psychedelics for the mentally ill?

[Pachuco Cadaver]

I've heard of LSD causing schizophrenia, but not psilocybin.

I wonder if DMT could change sociopaths/psychopaths

 

[Dream2Awaken]

In my opinion those cases are caused by bad mental, or physical setting. If you are smart about doing it, and don't try to push your luck. You can walk away from years of lsd abuse, perfectly fine, and with a safe full of good times.

"I wonder if DMT could change sociopaths/psychopaths"

Me too.

 

[bindu]

I wonder if DMT could change sociopaths/psychopaths

just my uneducated guess but...
a prolonged or even better repeated DMT hell expierience would probably purge the shit out of the worst of us

time for some experiments on crazy people...

nevermind such experiments are going on since long time already, not so much for the betterment of mankind then to perfect the science of controlling peoples minds

 

[Piper27]

-Schitzophrenia may be helped with the right kind of psychadelic drug, but obviously not like a massive dose of shrooms- it has to be done correctly for example if it is to be done at all. Let us not jump to worse case scenarios here, when we may simply be talking about microdoses and talk therapy and learning new skills and viewpoints, etc.

I agree with that.

I had a friend I was taking LSD and coke with. He never came out of the trip I guess and went to the mental hospital for 4 years and was diagnosed with a bad case of schitzophrenia. I still feel horrible about it, so topics like this are hard for me to think about unless its something like stated in the above quote.

 

[Awakened]

The problem is that we can only generally guess at the answer. There has been little true research done on psychedelics outside of the military studies under taken already. Probably none on DMT and mental illness. The most we have is the argument from personal experince. Which is quite weak as a viewpoint.

There is no doubt that SWIM’s low level depression that they have suffered with for years has disappeared after using DMT a few times.

There was an article in the New scientist magazine recently where they suggested that breaking research showed that psychedelics can help people overcome certain mental illnesses. However while many substances remain criminal we will never know the true worth of them. It is hard to get funding to study the benefits of illegal drugs, it is easier to get funding to study the harm of them.

The most likely answer is that yes they probably can. However only in certain circumstances and probably only for certain people. There is littel evidence that there are as bad as the media and authorities state. The moral zeitgeist on this will change. More and more youth and adults come into contact with psychedelics and see that the hype is not the reality.

On the subject of schizophrenia, it is doubtful that any psychedelic actually causes schizophrenia. More likely that it revels the illness that probably would have manifested from some other trigger.

People die from eating peanuts as they suddenly find they have an allergy to them, we don't then go blaming peanuts for their death. We blame their genetic condition for it.

 

[fractalic]

According to some I should've never touched psychedelics. Before I found shrooms I had serious suicidal depression and probably had some type of schizoid condition but was never diagnosed. I heard noises, voices, demons screaming in my ear. I also had tactile hallucinations like shrinking/expanding and falling into myself. I once was convinced I had bugs under my skin and cut myself badly trying to remove them.
If I never found shrooms I am sure I would've killed myself. The only thing that gave me joy was planning my suicide.

These days I feel like a completely different person. I have NO depression at all and just about all the hallucinations are gone (occasionally I get slight tactile hallucinations but they're easy to handle).

I strongly feel that psychedelics are very healthy for the mind and I'm convinced that further research will prove this to be true.

hi myself, thanks for sharing this story. i really believe in the healing power of shrooms.

most of the crazy people i have met through the years (and i met too many)were flip by the use of acid,and in the worst cases- datura,i actually, never met anyone who have lost it from using mushrooms.i met few people who started to behave a bit wired after shrooming too much, but never in an aggressive or dangerous way.

i think its because of the fact that the mushrooms are in a way helping to come out from the ego, and therefor they create more of a modest and humble attitude towards life.
acid on the other hand, can increase the ego and the feeling of self importance in to huge proportion, pushing some people into megalomaniac and aggressive behaviors as in schizophrenia.

i stopped using acid after i have found the mushrooms, as i realize they have a much better affect over my mental health and my relationships with the people around me.

 

[SHroomtroll]

This is a dangerous game to play since it´s so hard to predict the reaction people will have on different drugs.

Some people who have various issues might "get it" after a few sesions and get better whereas others will be even more confused and might feel the urge to block their new knowledge with benzos or similar.

 

[Toxicity]

As far as I know I've not been diagnosed explicitly with schizophrenia, although I have been through a period of psychosis at the start of this year - to this day I still occasionally find myself confronted with recurring delusions, anxiety and paranoia.
But the more I sit here and mull all this over in my mind alongside everything I'm learning about anti-psychotic treatment vs the potential benefits of a 'proper' and controlled DMT experience... I find myself willing and tempted to forgo the mind-numbing 'medicine' and truly confront my issues and discover their roots, to see my delusions and my shortcomings for what they really are and be truly free from them.

