It seems paradox when I read about e.g. LSD or Magic Mushrooms and it says on one side they can be used to treat mental illnesses but on the other side you have to be in a ‘healthy’ state of mind
In: Biology
Purely intuitively I think that they sort of give your brain a good kick, which may help to get it out of its stuck state but could just as well break it.
Mental illness is not like a virus; it’s not a case of having it or not.
What they’re talking about is that some of those drugs require pathways in the brain, helping you connect paths that would not otherwise be strongly linked, based on brain activity at the time they kick in.
So if you take a clinically depressed person and give them these drugs while they’re suffering a depressive episode, it could turn really ugly. But if the drug is taken while they’re feeling pretty good, it has been known to positively reinforce that state such that the depression when it comes is no longer so overwhelming.
If you know what you are doing with LSD, you can take it even when you are not in the greatest state of mind. That’s more advice for beginners. I would probably, personally, not advice immediately jumping down the rough road of depression recovery until you have some experience with the drug, but YMMV
Honest answer:
Large doses will cause a disconnect from reality, a high, etc.
A micro dose is going to be barely noticeable, based on the dosage the person is taking. It will likely not give them a high, it will however cause a greater connection of neurons in the brain:
Tl;DR: “Serotonin activation in the brain is directly responsible for mood and neuroplasticity, which is your brain’s ability to form new connections between neurons. This phenomenon is likely why microdosing has been so effective for those suffering from depression and anxiety.”
EDIT: This is not for someone who is 5…
While results may vary wildly, the fundamental answer to your question starts with the fact that these molecules very, very closely mimic serotonin. Given the right dosage, setting, and guidance, these substances can do more to rewrite bad connections in the brain than anything else known to man.
Over time, our brains develop dysfunctional pathways because of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other unhealthy pathways that happen because the brain starts building superhighways to facilitate the type of thoughts we use the most.
It has been said that brains on hallucinogens mimic the type of random, disorganized brain activity more often seen in children under the age of 8. By randomizing or just varying the types of neural pathways in the brain, psychedelics could be said to create a more plastic, childlike brain. I think everyone can remember how much more happy we were as children, back before our brains settled into thinking in very certain, rigid ways.
Used therapeutically, psychedelics can sort of trick the brain back into a plastic state and this can be used to downregulate unhelpful/harmful pathways like those seen in depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
Here’s thing about mushrooms: almost 95% of people use them incorrectly and treat them with no respect. If you look at almost any ancient culture, they used substances that shifted people into altered state of consciousness in order to have life changing visions or experiences. From peyote, mushrooms for Mexico ,blue lotus flowers in Egypt, Ayahuasca in South America, the list goes on and on.
People always take mushrooms and try to “party” which usually leads them down a bad path.
There was a famous ethnobotanist names Terrance McKenna who talked a lot about how people didn’t know that they were doing with these powerful ancient plants and it usually ended badly.
More to your question, the biggest problem people make is that they don’t take enough. You have to be able to ingest enough psylibin so it complete takes control of you. The first step in the process of this is what’s a “purge”. That’s basically when you puke, crap, and get really really scared. Every evil image and scary thing will come at all at once, and it’s not fun.
However, if you know what your doing, you will ride through that part, then have a truly deep, life altering experience afterwards.
Most people take mushrooms to get messed up, then get the crap scared out of them when they realize they don’t know what they are doing and the scary stuff comes.
For me it helped reinforce the positive pathways in my brain, I once again saw the world for how beautiful it was. And that view stayed. I appreciate things a lot better.
I did also see trees waving at me so swings and roundabouts
Even with depression you can have good and bad days, be with bad people, in bad environments. Take it on a good day in the right setting with the right people.
They help shift your perspective and let you see things from a slightly different angle, and in a different light. You can make connections about things that may have never occurred to you before.
They can also send you down a dark and grueling path that you are not ready for, and may not be able to process, especially if you’re already not in a good state of mind.
My wife was able to overcome 30+ years of severe depression with the use of psilocybin over the course of 2 years.
I wouldnt recommend psychedelics. They can permanently damage your brain. It might be fun for a few hours or it might be terrifying. Imagine if that feeling kept happening years later on and off, or even worse, always on. It’s not worth it.
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