I built an open-source app to guide solo MDMA sessions -- looking for feedback and contributors

[wellwellsmell]

Hey all, in my free time I've been working on a free app to help guide people through an MDMA session. It's meant for people who want to use it for self-growth and understanding, not necessarily for people with serious conditions like PTSD, which I think is best left to a professional setting.

But like many of you here, I was disappointed with the recent FDA decision and feel like this experience is something many people could benefit from.

So check it out here: m-session.com

The code is all open source and the storage is all local. Nothing leaves your device.

Now that it's in a working state, I'd love some feedback on things that could be improved. The app needs a lot more activities: guided meditations, journaling prompts, breathing exercises, etc. So any help is appreciated. For example, if you have a sexy voice maybe you want to contribute a voice recording of a guided meditation that you think could be helpful.

The open source repo is here for you technical folks: github.com/wellwellwellyourefeelingfine/m-session

 

[Vastness]

Hah excellent stuff, love to see drug apps, generally, there are just so few of them that aren't just sobriety tracking or dull medicine-reminder apps, not that those don't have some kind of place, of course...

I just had a quick review of the options up to starting a session, probably not gonna do MDMA anytime soon but just have a couple of comments on the intro questionnaire.

I noticed that although the "have you acquired your MDMA" question can be answered with "Not yet", and it has a note "you can do this with no substances involved at all", clicking "Not yet" still immediately followed with the question about whether you've tested your MDMA - BUT when I clicked on "Back" and then clicked "Not yet" again, THIS time the testing question did not show up again until the beginning of the session. IIRC the dose question still popped up in the initial questionnaire anyway, as well as the other safety questions... it's not really that big a deal of course, just a minor UX point, that possibly the question about whether the MDMA has been acquired could be replaced with a "Do you intend to take MDMA?" and if the answer is "No" then skip a bunch of the questions that only really make sense if the answer is "Yes".

Besides that, good to see that the is some attention paid to unsafe combinations and unsafe dosages - but I admit to being a little uneasy with the current implementation, as far as I could tell in the default initial questionnaire the "Dangerous" dose that doesn't let you proceed is 300mg+, but this is just too arbitrary IMO. I see you do have a much better "Dosage Calculator" tool in the "Tools" section which requires an input bodyweight, before I even saw this I was thinking that if you're going to ask for intended dose you really should be asking for bodyweight at least as well rather than just applying a one-size-fits-all approach to the default settings, perhaps just incorporating your current dosage calculator tool into the initial questionnaire. Other than that I admit I'm not exactly sure the best way to go about handling the safety aspect here, of course absolutely no one should be relying on the advice in any one single app for something as important as dosing information anyway, but it might be good to specify that somewhere, or put in some questions that more explicitly guard against this...

Other than that though solid effort IMO, very good job, again these comments are just my first thoughts on a single test click-through of the initial questionnaire up to the start of the initial session. Oh actually one other thing I noticed, at the start of the session I see it has that cool lil animation with the moving circles and "just be here, there's nothing else you have to do" type of vibe and it's cool but just a bit small on a PC monitor. I guess that's because it's designed for mobile use primarily which is great and fine I'm sure, no need to even really mess with that I don't think just yet as obviously it's in quite an early stage but would be nice I think if it made better use of the "screen real estate" on larger screens if it's available.

 

[wellwellsmell]

Hi Vastness, wow thanks so much for such thoughtful feedback. I think you're the first person to provide some, so many thanks! Those are all good points.

For the dosage, yes it's tricky. My hope was that users of the app would have taken some time to use the dosage assistant tool, or done their own research from external sources, and determined what a good dose should be before they answer the dosage question in the intake form. But there are multiple checkpoints regarding dosage, and so the first question about dosage in the intake is mostly to get the user thinking about this question, since it's important. It's also important for the user to realize the weight of an average dosage so that they can be prepared to accurately weigh out their substance if it's in crystal form. I think one of the most common safety issues for people without much experience using MDMA is that they don't realize that they'll need a scale accurate to .001g, and they might try to weigh it with a more common supplement scale that only goes to .01g. So getting them thinking about dosage early allows them to prepare and buy a jewelry scale to .001 if they need to. So, once they actually begin their session, there's another question about dosage (and maybe here is where the body weight should be taken into consideration as a further safety check), and then there's an intro in which the vibe is a bit more ritualistic in tone, and this is where they log their actual dose that they are taking and confirm the time of ingestion. The app tracks this (all on local storage of course) for the users session and to calculate a booster dose if the user opted in to that. So yeah, I think it's a good point, and it won't be very difficult to adapt the second dosage question check to include the dosage tool's body weight function. I think I'll also make a more prominent button in the intake form that takes the user to the dosage tool itself as well. And also yeah, I should look into the flow chart of the intake form to see if there are questions that can be skipped depending on the user's answers.

