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Comment by Aurornis | Hacker News Reader

> after realizing that the risks are low, but life changing if it happens.

I think these risks are more common than was previously discussed on the internet. For a long time reports of very negative experiences were dismissed, laughed at, downplayed, waved away as symptoms of something else, or excused as something positive but mysterious.

It’s becoming more acceptable for people to discuss their negative experiences and not get downvoted or attacked for sharing them.

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I just don't buy it, sorry. One thing that I learned about the internet is that most online opinions are from extremes: excellent or horrible experiences. Just search about any surgery. You will probably find a lot of bad experiences for anything. However, if you look at the data for the big picture, psilocybin is one of the safest drugs out there. There are risks, but they are nowhere near what you see in these conversations.

We don't have to rely on anecdotes, we have large amounts of empirical research. Just hop over to pubmed and search for yourself - the connection between psychedelics and psychosis is really weak, unless you have a known family history of schizophrenia etc. Yes, it exists, but it really isn't that common.

Negative experiences have always been a part of it. It's half the point. Negative also doesn't mean permanent, which is extremely rare.

> Negative experiences have always been a part of it. It's half the point.

This is the type of dismissal and downplaying I’m referring to.

My friend descended into psychosis after taking psychedelics. It was not “half the point” and not helpful to his life in any way.

Not that rare, anyone with predisposition to psychosis/schizophrenia has a high risk of permanent effects, and that’s not that small of a segment of people, and nearly unknowable beforehand.

That is the definition of rare.

Rarity isn’t a catch all, it’s a lot closer to winning $20 on a scratcher than 5k. When the game is Russian Roulette no one should call it rare.

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