Hello, sk0sH here.
Today, I'd like to start off my first official Steemit post, with something that I feel is very important. What is it, you might ask? Well, it pertains to psychedelics. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, Psilocybin/Psilocin, Mescaline, and, I'll include 3,4-methelenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA.
Why are these substances important? Well, they can outright cure PTSD, they can cure treatment resistant depression, and both of these ailments claim the lives of tens of thousands of people every year. Yet, how many people are killed by these psychedelics? Virtually zero. It is impossible to overdose on any of these psychedelics, and the only deaths caused by them, are when those who do not know what to expect from the experience, end up doing something life-threatening.
In college, I studied psychedelics extensively. This isn't to say I used any of them, because I didn't. I did, however, use them before entering college. However, I read many scientific, peer-reviewed articles, mostly regarding LSD and MDMA, in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Yes, ever since college, I have been passionate about this subject. Why? I have PTSD, and I know several acquaintances with PTSD, from either military service or just trauma that occurred in their lives from something else. If you have PTSD, you can definitely recognize it in another individual. It's just obvious. This isn't to say this is a bad thing, but it seems like those with PTSD can read each other's minds. We exhibit some bizarre behaviors, such as the "mile-long stare", in which our brains subconsciously, or unconsciously, kind of blur our vision a bit, sort of like looking into a 3D painting back in the day, and we tend to become very distracted, off in our own little world. The mile-long stare is something of a mystery, but I believe it has something to do with the brain avoiding stressors, triggers, and to sort of block out what is going on around us. However, we also tend to be hyper-vigilant. A perfect example, for me, was about two weeks ago, a grape rolled onto the floor of the kitchen without me noticing it, and it rolled into my foot, and my sympathetic nervous system flipped out, and I was incredibly startled. By a grape. When the sense of touch is involved, and someone is not aware that this particular sensory ability is going to be activated, we tend to be startled. We also have the awareness of an owl, or an eagle. Everything that is going on around us, we are aware of persistently, and we can't really help ourselves.
It is difficult to deal with. Close friends and family members, more specifically family members of mine, have told me on numerous occasions to "just get over it" in regards to my PTSD. That's simply not possible. Not in any legal sense, anyway. There is no way to just "wish" PTSD away, under normal conditions. It does not work this way. It isn't like other issues in terms of brain function at all. PTSD is Persistent. Persistent Torture of Self Daily, as I like to put it. Oftentimes, I don't even want to leave the house, and if I do have to leave the house for something, whether it be groceries or some other errand, I make sure to get it all done as quickly as possible, and retreat to my fortress, though I don't even feel safe there, as about 200 yards from my house as the crow flies, was where I encountered the incident that precipitated my PTSD.
I think that a large part of the violence in our culture, the mass shootings, the suffering, the inability of many people to be compassionate, understanding, and helpful, comes from the lack of psychedelics available to the public. If someone can drop LSD on a Saturday morning, and return to work on Monday with a brand new, positive outlook on life, then that is worth it.
I know, often, when I am driving, I will be looking anywhere and everywhere for threats, because my PTSD was initially caused by an incident of road rage against me, with a gun. I remembered very clearly that the guy who tormented me, drove a large white pickup truck...and as irrational as this sounds, I am now untrustworthy of any white pickup trucks above a certain size. Sometimes, they don't even need to be large in scale, but I will be startled by them anyway. I look at all of them when I am on the road, and I will specifically look for the one that this one man drove, since the only thing I could remember about it, was that it had an orange Harley Davidson decal on the bottom left portion of the back window. I am almost certain that guy took that decal off immediately after leaving the scene of, well, a crime, a crime against a fellow individual, because he knew he did something wrong, but he did it anyway.
