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Can psychedelics help with social anxiety and/or problems with talking???

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ovenbakedskittles

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 11, 2014
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So i was wondering if psychedelics can alleviate, if not cure, social anxiety or social anxiety related problems. I have heard about people using psychedelics to treat depression and to help with past traumas and stuff like that so i was wondering if psychedelics has any impact like that but on social anxiety.

I am one of those people who does not talk a lot. i kinda just sit there listening to other people talk and have conversations and when i am spoken to i say like one thing and then i stay quiet again. even with my own family! sometimes its because i don't wanna express my thoughts cuz of what other people might think and sometimes its cuz i just can't think of ANYTHING to say and sometimes i just feel to lazy to speak like i don't have the energy to talk and stuff.

it has been that way all my life and i was wondering if psychedelics can help with that in any way.
 
ovenbakedskittles said:
So i was wondering if psychedelics can alleviate, if not cure, social anxiety or social anxiety related problems.
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Simply put:

Yes.

But they can also make it much worse.

I am one of those people who does not talk a lot. i kinda just sit there listening to other people talk and have conversations and when i am spoken to i say like one thing and then i stay quiet again. even with my own family! sometimes its because i don't wanna express my thoughts cuz of what other people might think and sometimes its cuz i just can't think of ANYTHING to say and sometimes i just feel to lazy to speak like i don't have the energy to talk and stuff.

it has been that way all my life and i was wondering if psychedelics can help with that in any way.
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You sound like a typical introvert: Psychedelics are unlikely to cause massive personality changes unless you actively pursue it. I doubt you'll change that and to be honest, you don't want to. Introverts filter stuff around them, they listen before speaking. And when they speak, it's because it had to be said. Extroverts tend to speak before thinking, and the same goes for acting. I think the world is such a place because most people with power are extroverts.

You can however become something that's neither introvert or extrovert: These are both essentially artificial conditions. You may find a place between them. You can in effect be social while still being able to consider everything you think before making it known to others. But i don't know how you'll be able to change yourself to that point: everyone is different. I'd like to say i changed my personality through insight without psychedelics.
 
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thank you for your answer but i would like to ask another question. i have noticed that another reason i don't talk much is because i tend to overthink things and i put myself in a bad mood. and then i dont feel like talking. can psychedelics help with me overthinking things so much or will it make it worse? or is that pretty much what you were talking about?
 
psychedelics can help you with your problems, but you should not expect them to be a quick solution. have you considered psychotherapy yet?
 
ovenbakedskittles said:
thank you for your answer but i would like to ask another question. i have noticed that another reason i don't talk much is because i tend to overthink things and i put myself in a bad mood. and then i dont feel like talking. can psychedelics help with me overthinking things so much or will it make it worse? or is that pretty much what you were talking about?
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All people are different. For me... I do "overthink" things. But it doesn't affect my mood. I guess in this way psychedelics can help profoundly: For me it revelead the fact that mood is a transitory experience and wholly dependant on your own mind. It is something that can be changed by changing the way you look at the world and reality itself. Psychedelics can make thinking... Deep and important things easier because it removes a filter: You might not want to think about the nature of the self or the nature of the universe while doing mundane work in the office. It is not conductive to all situations.

Psychedelics perhaps remove that filter, that's what i'd say.

But i'd like for you to consider this: Feeling bad is a form of suffering: I'm a Buddhist so to me suffering is something caused by myself. If i think that a thing that causes me suffering, no longer causes it, then it really does not. Think of food: Others really hate the things some people love here. It's very subjective: Suffering is wholly subjective no matter how bad it is. When something is subjective, it is subject to change.

And the only thing that can truly change the way you think, is you. With or without psychedelics to be honest. Psychedelics make very abstract thinking perhaps easier: It is easier to conceive things you have no personal experience of.

It's basically "yes" and "no" at the same time.
 
thanks again for your guys' responses... i have not consider psychotherapy. i havnt even thought about it. it is something i will have to look into. would psychotherapy be considered a better alternative?
 
Speaking from experience, they make me worse

I'm quiete a nervous speaker and suffer from a little anxiety and these kind of drugs have gave me nervous twitches in my face and often make me stutter
 
Wasn't there a thing about aMT helping a lot of people with social phobia after the effects of the drug wear off? i may be mistaken
 
MAPS said:
Our recently completed Phase 2 pilot study in 12 subjects found positive trends in the reduction of anxiety following two LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions. The study results also indicate that LSD-assisted psychotherapy can be safely administered in these subjects, and justify further research.
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http://www.maps.org/research/psilo-lsd/

The above is true of LSD. Some psychedelics do not have this effect.
 
It's too bad psychotherapy coupled with psychedelics is banned and extremely rare. I've heard good things.
 
I have trouble seeing psychedelics as a way of overcoming social anxiety. They make me feel intensely awkward and uncomfortable in most social situations. It's undeniable that psychedelics can catalyse changes in personality and outlook but I don't see these changes as being a reliable method of overcoming a long lasting problem like social anxiety. Honestly I find it a little dubious how psychedelics are often viewed as some sort of panacea for psychological disorders.
 
