression.

Sativa-dominant strains have psychedelic qualities, offering dramatic introspective, frame-shifting experience. It isn't as profound an experience as one from psilocybin, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've experienced realizations while under the influence of sativa dominant strains similar to, if not greater than, those uncovered during therapy with a psychologist. However, other times the re-framing of re…

Sativa makes me go pretty bonkers, not in a good way.

On the other hand Mushrooms and LSD are much more mild and therapeutic for my mind, even though the visual hallucinations are stronger.

Personally I think weed is much more dangerous than LSD and mushrooms because it's done to such extreme quantities. E.g. the "smoke weed every day" motto is very dangerous for some.

Post reply on HN