But, back to the topic at hand, in terms of treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and psychedelics. One may wonder, how could psychedelics cure PTSD? Well, there is this incredible story of a woman who had been raped when she was 17 in Columbia. Her entire story is published on the MAPS website, in the archive: http://www.maps.org/research-archive/mdma/moaccount.html
I only need to correct a few things about this account--"Adam", is a non-technical term referring to MDMA in its pure form, and during the LSD experiment, she didn't take 300mg of LSD, she took 300mcg (micrograms). No one has ever taken 300milligrams of LSD, that would just be a gigantic waste of LSD, and it would have a peak effect and most of it would be flushed out of the body pretty quickly, as it would be so much LSD, that most of the compound would never bind to the 5h-2a receptors in the brain. So, just clearing that up. Her story is powerful and compelling.
For those new to this subject, MAPS is the acronym for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. They conduct the pioneering work for psychedelics, such as MDMA, Psilocybin, and LSD. They are perhaps the largest organization for psychedelic research, but they have to jump through so many hoops and get past so much red tape, due to the illegality of the substances they are working with. But it isn't just "take this, report back", type of treatment. It is MDMA and/or LSD assisted psychotherapy. Although, in my own studies, I have noticed that an individual, who is experienced in psychedelics to a degree, can take a substantial dose of LSD, and conduct the psychotherapy themselves. However, in this instance, it has to be Exposure-Based Therapy. Since "Set" (mindset) and "setting" (environment), are so crucial when taking LSD or any psychedelic, using exposure-based therapy and going back to the area where the original trauma took place, or as close to the area as possible, is how many individuals, including myself, have been able to experience some remission of their PTSD symptoms. Due to the fact that, again, these substances are illegal, it is difficult to do this on one's own. I wouldn't recommend it for first-timers, and LSD is about as difficult to find as a needle in a haystack. Nevertheless, I plan on taking it again in my lifetime to completely destroy my PTSD. I feel like, if I took LSD in a significant quantity, and went back to the source of the original trauma, I could effectively overwrite the original experience with the experience of a trip, in which I would have almost complete control over.
I can attest, that when on LSD, even a small microdose, if someone or something touches the body, and said person has PTSD, they won't get that "pull back" reaction and fright, that one might normally experience otherwise. LSD seems to lower the sympathetic nervous response. This can also result in feelings of either weightlessness or heaviness, and all of it is merely determined by one's current mindset.
There is also this great article here, regarding MDMA and PTSD, as well as ayahuasca and PTSD treatment -- https://thethirdwave.co/psychedelics-ptsd/
Ayahuasca is 5-MeO-DMT, which is the psychoactive form of DMT that someone can ingest orally. an MAOI, or Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor, needs to be taken with the DMT, in order for the DMT to work in the body. There are other ways to ingest DMT, either by smoking it, or taking it in an IV. IV DMT injections, are well documented in the book "DMT: The Spirit Molecule".
LSD and other psychedelics have been known to produce some life-changing effects, and even help some people discover the true nature of their being, as well as provide insightful revelations into creating new advancements in the sciences and art.
If we were truly going to survive the next evolution in our species, we are going to have to take another look at the legality of psychedelics, and change the laws that are currently on the books.
Francis Clark, for instance, discovered the double-helix structure of DNA whilst on a sufficiently high dose of LSD. The origin of the great novel (and movie), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was inspired by LSD. Both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs took LSD and worked tirelessly on their efforts to create operating systems for computers, both the Mac OS and DOS (now the command prompt in Windows), one could say, would not have been possible without both Gates' and Jobs' use of LSD.
I personally found it to be very motivating for me to get my psychology degree, which, I still haven't applied said degree to anything, but I know quite a lot more about the behavior of others and myself in general. If these substances were legal, I would gladly work in a science-oriented laboratory, to study their efficacy and effects on all sorts of endeavors--but alas, it takes, on average, at least five years to even get FDA approval and DEA approval to study these hallucinogens.
I think that compounds with such high potential to do good in this world, especially at this critical juncture where we might actually have life itself dependent on whether or not these substances are legal or not, needs to be addressed.
So why is it that we have these substances banned? For one, they definitely have medicinal uses. The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous had taken LSD themselves, and their own alcoholism was cured.