And it's true that right now the layout is built for mobile use. I'll see if I can increase some of the text size and the margins for desktop use.

The app is definitely functional and ready for use at the moment, but it lacks the optionality that would make it a truly individualized app. For example, many of the questions in the intake form that ask about the user's preferences, like the amount of guidance preferred or the activities opted into, are ignored for now and the timeline that's generated is always the same. The goal is to develop enough activity modules (things like meditations, journaling exercises, guided thought exercises, etc) so that the intake form will actually tailor the session timeline to the user's preferences. So, any thoughts on other activities that would be useful?

You can also go to the settings toolbar, and there's a Debug Mode, which will skip ahead to various phase points for testing. The come-up phase is limited in activities that can be added there, so that the user doesn't add any deep work kind of activities when they're still just coming up into the experience. But once you're in the Peak phase, all activities are available.

I plan to make a survey soon that will ask more structured questions based on app. This way people can test the app as much as they want and then answer the survey. And in exchange for the tester's time, I plan to add a recognition page for early testers and contributors to the app. So, Vastness will be first on that list if you wish to be

 

[wellwellsmell]

Oops, I just checked the flow of the intro and I was mistaken above. You're right, currently there's some skipping of questions that shouldn't be skipped if the user answers "not yet" to do you have your substance question. Also, looks like there isn't a dosage check here in the intake. I'll try to add something here like I said above that gets the user thinking about dosages early. And then include the body weight function.

 

[jwking26]

I feel lots of people could benefit from a psilocybin app for people that want to trip alone or have no one to trip sitter for them

 

[PenguinWithNapalm]

I feel lots of people could benefit from a psilocybin app for people that want to trip alone or have no one to trip sitter for them

Yeah I think that a mushroom app would be really beneficial also

 

[wellwellsmell]

@PenguinWithNapalm @jwking26 I agree, though in my experience taking mushrooms therapeutically involves less active therapy work and more just letting the experience unfold. MDMA allows for examining parts of the self that would otherwise be painful or fear-inducing to examine, and unlocks a kind of unconscious wisdom in the sense of relaxing the normal filters that avoid self recognition. I also think it's perfect for a solo app because it's very hard to have a "bad trip" on MDMA, whereas with mushrooms I wouldn't say so. But I could be wrong.

What kinds of therapy activities do you think would be useful for a mushroom focused therapy app?

The code for M-session is open source and available for anyone to spin up and alter into a new mushroom focused app. P-session?

 

[PenguinWithNapalm]

yeah t

@PenguinWithNapalm @jwking26 I agree, though in my experience taking mushrooms therapeutically involves less active therapy work and more just letting the experience unfold. MDMA allows for examining parts of the self that would otherwise be painful or fear-inducing to examine, and unlocks a kind of unconscious wisdom in the sense of relaxing the normal filters that avoid self recognition. I also think it's perfect for a solo app because it's very hard to have a "bad trip" on MDMA, whereas with mushrooms I wouldn't say so. But I could be wrong.

What kinds of therapy activities do you think would be useful for a mushroom focused therapy app?

The code for M-session is open source and available for anyone to spin up and alter into a new mushroom focused app. P-session?

Yeah that is fair

 

[wellwellsmell]

@Vastness I have improved the MDMA dosage intake flow so that it is much smoother and incorporates the dosage tool. Check it out if you wish, and thanks for the feedback here.

I've also added a few different in depth activities that use different therapeutic frameworks: IFS, ACT, and one based on schemas.

 

[jwking26]

@PenguinWithNapalm @jwking26 I agree, though in my experience taking mushrooms therapeutically involves less active therapy work and more just letting the experience unfold. MDMA allows for examining parts of the self that would otherwise be painful or fear-inducing to examine, and unlocks a kind of unconscious wisdom in the sense of relaxing the normal filters that avoid self recognition. I also think it's perfect for a solo app because it's very hard to have a "bad trip" on MDMA, whereas with mushrooms I wouldn't say so. But I could be wrong.

What kinds of therapy activities do you think would be useful for a mushroom focused therapy app?

The code for M-session is open source and available for anyone to spin up and alter into a new mushroom focused app. P-session?

