I'm uncertain if psychedelics would improve my life or not. Advice?

[spacejunk]

Better descriptor, cheers.
I would hate to think how miserable my life would be had I not used psychedelics.

Having said that, they're not beneficial for everyone.

 

[spacejunk]

Well to be fair, according to what I've seen, I'm pretty sure the presence of endogenous DMT in the human brain is still mostly theory at this point. I believe even in Strassman's book he states himself that it's not for certain, just a theory and that only that all of the factors that allow the body to manufacture it itself naturally are present (the neurotransmitters, enzymes, etc), but not actual DMT itself. The burden of proof does in fact fall on the person making the claim that there is a presence of something, rather than the lack thereof. However, there was a study in 2013 I believe that did confirm the presence of DMT in the pineal gland of a rat, and also another report that just came out this year regarding biosynthesis of DMT in a human melanoma cell line, though I really don't know much about it. So, at least up until very recently, it has been mostly theory, but there is more and more evidence that seems to be coming out, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it was present in the human brain. Like I said maybe that last report does prove that its there but I don't know much about it or what the report actually says or anything.


And yes, I agree with the pmose agenda thing.

I think we are all roughly on the same page here. You're right, and I agree with you.
What I was getting at was the certainty with which pmoseman stated that there is "no sign" of endogenous dmt in the human brain.
No evidence? Sure - fine.
But saying "no sign" - perhaps I misread this terminology; but it sounds like unfounded, unsubstantiated certainty to me.
Maybe I'm being too harsh in judging someone by their track record?

 

[whiteroom67]

Yeah true, understandable. I work with someone who does the same sort of thing. With everything. It's worse though, because this guy wants my job so he's doing everything in his power to make me want to quit. And it's almost working. Almost.

Anyway, back to the original topic. I agree, psychedelics can be beneficial but they are certainly not for everyone. There should be a good set and setting, and a proper dosage, that all goes without saying... but really, a person really just has to have a certain type of personality in a way, in the sense that they should be a person who is capable of analyzing things objectively, and not be consumed by their thoughts, fears, anxieties, regrets, etc on a regular basis, or at the least just be aware of it when they do do that. That certainly isn't everyone I know.

 

[pmoseman]

 

[Xorkoth]

Well to be fair, according to what I've seen, I'm pretty sure the presence of endogenous DMT in the human brain is still mostly theory at this point. I believe even in Strassman's book he states himself that it's not for certain, just a theory and that only that all of the factors that allow the body to manufacture it itself naturally are present (the neurotransmitters, enzymes, etc), but not actual DMT itself. The burden of proof does in fact fall on the person making the claim that there is a presence of something, rather than the lack thereof. However, there was a study in 2013 I believe that did confirm the presence of DMT in the pineal gland of a rat, and also another report that just came out this year regarding biosynthesis of DMT in a human melanoma cell line, though I really don't know much about it. So, at least up until very recently, it has been mostly theory, but there is more and more evidence that seems to be coming out, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if it was present in the human brain. Like I said maybe that last report does prove that its there but I don't know much about it or what the report actually says or anything.


And yes, I agree with the pmose agenda thing.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if it was manufactured in minute quantities for various purposes in the human body either; however, I seriously doubt it's released in massive quantities upon death as people are wont to believe these days (and which I once believed as well because of hearsay). There's simply no evidence for it, nor do people who have briefly died and come back to report the experience of the tunnel and white light ever described experiences that sound anything like DMT.

Yeah true, understandable. I work with someone who does the same sort of thing. With everything. It's worse though, because this guy wants my job so he's doing everything in his power to make me want to quit. And it's almost working. Almost.

Anyway, back to the original topic. I agree, psychedelics can be beneficial but they are certainly not for everyone. There should be a good set and setting, and a proper dosage, that all goes without saying... but really, a person really just has to have a certain type of personality in a way, in the sense that they should be a person who is capable of analyzing things objectively, and not be consumed by their thoughts, fears, anxieties, regrets, etc on a regular basis, or at the least just be aware of it when they do do that. That certainly isn't everyone I know.

