I'd liken it to having a hazmat suit to perform a cleanup. You don't get anything by putting on the hazmat suit. You get something by not having to stay in the room with a toxic chemical spill anymore that you couldn't get close enough to clean up without the suit.
It's a vehicle, not a destination. Yeah, if you get in and rev the accelerator without putting the car in gear, you're not going anywhere. The benefits should largely come in conjunction with therapy.
And psychedelic use has been deeply ingrained in various human cultures all over the world for thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands?) of years. Taking psychedelics as part of a religious ceremony or ritual to rid oneself of suffering is part of indigenous traditions in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia/Oceania.
I'd say the historical traditions and these new studies should convince even you that there is no fad involved in human psychotropic use.
Could you link me to some research about this? I have heard this talked about, but I haven't found anything reliable.
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survi...
> the high you get is a distraction from the pain you are feeling
Sort of. The feeling is of an assurance, a joyful security that releases you to be able to confront the pain without (as much) fear. There's also a shift in perspective that let's you know that a different way of feeling is possible. That's surprisingly powerful.
> are you just finally looking at what you didn't want to all these years?
Yes, exactly this.
> Do you need to take psychedelics to look?
Perhaps not, but anecdotal evidence and a growing amount of research suggests it helps tremendously, especially in cases where it is very hard for people to look at themselves whilst sober.
> I wouldn't be surprised if we find out that psychedelics was just a fad.
I don't see how this follows from anything you've said.
It doesn't matter what the culture behind these substances is. They work for the people that need them. The results should speak for themselves.
The best analogy I can give is like you're playing a NES game, and it's glitching all over parts of the screen. You're still able to play, but there's interference that you just eventually learn to ignore, even though it is wearing on your experience. MDMA is like hitting the reset button and the glitches are gone. You realize there's a beauty that you've been missing this entire time, because you grew to view life through this filter.
Again, this isn't true of everyone's experience but studies are starting to show it's able to help certain people that can use it.
I realize that's a pretty extreme statement to make. But from what I understand, we hardly realize how the mind works. I am not saying don't dismiss the research. I just wonder if we are trying to sell psychedelics as a magic pill, when maybe just awareness is all you need.
What about people who have bad trips on these drugs? Do we dismiss them as people who aren't just suppose to take psychedelics?
Often the most important thing to reassure people who are having a bad trip is that this too will end, and they will feel normal again soon. The fear that the trip will be the new normal is a big fear.
Sometimes people are having bad trips because they are performing the introspection they've long avoided--- they're facing trauma. And in that respect, I think that having a bad trip is actually a _good thing_. Sure, you aren't avoiding what's in your subconscious, you're facing it head on. You might have a bad time in the moment, but it helps the healing process overall.
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The idea that trips are just a beautiful illusion is... kind of flawed. Our brains are weird, and our thoughts can re-wire how our brains work. If someone is living is the cognitive distortion that they are unloved, but a trip of MDMA reminds them that there is love and unity in the world, then it doesn't really matter whether it's an illusion. Going through life with the belief that everyone is capable and deserve of love and unity and respect _fundamentally makes your life better_, especially if you compare it to the opposite distortion, where you are paranoid and wondering how people are out to take advantage or humiliate you.
I think that MDMA is more about breaking down cognitive distortions with a temporary "well what if PLUR??" thought experiment than it is about just creating an illusion.
Psychedelics are an effective means of clearing the filter of all the constraints a person accumulates in the course of life. Culture, society, education, religion, it all serves to build the filters up.
If one finds beauty in the world under the influence of psychedelics, in my experience it tends to persist long after the drugs have left the system.
I am not saying that there is no benefit, especially for an extreme case like this. That relief these people get, a chance to exist without the confusion and pain, and just feel like love.
But the high you get is a distraction from the pain you are feeling. It's not the taking of MDMA or Psilocybin that fixes the issues. It's the integration. It's the "lessons" you learn from your experience.
But are you learning, or are you just finally looking at what you didn't want to all these years? Do you need to take psychedelics to look?
I think we should keep researching, because we should see what is at the end of this tunnel.