Single dose of LSD provides immediate and lasting relief from anxiety, study say
cnn.com
cnn.com
I came down from that trip thinking everything I had previously believed, and had been taught, was a sham. For the rest of that summer I was worried about a great number of things.
Such is the nature of street drugs. The odds of what you took actually being 100% pure real LSD is approximately zero, unless it was directly handed to you by a trained chemist. Much more likely an obscure cocktail of designer tryptamines.
The source is using your brain and probability.
The ease of ordering research chemicals vs the difficulty of LSD synthesis.
I mean, I had LSD from a handful of different sources, as well as psilocibin, and the essential dimension to any of the psychedelics effects I experienced were very similar, and it was only in that one instance that it led to lasting feelings of anxiety.
I do not believe it was the drug itself that messed me up. It was the insights that the drug revealed to me that were the source of my anxieties.
I worked through that stuff, and maybe in the long run I'm better off for it. It's hard to say for certain. One way or the other, life goes on.
This can definitely put some things in perspective.
The effects of certain psychedelics are such that it can, if done therapeutically, "wake up" the individual to these behaviors and their ignorance of the reality around them.
This comes with it's own issues ofc, but they can become seemingly good issues to have.
It can also just make them not care about having "good" or "bad" behaviors as defined by an "external" source.
FWIW, I also think all religions are a sham but I do think something "above" exists, and yeah, that which exists allows suffering in this world, take it or leave it...
...which is one of the main atheist debating points like "but the children with cancer" and yeah I agree those children shouldn't go through that but I also acknowledge something "greater" exists, that, for better or worse, whether I like it or not, or anyone else for that matter, allows these children to exist and suffer...
...humankind does however self-inflict a lot of suffering...
Me too, except this gave me a tremendous feeling of freedom. Suddenly there were no constraints as I realised most of the barriers were invented and in my head. I was filled with awe, curiosity and love.
Recently, the scientific testing of LSD seems to max at 200 micrograms. If you read the literature from the 50s and 60s, and if you listen to many recreational users, this number is low. I am actively curious if there are measurable positive effects in the 300-500 range. It seems like 200 is where negative effects start to really appear, so the researchers are afraid of going above that because the data they collect may not look good for regulators.
Phase 3 trials targeting 100 micrograms is further along legitimizing LSD than I ever expected in my lifetime. It doesn't seem like a full embrace though.
300-500μg range goes into way over a normal trip, I've only once taken 500+μg (and I consider myself experienced with hallucinogens) and the experience was borderline overwhelming, I had a good trip but wouldn't ever recommend it to anyone that isn't very experienced and knows very well what they are getting into.
“It was pretty intense there for a moment” was his trip report. The most I’ve ever taken would be around 125 and that was starting to push it.
Which is not to say LSD trips can't be useful and transformative experiences, but both personal experience and scientific account confirm they tend to be "intellectual trips", whereas what you need to help anxiety are the "emotional trips" that other drugs are better-suited for.
The initial data looks promising in this case, so it'll be interesting to see how the studies develop.
For example if you don't embrace the "hippie shit" all you're going to get out of psychedelics is an emotional trainwreck with nothing to anchor it. It is a powerful medicine that has throughout history been a medicine for human connectedness.
The environment, people and seemingly the direction the sun is pointing through the window affects how the experience works.
After experiencing very mild visual snow for a few months, that's frightening enough for me. My job is looking at a computer screen. I need my vision intact.
I quit taking LSD after that one and all psychoactives not much longer after.
It went away? That's pretty uncommon from what I can tell.
The trip was like a mental battle between moments of lucidity and negative thought loops and light paranoia. It forced me to see my own automatic thinking process and this "inner voice" I have with more clarity.
I realized we can orient our thinking and it's polarity at any moment and it would influence our perception of reality. Sounds obvious on the surface, but it became clear when I realized negative thoughts were appearing and I would reorient my thinking elsewhere, the vibe changed and it felt like I was becoming more lucid.
Just sit down, relax and breathe, that's better than drugs.
LSD is not controllable. If you're in a bad mood or don't feel well, it can lead to a very bad trip.
Just don't do it.
Not if you hold drugs up to your mouthparts whilst breathing, it isn't
LSD, MDMA and Psilocybin (mushrooms) are all very potent non-habitual substances capable at creating instant psychic breaks and creating permanent improvements.
I'm excited to see this momentum!