I agree with you basically. But, it's a difficult line to draw. I know people who used psychedelics and ended up substantially clearing up those thought tendencies as a result and are better for it. I think the biggest factor is that you are a person who isn't obsessed with control (read: control freak). Some people become terrified, reacting in an almost primitive animalistic defensive way when their feeling of control over their environment and thoughts becomes threatened. Other people don't have a problem with this. It's important to be able to let go of (the illusion of) control to be able to make use of psychedelics. My ex, for example, has a very hard time with this, she tries to control every aspect of everything, and when she experienced a strong psychedelic space, she flipped out. She was fine with weak doses of them (she tried DMT and mushrooms) but even then had some difficulties, and when she had a strong dose of DMT she flipped out almost psychotic-style, and I believe it had long-lasting ramifcations on her psyche because it revealed to her the utter lack of control of the universe that she had built up in her head as real. For me, that instills a sense of wonder and beauty, but for her, it was a terrible thing.

 

[pmoseman]

She believes something controls the universe?

 

[Xorkoth]

Well yeah she believes god controls the universe but simultaneously she grips onto this illusion of personal control over her environment and others, and is uncomfortable if she feels out of control in any way. And even at a more mundane level she always wants to be in control of everything, who's present, where she's going to be, activities we did, etc. Classic control freak (though she HATED that term, go figure).

 

[Shimmerchasm]

I am *sometimes* consumed by my worries. Every once in a while it'll hit me real hard, usually at night. BUT I know that by morning it will pass. I remain hopeful and calm through the dark times that still creep in on me. I've recently weaned myself off Zoloft and I'm generally feeling pretty good. Since my reiki session I feel a lot more confident and open and "protected" in an energetic sense, and I'm making time to meditate and my meditations are super rejuvenating and inspiring. So I think I will be okay with the occasional use of psychs. Thanks so much everyone and please keep posting!

 

[Xorkoth]

Sounds like you will, you seem to be in a good mindset for it, and they may even help you to deal with those worries. Everyone gets consumed by worries sometimes.

 

[pmoseman]

Sounds like a control freak, is that why she's your ex?

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah part of the reason. There are a variety of reasons. On my end, I was addicted to opiates and lied to her all the time about it and she couldn't trust me anymore. That was a bad thing for me to do, no doubt. From her end, she tried to control me our whole relationship and coerce me into changing things about myself she didn't like, and she also has severe rage issues when something sets her off, and she'd be intensely emotionally abusive during those times, and this happened for the entirety of our 12-year relationship/marriage except for the first 3 months. It was like she was 2 distinct people, and I hated and didn't even recognize the "bad" one. She didn't even look like herself in her eyes then. Why did I put up with it for 12 years? Because the good parts were really good, when she wasn't that person she was a great person and we had a really deep connection and lots of love and closeness. That and my self-esteem was totally shot from her behavior and my addiction.

She's got some serious issues, but unfortunately she doesn't believe in therapy or medication or anything but helping herself, which I am not sure she can do considering it's just gotten worse as she's gotten older. Currently she's living with her mom, with no income. That was another reason, for the past 6 years, after we got married and moved, she became relatively non-functional and didn't contribute a penny to our financial situation, despite me having serious financial woes due to addiction. Eventually she snapped and became somewhat psychotic and robotic. She seems better now but still isn't really functioning in life. It's actually really sad, she's got a lot to offer to the world and she's an amazing musician. I love her as a person and I hope she can figure her shit out, but it's not my problem anymore.

 

[Ziiirp]

Sounds like a few familiar acquaintanceships. I'm sure they weren't always that way in my case. Somebodies actions broke them before I met them. I didn't have the strength to help them repairing.

 

[jason7]

On the subject of DMT, there's a YouTube channel called London Real that did a few shows about DMT and ayahuasca. They discussed how DMT seems to facilitate communication with the spirit realm. In one part they said that a discarnate spirit had commented to a user about how wonderful it was that this "technology" had been discovered which allowed for them to communicate directly with living people. I could almost believe that it played a part in NDEs but, as mentioned by someone in this thread, NDEs don't report visual patterns etc common to DMT trips. However, dying may activate the same part of the brain that DMT does, just in a somewhat different way.

I believe, though, that NDEs are real experiences and not hallucinations or something contrived by the brain. People have had them who were dead for quite some time, much longer than the brain could still be active enough to produce complex hallucinatory scenarios. NDE people also consistently report that they were fully conscious and clearheaded and that the experience was actually more real feeling than normal life. Also, how could so many people report such similar experiences, such as the Being of Light, or dead relatives, telling them that they must go back because "it's not their time"? It's almost always the very same wording. It's never "it's not time for you to die yet" or something like that. It's almost always the exact phrase "it's not your time". Seems unlikely that everybody's brain would concoct the exact same phrase. We survive death alright, I have no doubt of that.