So as someone with nowhere else to turn, I firmly believe and hope that DMT does indeed have the potential for therapeutic benefits in the case of early to mild onset schizophrenia... I will gladly share my journey with you all, so that we can get some first hand perspective on the subject.

 

[meatsim]

OP you must read "LSD: Doorway to the Numinous". It's a very interesting read about the use of LSD in psychotherapy of people with serious mental illnesses.

 

[arcanum]

it seems the general consensus is that psychedelics are a bad idea for bipolars, depressives and schizophrenics.

but do you think psychedelics (e.g. psilocybin, LSD, DMT) could help the mentally ill?

Yes I do believe that "certain" psychedelics could be extremely useful in pyschiatric conditions even delusional illness like Mania and Schizophrenia, but it's wishful thinking that they could go mainstream for it. Do you think "Big Pharma" will let it happen? not a chance. Modern medicine isn't about curing illness, its about making money, they make a lot of it and are powerfull influencers of governement policies.

But a very interesting topic.

 

[Shabadaha]

Thanks for the interesting topic, definitely a topic that is going to be very relevant in the future... This has touched on a subject very close to home for me, as almost one year ago I watched my best friend go from a creative, rational person to a very psychotic, paranoid individual.

He had been struggling with depression on and off for a good few years, and being a pretty outwardly shy person, he never told a single one of us, his best friends, that he was taking anti-depressants or going to counseling. About 2 years ago, he started getting more into psychedelics, and had some amazing journeys with friends. Slowly, he began to start his ascent to what would be a very intense mania. At first, it just seemed as though he was very very happy, and he seemed to have eclipsed many of his "problems" that had been holding him back. He was at a creative peak, and he claimed that everything in his life was going great-sex, money, friends, etc... As friends, we were awed by his new found spark, and gladly rode the wave of positivity that he had embodied. However, this ascent didn't stop. He started buying anything and everything he wanted, and basically drained his bank account, which was student loans to begin with. He walked out on his job and literally didn't call or explain himself. He was getting very inflated, and delusional.

It all came to a head when he and I and a group went to a sound tribe extravaganza at Red Rocks. He snapped upon getting to the venue, and stole a bunch of tickets and tackled a security guard. Long story short, he ended up in jail for 2 days in denver, experiencing what must have been the most gruelling environment for someone in a psychotic state. After remaining psychotic for a good month, his family finally had to take him to the state mental hospital. He stayed there for about two weeks, and when he came back, he had been numbed to nothing by the anti psychotics etc. He was numb to life, and did not know where to turn, and true to his form refused to rely on anyone else. He could not see a way out, and on Jan. 21st, ended his own life.

I only share this story because I felt called to do so, as today, Nov 27th would be his 23rd birthday. Though it's clear that he was harboring a latent psychosis, I feel compelled to share my beleif that psychedelics, namely acid, and probably mescaline, led to this opening. Had his unconscious tendencies been accessed in another, more gentle way, he may have learned to integrate it and lead a normal life. These are incredibly powerful substances, and after watching my friend go through this, I have been humbled and look at these things with utmost respect. As has been said, some people are made for breaking those barriers quickly, and some aren't. Hopefully the time will come where more research can be done and true healing can be realized as a tool in a consistent and scientific way. Thank you all for being the kind and loving bearers of this incredible knowledge and truth. May we acheive the balance that psychedelics inspire.

 

[fractalic]

hi Shabadaha,
thank you for sharing this sad story,
its sound very familiar, as i had to see this kind of things happen more than once.
its good to remind these kind of stories now and than, also in this forum,so we remember to treat these substances with our full respect and humbleness,and remember that in some emotional and mental stats we can do better without...

 

[nen888]

..i'm very sorry to hear of your friend's story Shabadaha..all cases are individual and complex...i do think psychedelics can lead to 'Inflation' in some..i also note a disturbing number of suicides of late have involved prescription anti-depressant or anti-psychotic medication..

Pachuco Cadaver wrote:

I've heard of LSD causing schizophrenia, but not psilocybin.

..i know of no such clinical finding, only the occasional undocumented 'acid-casualty' tale..if it did, it would do so only in a very small percentage of users..it does not cause permanent hallucinations..theories of psychedelics as 'psychotinogens' are no longer valid..on the other hand, there is clinical evidence, i believe, of methamphetamine induced psychosis..
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