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healing depression

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E

enrey

Rising Star
greetings..
SWIM knows some other SWIM who needs a help. He's very extrovert, likes everyone, talks to everyone but in fact it's just his mask. He suffers from depression, wants to be "cool as others are".
He took lot of drugs when he was younger, but no psychedelics, just pot sometimes. He was in loony bin becouse he tried to commit suicide several times. Now he drinks a LOT, to get rid of the depression. It's about 2 months he was in loony bin becouse of drinking too much and cutting his veins, but they didn't help him there. But he's still good friend of SWIM and SWIM wants to help him. SWIM already told his friend about DMT and what it does but SWIM does not have enough experiences with DMT no breaktrough, few tiny trips. Do you think it's good idea for SWIM to show DMT to his friend?
 
It's a terrible idea to introduce psychedelics to someone with a history of mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. You are not a mental health professional, and trying to act as one is dangerous even if you mean well.
 
Yeah I'm going to have to side with this being out of the question, unless under strictest clinical conditions assisted by ... well a better man than me.

You just have to keep loving the guy and keep talking until it all comes out. There's something in there that needs changing, drugs can't do this... well some can, but I don't consider that a fix as much as a labotomy is a fix. Go look for it and don't give up. Then someday when he's all better, celebrate with a little spice. :)
 
No. You are not a currandero. In most cases I wouldnt say things like this.. But this is where I think that tradtional curranderos are far superior.

I think that entheogens can help people with psychological disorders, and addiciton etc..they are used to treat all types of things like this traditionally..

BUT..the traditional use is about more than just gving some person DMT..it's about healing holistically..simply giving some person DMT is not holistic healing. They need more than that. They need psychological support systems they can trust, people who have real experience successfully healing people this way..people who have knowledge of special diets and how these diets can effect change for better or worse in the individual. The DMT or mescaline or whatever is only one part of healing this way..you cannot equate just smoking DMT with real shamanic healing..and should not be giving someone else the idea that that is what it is.

If people want to try to use these things for healing themselves than that is up to them..that is their choice, their path..but they should come to it on their own..especially if they are schizophrenic etc..


For example..what would you do if they just got worse..or expereince extreme anxiety for days after?..that would then be on YOU..and if you do not have the skill set and expereince to put into practice dealing with these situations in real life..what would you do? this is why things like this are best left up to the people who have been trained traditionally with using these things for these purposes..they will know what to do to create the safety net to bring these people back and give them the help and support they need.
 
yeah, it's definitely not a first line treatment... but there is therapeutic potential... I think the question is again the risk factor, yeah, I would try psychedelics before a lobotomy, I would try them before electro convulsive therapy.... it's a shame these things arent studied more, because I suspect it's a bit of an art where the therapist needs to work with the patient to break down the correct walls... that, or new drugs get developed that more specific to the problem... I don't think of depression as an illness though, the depression is a symptom of the problems faced in ones life, but sometimes it gets so bad that you lose perspective, and psychs do help you to look at things from a fresh perspective, it's also allows you to connect with things that are locked away inside your mind.
 
^good points..depression and anxiety to me can actaully be helpful things becasue they alert you that something is wrong..people dont get depressed for no reasons at all..could be chemical could be psychological, could be both.

To me it's like the pain one feels from a broken leg..you can stumble around on a broken limb and pay no attention to it..but it will hurt like a bitch and put a massive dent in your quality of living..or oyu can examine it for what it is and find where the problem is and fix it..

This is where I think entheogens can be helpful..because all the stupid little things that are just detalis seem to fall away if just for a moment and you can see what parts are necessarily a part of who you are and identify the things you can afford to give up that cause friction..it's very liberating..

But again a qualified psychotherapist(which I concider curranderos/shamans etc to be) would be extremely benificial to the process.
 
ok thanx, it does not seem to be good idea now. he's the biggest showman i've ever known, but he doesn't believe that. I still wan't help him, i just don't know how.
 
Someone in the midst of alcohol or heavy drug use should NOT use psycadelics to help wiht depression. I'm usually a big proponent of Caapi tea as something to HELP with depression...as far as a cure, we don't have one...no one does.

Serious depression really needs to be hit from many angles in order for it to go into remission. Therapy, getting off the alcohol (which truly makes depression worse and is going to be very hard to do I am guessing), and even some mediciations may be in order.

In my youth I had severe acute depression. It was horrible, and after a while it did lead to a suicide attempt...this was 20 years ago mind you, but I am pretty sure that doing Aya (without a currandero) or smoking DMT would have made things much worse for me at that time. It took some time, and some therapy, but things turned around.

Yes, DMT can help with depression, BUT it can also severly aggravate mental issues. DMT does not CURE anything...please let me be very clear on that. It is NOT a cure-all.

Your friend should probably FRIST seek help for his alcoholism, I believe that the depression will be treated along with the alcohol issue if a quality provider is found.