So, naturally, I see these substances as holding great potential. We have been in Afghanistan for seventeen years, going on eighteen. The longest war in U.S. history, and there needs to be a paradigm shift. The counter-culture of the 60's, with LSD, brought along the end of the Vietnam War, as protests began to break out in massive numbers, and that's why I think these substances are banned. They are kept away from the public, because the governments of the world are afraid of change. They are afraid of us, and they don't want us to reconnect with nature, as they are currently destroying it. They don't want us to be arbiters of peace, despite growing backlash against this very system we occupy and work in, that has no basis for human growth and development. We have been reduced to sacks of flesh that need to do certain tasks to keep the status quo of basically the entire world, in check. There's no logic to this. If we do not drastically change course, and I mean drastically, we will destroy ourselves.
A psychedelic trip can be so profound, that it can eliminate symptoms of PTSD and depression for up to a year, specifically in terms of the compounds psilocybin and LSD, with just one dose. Big Pharma doesn't want this. They want to keep pushing their SSRI drugs, their anti-depressants, their anxiolytic benzodiazepines, their poisonous pills upon us. Some people I know with PTSD, have to take upwards of twelve different pharmaceutical medications, which definitely put a lot of added stress on the liver and kidneys, no matter how "safe" psychiatrists and doctors claim they are, they are paid to tell people this. Benzodiazepines, for instance, greatly increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
However, if the people that make the world decisions, want healthy, and fully functioning human beings to advance our existence into a new era that respects nature and takes care of our planet, since we absolutely depend on it, they will have to repeal the laws banning psychedelics from personal use.
We need to fight back against the system that is oppressing us. There should be no argument against the right to put whatever one wants, into their own body, so long as it doesn't harm anyone else. In my opinion, and the opinion of countless others, psychedelics are so threatening to Big Pharma, because they can basically cure and fight any mental deficit or illness. PTSD is the big one, and so is depression. Oftentimes, these ailments go hand in hand. Every 65 minutes, a veteran with PTSD or survivor's guilt, commits suicide. That's around 20 suicides a day. Keep in mind these are only the statistics for servicemen and women. This is horrible, and that number should be 0. The legalization of cannabis is a good start, since it does help treat PTSD and other disorders, but it does not cure said disorders. Strong psychedelics can allow the brain to be malleable enough, that if one takes a psychedelic in a safe, therapeutic setting, even at home, with a sitter, they have a far greater chance of improving their life and curing themselves. Even if they have what is seemingly a bad or scary trip, they can come out of it on the other side, knowing that they "survived" it, even though they were never at risk of death during the experience.
I plan on writing additionally about this subject in subsequent posts, as I see it being one of the most important discussions that we need to have.
If we legalized these substances, and perhaps all drugs that are currently illegal, we could benefit greatly from the tax revenue that is generated by their sales, we would destroy the profits of the violent drug cartels, and we would also increase the safety of taking these substances, since they would be under quality control and examined to make sure that they do not contain any dangerous additives.
This will be an ongoing discussion of psychedelics, as well as other drugs, and the war on drugs. Clearly, we have lost the war on drugs. It cannot be won. Those who take drugs, are going to take them regardless of the laws currently in place. We are doing a massive disservice to millions and millions of people by trying to cure them with pharmacological and chemical compounds that are proven to not work. SSRI's and anti-depressants have barely more than a placebo effect, and often cause suicidal ideation and homicidal thoughts.
We are poisoning ourselves, and we are creating a toxic society. We must shift away from this, or we will perish.
Tentatively, this is Part 1 of X. I am not sure how many posts I will be making regarding this, but perhaps, as many as I possibly can. We need to have a dialogue, a discussion, about psychedelics, and the failed war on drugs in general. Psychedelics have so much potential to heal and treat mental "disorders", that we are failing the most vulnerable amongst us. Those with PTSD deserve better. Those who have taken upwards of a dozen or so anti-depressants deserve better. We all deserve better. To keep psychedelics banned, is a slap in the face to anyone who wants to improve their life.