I been thinking about this a lot. I understand that potency is hard to calculate and everyone reacts to different potencies in many different ways. And no 2 trips are the same with the same potency.
That being said, it would have to be based on average, and the participants keeping records to come up with a treatment plan.
I myself have been free from iv meth for 10 years but it has laft me unable to feel emotions until I took my first solo 4g mushroom trip. I cried like I haven't cried in years.
With a lengthy questioner of one's history and length of abstinence from substances like meth I believe it would benefit others that are trying to tap into their human emotions again.
For me it kinda reset my dopamine reception and I am able to feel small bits of joy again.
Others might not need such a high dose or may need more.
I realize it could take quite some time to build a database and there would have to be enough volunteers to fill out the questioner with their experiences and what dosage gave them the best results.
I have no clue if anything like this is even possible but its just me thinking on how it could help others .

 

[wellwellsmell]

I been thinking about this a lot. I understand that potency is hard to calculate and everyone reacts to different potencies in many different ways. And no 2 trips are the same with the same potency.
That being said, it would have to be based on average, and the participants keeping records to come up with a treatment plan.
I myself have been free from iv meth for 10 years but it has laft me unable to feel emotions until I took my first solo 4g mushroom trip. I cried like I haven't cried in years.
With a lengthy questioner of one's history and length of abstinence from substances like meth I believe it would benefit others that are trying to tap into their human emotions again.
For me it kinda reset my dopamine reception and I am able to feel small bits of joy again.
Others might not need such a high dose or may need more.
I realize it could take quite some time to build a database and there would have to be enough volunteers to fill out the questioner with their experiences and what dosage gave them the best results.
I have no clue if anything like this is even possible but its just me thinking on how it could help others .

Thanks for sharing, it's good to hear that you had such positive results from your mushroom trip. I really do think there are many people in similar situations that need these experiences to get unstuck. It's why I feel like this m-session app may be useful.

Personally, I feel like MDMA is a good start for most people who aren't experienced with psychedelic trips because the likelihood of them having a good experience is much higher. It allows them to feel embodied, to feel love, and to accept where they are in their life. I think following up a therapeutic MDMA session with a mushroom trip about a month later, is a good way for someone to really lock in some insights and changes. There's something about mushrooms that seems to create more plasticity in the brain, allowing for new connections to be made and for deeply entrenched habits to be rewired. But also, the trip itself can be kind of an amplifier of anything the person is currently feeling, which gives it a much higher likelihood for a bad trip. So that's why I think the 1-2 combo of MDMA followed by mushrooms is a good bet for most people. But yeah, currently my focus is just on finishing up this MDMA app. And who knows, if I have time maybe I can adapt one for mushrooms as well.

 

[jwking26]

Thanks for sharing, it's good to hear that you had such positive results from your mushroom trip. I really do think there are many people in similar situations that need these experiences to get unstuck. It's why I feel like this m-session app may be useful.

Personally, I feel like MDMA is a good start for most people who aren't experienced with psychedelic trips because the likelihood of them having a good experience is much higher. It allows them to feel embodied, to feel love, and to accept where they are in their life. I think following up a therapeutic MDMA session with a mushroom trip about a month later, is a good way for someone to really lock in some insights and changes. There's something about mushrooms that seems to create more plasticity in the brain, allowing for new connections to be made and for deeply entrenched habits to be rewired. But also, the trip itself can be kind of an amplifier of anything the person is currently feeling, which gives it a much higher likelihood for a bad trip. So that's why I think the 1-2 combo of MDMA followed by mushrooms is a good bet for most people. But yeah, currently my focus is just on finishing up this MDMA app. And who knows, if I have time maybe I can adapt one for mushrooms as well.

I think its a really good thing what you are doing. I wish I had that kind of knowledge to be able to make apps. Computers never were my cup of tea, so to speak.
I agree on the mushroom not being ideal for a first. Ive had my ego ripped away and stomped on a couple times.

 

[Innerpeace]

I'm in total agreement about trying mdma first before shrooms ,including sub 4 typtamines

You get the slight psychedelic effects from the 5-ht2. I didn't try a shrooms like psychedelic untill I was thirty four years old, ten years ago this month, anyways

I remember when I was twenty sitting at a red light seeing enhances looking colors in the red light , while on mdma, which I thought was cool

The next day I looked for them and they were gone and looking back serotonin dipped low and felt the crashed serotonin comedown, as I did mdma two nights , fri and saturday

What are you wanting to accomplish with using mdma, or any empathogen ?

How about the delic trip?

