What do think of the research in this area? I think it's very interesting and am hopeful it can help lots of people. Has anyone tried treatment with one of them or know people who have? It's really sad all the people who could have been helped with these over the past sixty years. In that time, how many people were born, developed PTSD or other conditions, nothing helped enough, spent decades just existing and died miserable? https://www.npr.org/sections/health...ic-drugs-psychiatric-disorders-brain-research
There is some very promising preliminary research in this field, as well as good anecdotal research from clinicians using psychedelic-assisted therapy. There's a great episode on the Very Bad Therapy podcast that explores it. (Not that it is bad therapy, only that the first guest had a terrible experience with a therapist who actually texted the client 30 times while on her own trip). The specialist they inteviewed went into considerable detail on how it works and what iit helps with. The above said, I would absolutely not recommend doing psychedelics by yourself or without the support of a trained professional, especially if you have depression or anxiety.
I think when you apply it in a medical setting it is very promising. I can only bring the personal anecdote, that while still deep in repression of my bisexuality, on drugs, especially on LSD and Ecstasy i had the sudden realization it i was strongly sexually attracted to men and longing for sexual experiences with them. The Problem with this was on one hand, that after the high was over, my repression mechanisms were back in place and i simply shoved under the rug which kind of realizations i had. Also these experiences worsened the symptoms of my Psychosis that is in my opinion mostly caused by my sexual repression. So if psychedelics were applied in a professional therapeutic setting i believe that they can lead to very strong improvements of mental health. If you flush your conflicts out of your subconsciousness into your consciousness there can be massive downsides too, especially if administered without professional care and good preparation. Also there is the question of how much off self-realization a patient can take, even accompanied by a therapist.
