The personality changes are real. Psychedelics fixed my autism. Or at least, taught me how to cope with it in a way that’s compatible with a good social life and less suffering.

Base rates, my friend. LSD can trigger dissociative type states in a very, very small percentage of the population. Compare to the far more statistically likely damage of alcohol.

LSD does cause permanent personality changes. That's what makes it such a beautiful compound. For me, it permanently altered my openness to experience, made me more intuitively empathetic, and improved my communication skills (the last two are two sides of the same coin). As a result, I am more well-adjusted, better able to communicate, more in tune with people's unspoken emotions and better at dropping into that unique state of vulnerability that we often call love. *

Your mileage may vary.

* Actually, psilocybin mushrooms were my first psychedelic so I credit them with that more than LSD per se. LSD was like the icing on top, really.

> As a result, I am more well-adjusted, better able to communicate, more in tune with people's unspoken emotions and better at dropping into that unique state of vulnerability that we often call love. *

I find it difficult to call someone well adjusted when they are dependent on a hallucinogenic drug to cope with reality.

I can’t speak for the person you are talking to, but I feel the same way he does so I think I can help explain. I don’t depend on psychedelics on an ongoing basis. They taught me how to think in a different way. They are part of my education.

I’ve seen the damage that drug addiction can do, so I understand your caution. But they are nothing like addictive depressants or stimulants. The drugs are actually somewhat unpleasant while the effects take told, and you feel better from the after-effects when they wear off. You also get a lot of tolerance after a single dose. This means that the compulsive redosing behavior that leads to dependence simply doesn’t happen.

You hit the nail on the head. Once you've "gotten it", you don't need to continually re-dose psychs. You always carry a piece of the experience with you.