ELI5, How DMT helps with depression?
In: Biology
Disclaimer: I am not an expert, I’m basing everything I’m saying off of anecdotal data from my own, er… “research”. But for the purposes of what I’m saying you’re a 5 year old, so… yeah. This’ll all work out.
In my experience, depression (whatever root chemical causes may be underlying it) is often marked by a cycle of negative thinking. Depression is often self-reinforcing – you’re depressed, which makes things go poorly in your life, which makes you feel worthless, so you get more depressed, which makes things go worse in life, and you somehow feel even MORE worthless, so you get more depressed… and it just keeps going like that.
Hallucinogens can help to break that cycle. They can help give a depressed mind some perspective – not to mention probably some of the serotonin that it’s starved for. After even a short exposure to hallucinogens (like you get with DMT) when I was depressed, I would find my attitude improved. The 2-3 weeks following the first time I tried acid (in my 30s) was an amazingly positive time for me because I would find myself thinking my old, negative thoughts and actually catch myself at it and correct for it. That was not something I could normally do – that was a direct result of my experience that night, somehow. Whatever else the chemicals are actually doing in the brain, anything that helps breaking the cycle of depression is worth some serious research in my book.
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