Do as you want, I feel the mdma helps a person transition into the whole experience, experiencing a taste, and that timeframe of doing the mdma and waiting a month or longer is wise

 

[Themailman]

I was about to make a thread but this seems like exactly what I was looking for; protocols for attempting self therapy using MDMA.

I have unfortunately seemingly incurred acute PTSD from a traumatic event. I also have bottom of the barrel insurance and medical therapy is not available or not what I need.

I will try out the app and provide feedback. I may also consider contributing. I have relevant skills and relevant knowledge.

 

[wellwellsmell]

Hey @Themailman good to hear you found m-session! I've been busy pushing lots of updates, and will be pushing a major upgrade to the app tonight. Let me know if you have any questions about how it works. There's a feedback button in the app that takes you to a submission form. If you want to help there's the github repo if you're have coding skills. Mostly I just need help spreading the word at this point. Hope you have a good session!

 

[Themailman]

Hey @Themailman good to hear you found m-session! I've been busy pushing lots of updates, and will be pushing a major upgrade to the app tonight. Let me know if you have any questions about how it works. There's a feedback button in the app that takes you to a submission form. If you want to help there's the github repo if you're have coding skills. Mostly I just need help spreading the word at this point. Hope you have a good session!

Long story but it ended up being a disaster and I was almost poisoned to death with PMMA aka "death", Para Methyl Oxymethamphetamine. This vendor had sent me a good sample then tricked me with PMMA, which sneakily passes reagent testing. It both looks and tastes like MDMA, and at first feels enough like it that you dose an extremely toxic amount. I almost died. I incurred acute kidney and liver damage that I will only make a partial recovery from. Complete disaster.

I pride myself on my HR knowledge and avoiding these exact situations. Just goes to show you can never let your guard down. And never trust drug dealers.

I am still going to test the app and source some good MDMA after I finish recovering. My skills are mainly frontend and web design type things as well as HR, chemistry, pharmacology knowledge. Vast personal anecdotal knowledge from a 25+ year drug use career. Brainy wook.

para-Methoxymethamphetamine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Deaths from exposure to paramethoxymethamphetamine in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada: a case series - PMC

Paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) is a ring-substituted amphetamine similar in structure to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or “ecstasy”), but substantially more toxic. We describe the clinical features of fatal exposures in the provinces of ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[wellwellsmell]

@Themailman Oh no that's horrible! Damn I'm so sorry to hear that, sounds like a terrible situation. Have you reported the PMMA dose so the same doesn't happen to others? And if you still have some of the substance you could send it in for testing? Not sure where you are, but if in the US then maybe Dance Safe or poison control. I'm in the Netherlands and they have good testing with a service called DIMS. Spain also has some good labs that offer international testing and reporting.

Well I really hope you recover fully from this, and that this dealer is called out and made accountable. I'm adding more info about PMMA to the app right now, since I don't think it's prominent enough there. Maybe you can check it out if you feel up to it and let me know if you think it's sufficient. And of course you can still test out the app without any substances for the time being. Your knowledge of frontend and design would be useful, since there's still a bit that's not quite up to par in terms of polish and bugs, and maybe you could spot what's not working from an overall design perspective. But yeah, wishing you a speedy recovery, and thanks for letting me know what happened. And brainy wook I had to look that up, nice to meet you.

 

[Themailman]

Have you reported the PMMA dose so the same doesn't happen to others?

Indeed I did report this vendor, but as of right now he is still vending. There are a few other reports and 0 star reviews from people who got the same shit as me. Apparently someone died. I made a post on dread trying to warn others. I sent a message to the vendor himself begging him to stop sending it to people. Apparently he is lacing his cocaine with this shit as well...

I did all I could trying to warn others, but the vendor is still selling , I believe he is sneakily selectively scamming people with this stuff, while sending out enough legit product to maintain his credibility

Well I really hope you recover fully from this, and that this dealer is called out and made accountable. I'm adding more info about PMMA to the app right now, since I don't think it's prominent enough there. Maybe you can check it out if you feel up to it and let me know if you think it's sufficient. And of course you can still test out the app without any substances for the time being. Your knowledge of frontend and design would be useful, since there's still a bit that's not quite up to par in terms of polish and bugs, and maybe you could spot what's not working from an overall design perspective. But yeah, wishing you a speedy recovery, and thanks for letting me know what happened. And brainy wook I had to look that up, nice to meet you.

Sure thing. I have it on my to do list when I get some more free time.

I will also be getting some real mdma in the near future so will continue the test as planned.