I've read all of the 3500+ NDE reports in the archives of nderf.org. I had to know all I can about what happens after we die. It was very educational. There's definitely a "God", if you want to call it that for convenience, and it apparently created us all. We have existed since the beginnings of the universe and will continue to exist for eternity, though the environment in which you will spend your time may be dependent on your actions in the physical world. Both heavenly and hellish realms have been described. Demonic entities apparently also do exist. You sometimes need the "God" and "Jesus" entities to save you from Hell or from demonic attacks. Good thing they're around or it could be nasty.

 

[Shimmerchasm]

Ram Dass said "death is absolutely safe" and I believe that 100%. I definitely feel that we enter into another form of existence rather than just cease to be. This feels intuitive to me, and while I don't have any past life memories I really feel like I've been here before in another life. I would like to try DMT or ayahuasca but maybe not for a long while!

 

[Xorkoth]

I feel the same way, for me it's entirely because of the experiences I've had on psychedelics, some of which (my peak experiences) felt more real than anything else I've ever experienced. I know they're real, the same as when you wake up from a dream you suddenly remember and know that you're back to reality, and it seems ridiculous that you would have believed otherwise during the dream. The only conclusion I can reach because of my experiences in life is that we continue to exist indefinitely, in some form or another. That I am sure of; everything else, I have opinions and beliefs about but I don't feel like I know for sure.

 

[pmoseman]

I tend to believe in hallucinations for just what they are, not that they aren't important, they are dreadfully important, your imagination.

Kind of hung up on Robin Williams lately (getting over it a bit), and Williams was on Jon Stewart (Daily Show), which I enjoy, and they were talking about the fear of losing their talent once they were off drugs.

Probably not hard to find, but here it is: http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/7xzghq/robin-williams around the 4:50 minute mark.

 

[Xorkoth]

I'm pretty gutted about Robin Williams too.

The majority of my perceptions on psychedelics are hallucinations, other than the emotional perceptions about myself which are increasingly what my trips are about. In that way they can be a very valuable and honest tool. However I have had some ineffable experiences which I do not believe to be hallucinations. I don't think that makes me gullible, or misguided, or naive, it just means that I had a glimpse through ordinary perception powerful enough to reveal something profound about life/existence. We certainly live in an immensely complex and layered reality, I see no reason why it's impossible to have a valid insight that is brand new and profound from a psychedelic experience. People have those without psychedelics as well. I don't buy into the model that psychedelics model psychosis (though they can sometimes) or that everything you experience on them is pure fantasy. Sometimes they can resemble a deep meditative state, or disconnect you so much from the human experience of pattern recognition and concept building that you are able to experience things legitimately in a different way for a time.

 

[sghouston5]

Never know till ya try man. I say do it. Explore the endless realms of the universe that's in your mind. Everything else will seem trivial once you come back from your trip. Take some shrooms (3.5g of cubensis), do one hit of acid, or take 120mg of MDMA. I would say DMT but that can be a bit extreme for a first time user.

Have a good, positive set and setting. A very ambient and peaceful environment can make all the difference. Have a friend who is experienced or is just a really good friend to "tripsit" you. Stay calm, just let it wash over you and experience it, never try to fight the feeling either. If you do all these things, you should have a pretty great trip! But in the rare happenstance that you have a bad trip or start panicking, I would have one or two xanax lying around. I have had a few bad trips and xanax literally saved me from my own anxiety and panic. It will take away from the trip and will level out, you wont trip as hard, but at least you'll be relaxed again.

Happy tripping man

 

[Xorkoth]

I pretty much agree with the above, except I'd say 3.5 grams of mushrooms, unless they're weak, is equivalent to more than 1 hit of acid. I'd start with 2.5 grams of mushrooms and see how they affect you. 3.5 may be a bit much for a first time. I had 1.75 grams of (very good, not average) mushrooms for my first trip and had a peak experience that changed my life, and it was the perfect dose, never too strong but fully spiritual and awakening.

 

[sghouston5]

I pretty much agree with the above, except I'd say 3.5 grams of mushrooms, unless they're weak, is equivalent to more than 1 hit of acid. I'd start with 2.5 grams of mushrooms and see how they affect you. 3.5 may be a bit much for a first time. I had 1.75 grams of (very good, not average) mushrooms for my first trip and had a peak experience that changed my life, and it was the perfect dose, never too strong but fully spiritual and awakening.

Yep. Just do the shrooms man. Beware though and plan accordingly. They last a long ass time, and unless you've got something to help you sleep when coming down, youll be awake for a while.