It happened when they were living for a time on the big island, and it was a mushroom trip they shared that was absolutely terrifying for Terence. It was terrifying because, for some reason, the mushroom turned on him. The gentle, wise, humorous mushroom spirit that he had come to know and trust as an ally and teacher ripped back the facade to reveal an abyss of utter existential despair. Terence kept saying, so Kat told me, that it was “a lack of all meaning, a lack of all meaning.” And this induced panic in Terence, and probably, I speculate, a feeling he was going mad. He couldn’t deal with it. Kat’s efforts to reassure him were fruitless. After that experience, he never again took mushrooms, and he took other psychedelics, such as DMT and ayahuasca, only on rare occasions and with great reluctance.
Whatever the specific content of the psychedelic experience might have been that triggered the cognitive collapse of Terence’s worldview and precipitated his existential crisis, what was most remarkable was that he did not see it coming. He did not see it coming."
— From Dennis McKenna, The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna, now excised
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My brief experiences with entheogens largely agree with the study. However, if you're not in a good place (mentally), please don't just do drugs (it won't solve anything).
Also, if anybody suggests you "try this," perhaps start with a microdose of psilocybin, first (but only if you're curious).
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The beautiful interconnectedness of everything is my main "takeaway" from brief dabblings.
- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02876-5
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33648632/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6364961/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34915762/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35918311/
BIG DISCLAIMER before you read the next bits: I'm not a researcher/scientist in this field, but psychedelics have helped me get a handle on CPTSD, process trauma.
My take on this is that microdosing probably still has some acute benefits, since it still does alters brain chemistry. So, can it be helpful? Probably, but it should come with a big "YMMV" disclaimer.
In the context of psilocybin, my understanding is that it doesn't give long-term benefits as a "macro" dose would like DMN regulation[1] and neuroplasticity[2]; a lot of people tend to attribute these to microdosing too, but apparently it's not the case[3]. Also, due to tolerance build up, so you start getting diminishing returns from microdosing, so it's not effective long-term (even with the Fadiman microdosing protocol where you take breaks; I think there's other protocols that claims to lessen the diminishing returns). I don't think LSD triggers these physiological changes in the brain, but it's believed it can helps with the psychological aspects.
I don't take them regularly anymore (I used to take them every couple of months during a rough patch in my life, but I also did therapy on-and-off during that period too). I now take them every few years as to check-in with myself, or special occasions.
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10032309
[2]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082376; I feel like there was a another study on this too, but I can't find it now, sorry!
[3]: Only briefly discussed by Huberman in his podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxVfln02Ss. I recommend watching the video in its entirety; it's great!
>You'll never microdose and have any apparent classical effects.
This is incorrect, but probably only on a case-by-case basis (to each, his own).
<0.5g == microdose (you just feel happier, more connected)
0.5-2g == small dose (you definitely notice distortions/connections)
2-4g == normal dose (silliness, connectedness, impactful mental rearrangement)
>5g == heroic dosing (you'd better be ready for visuals, tracers, and a few hours of helpful insanity)
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Personally, I agree that the real therapy begins after your first normal dose; however, I would not start there, nor even with a small dose. Start slow, build up to the revelation.
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Onwards, through the fog.
I suggested starting with a microdose, above, because for me it is one of those experiences which just helps me "be" [makes my attitude less shitty].
But as others have suggested, a smaller dose might be more appropriate for anybody looking for "an experience on psychedelics."
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My absolute DO NOT recommendation: don't try any drug alone. When you're doing drugs alone (particularly first experimentations), you open yourself up to all sorts of gruesome outcomes (whether physical or mental).
As example, I have previously been turned down [by a US MD] as "too anxious" to try legal ketamine-infusion therapy [immediately after loss of a parent].
In using a trained professional (e.g. see Oregon's new psilocybin guide certification) to help you determine your "use fitness," you can probably avoid a very bad experience...
Just a perfectly-generated word, based on my own personal experiences of connecting with the above examples (except S. divinorum, which can go to hell (or take you there)).
I'm treating a crippling disability with GHB and it's 100% legit prescribed by a doctor but the insurance headaches were insane.
All suggested resources are welcome, use case is someone with crippling anxiety.
Do read more on how to do it properly though. Many factors can have greater impact on the experience than the actual dose.
If you don't care for visual hallucinations, anywhere from 50-75 will give you a lot of the usually pleasant mental effects: high sense of novelty, mood elevation, curiosity, sense of openness, etc.
Even a smaller dose of 25-50 will give you perceivable mental effects.
You should also spend the bit of extra money on a reagent testing kit to ensure you aren't taking random research chemicals being passed off as LSD. You can keep the reagents in the fridge pretty much indefinitely for future use as well.