I am not a doctor nor a mental health worker, I am only giving advice as someone how has experienced both depression and healing using psycadelics.
 
People have to be ready to heal themselves.

I started working with Ayahuasca regularly to heal my depression (had an eating disorder since age 11, had plans to take my life), and it has been nothing short of miraculous. I can't describe (without raving for pages) about all the positive ways she has helped me change my life.

The catch is: I found it on my own. I researched it on my own terms, I approached it on my own terms, and I already found it after I was starting to seriously look into healing myself. Once I put the intention to get better out to the universe, she all but came knocking on my door. I was *ready.*

Before that, I've heard people talk about shamans, and I was just like, yeah, WHATEVER. <~ Not ready back then.

Healing potential is HUGE. Healing is also a very LONG and arduous process... It didn't happen with one ceremony, or even 10. 100 ceremonies later, I could say I've made some headway... That's a LIFESTYLE of deep commitment.

Psychedelic healing CANNOT be forced upon someone who isn't ready, the results could be catastrophic, and yes, you would be completely responsible!!! Think about it, completely responsible. Are you ready to assume complete liability for another person's life? How much experience in these situations do you have? How much experience with yourself and these medicines do you have?

Every time you engage these medicines, their entire communities are also liable for your actions. There is a lot to take into account.

Like fractal said, for THESE reasons, a curandero is far superior--decades of experience and total control of situations.

When you find it yourself, it is a unique situation. If you do all the work and the research that leads up to an experience and you feel the call to truly heal yourself, it is a blessing. I don't see how it can work if the other person is just not as equally motivated.

You can always plant seeds, however. All kinds of seeds--not just for seeking psychedelic breakthrough, but plant seeds for him to learn from the wisdom YOU have gained. One doesn't necessarily have to take the medicine to learn its lessons--just by being yourself, transformed through the process of thinking through expanded consciousness, you can touch people, inspire them.

Be a support system and act through the heart.

As for alcohol, I don't think its effects psychologically mix well with Ayahuasca/DMT at all. I would first help your friend into a clearer space before trying to shock him with anything.

Later on, you can always leave a book by Dr. Strassman on the table and see if he notices... Subtle...
 
I'm not qualified in any sort of profession that would alow me to give advice on this, nor is the mental condition of your friend 100% clear, so I'd have to say it could possibly be a bad idea..
... However I do suffer from bi polar syndrome myself, or did suffer from it until I had my first DMT expirience. It only took one breakthrough dose to releave all of the depression that has weighed me down for years. All the trivial problems in life now seem so small and irrelevant in the grander scheme of things.

Once you've seen the bigger picture, a single brushstroke thats out of place becomes really hard to notice.
Perhaps.. Other than the chemical imbalance in my brain, the roots of my depression were not knowing my place in life, which in turn stopped me from enjoying the beauty of it.. good or bad.

I could never look at the world the way i did before now, those days are trully gone forever.
Hope your friend finds his way man, I really do.
1 love bro
Peace!
 
enrey said:
greetings..
SWIM knows some other SWIM who needs a help. He's very extrovert, likes everyone, talks to everyone but in fact it's just his mask. He suffers from depression, wants to be "cool as others are".
He took lot of drugs when he was younger, but no psychedelics, just pot sometimes. He was in loony bin becouse he tried to commit suicide several times. Now he drinks a LOT, to get rid of the depression. It's about 2 months he was in loony bin becouse of drinking too much and cutting his veins, but they didn't help him there. But he's still good friend of SWIM and SWIM wants to help him. SWIM already told his friend about DMT and what it does but SWIM does not have enough experiences with DMT no breaktrough, few tiny trips. Do you think it's good idea for SWIM to show DMT to his friend?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
I've had to deal with myself and severe depression in my life. I've been hospitalized and been through rehab several times. What helped me the most were shrooms and pot in moderation. I didn't have any curandero to guide me but I always felt something was guiding me. I used to trip hard and usually alone. I found that the best way, didn't like too much to communicate with people while tripping.

Nowdays I trip 2-4 times a year and smoke some DMT and try to smoke not too much pot. Maybe 4-5 days a month. And I'm one happy fella now :)
 
DMTripper said:
I used to trip hard and usually alone. I found that the best way, didn't like too much to communicate with people while tripping.
Click to expand...

Almost all of my highly healing psycadelic experiences have been when I am alone and when I have taken a strong dose.

My wife and I have had MANY healing sessions together, but these were more focused on my wife, or issues in our relationship. Psycadelics can open the doors and tear down the walls so that healing can take place.

Aside from Ayahuasca (and frequently including even Ayahuasca) you really need to be active in the healing process for anything to happen. You can't take someone who is content in their misery and expect a few sessions of anything will "fix" them...that just can't happen.

Even with Aya sometimes She asks that YOU do the work. Of course Mama is there to guide and help you along the way, even She asks that you prove your desire to be whole and healed again...at least in my experience.
 
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