Take this for what it's worth because we're all individuals and I am a weird combination between introvert and extrovert, but as a kid and very young adult I was very socially awkward. There were a lot of factors, including just getting older and more sure of myself, but when I started tripping, I would get really intense come-ups, with lots of anxiety and awkwardness and self-consciousness. But over time, as I learned to deal with that and let it go, I found myself becoming so much more at ease socially. Nowadays, at 31, I really am pretty much 100% confident in who I am and it's rare that social phobia shows itself, though I still see it occasionally in little ways.
 
There are SO many possible reasons for social anxiety and problems with talking, if those reasons mainly have something to do with the way you see yourself then there is a chance psychedelics could help, even though it is unpredictable and it might also make matters worse. If successful, it could show you yourself in another light and might free you from some anxieties... but unless you stand up for yourself, there could always be negative judgemental thoughts about yourself that could make you feel under attack. Either way you would be exposing yourself to the tribunal of your own mentality.

But there are also other reasons for social anxiety that are much more complicated and can be related to a disorder, or to very bad things that happened to you in the past. Then you'd have to dive into psychoselfanalysis and boy that can be a labyrinth.

Maybe working on your problems could be okay if you go very slowly and carefully and use structured ways to confront your problems, preferably with guidance... but in generally I would definitely say: do not just try to get it fixed magically by tripping, it's not reliable that way and very tricky, also extra risky if you are vulnerable.
 
There is something up with drug use and losing inhibitions, generally making situations easier to handle, social situations. It may be you ignore personal hang-ups by taking away your ability to really concentrate on them. I doubt psychedelics themselves are responsible for doing what you are really after.

We would all like other's positive attributes. That learning of skills takes time, at least for me it does. Understanding what we perceive others are capable of. We mimick others to learn new patterns. Then we can find new talents in ourselves. Rarely are other people that much more capable, it is how you learn to use what you have got that is important.

I require a social motivation to act and work on myself.

But if others do not find an interest, our desire for socializing results in negative thinking, "This will never change".

My older and younger siblings and mother are all self-confirmed introverts. I naturally thought I was introverted. Turns out that I actually want to be doing things with other people.

Understanding the reasons I feel the way I do changed what I thought about myself.

Your environment may need to change. I do very poorly in most anywhere and constantly feel restricted and want to leave. Put me in the right social environment and I really enjoy myself.

The social environment is weird. It is extremely complex. It is very difficult to make generalities. In an environment that interests you and where you are an interest to others, I think you can get what you are after.

Take psychedelics and you can be interested in things you would not normally find an interest in and people might be more interested in what is going on with you. So you might get some positive social interaction out of it. There are also plenty of LSD stories of people losing social interaction as a result.

Do you see other people acting in ways that are foreign to you and realize there are restrictions on your social behavior? So much of this stuff is just in our head and if you focus on memories you can redefine yourself without changing anything or doing anything new. So much is based on the uneducated judgements of others.
 
While things like mdma and psilosybin/psilocin can be used they can end up making things a lot worse after a short period of helping, which some can not handle... Some can't even accept the feelings and thoughts that are allowed to flow leading them to be unable to handle the experience and act out behaving inappropriately in whatever situation they may be in.

While most psychedelics can be keys to open doors it will do no good if one is not ready to step through or peer beyond those doors.

Also safe reliable supply and responsible dosing is important. Always invest in a test kit like the one's dance safe and eztest. Milligram scale can be bought cheap on eBay and can help you or your friends avoid a psychedelic overload freakout or even a heroin overdose, which I hope you or anyone you allow in your life has stayed far away from. Also avoid LSD for the first time as it can get overwhelming when doors are opened that you don't want to be opened.... I have great respect for this compound and no way consider it a traditional psychedelic coming to understand its unique action.

Edit: Psychotherapy can be a great tool if you find someone you feel comfortable to put your trust into. They should not only have a deep interest, passion, and understanding of psychology, but also in who you are and why you are who you are. Most important of all you want someone who cares about you and not the money. Sometimes a good friend can be the best therapy although I recommend working with friends where there is no physical or romantic relation as that will get in the way for sure.
 
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Xorkoth said:
Take this for what it's worth because we're all individuals and I am a weird combination between introvert and extrovert, but as a kid and very young adult I was very socially awkward. There were a lot of factors, including just getting older and more sure of myself, but when I started tripping, I would get really intense come-ups, with lots of anxiety and awkwardness and self-consciousness. But over time, as I learned to deal with that and let it go, I found myself becoming so much more at ease socially. Nowadays, at 31, I really am pretty much 100% confident in who I am and it's rare that social phobia shows itself, though I still see it occasionally in little ways.
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This describes me perfectly. Interestingly enough it wasn't until I had a really nasty MDMA induced anxiety spell, that I opened up and dug deep to figure out who I was and work through my issues. I came out on top in the end but it was pretty rough.

Sometimes when I take psychedelics I over analyze shit. For example last time I was on 4acodmt I realized that I don't call my mom enough and that I only have X amount of time with her as I grow up. After that I noticed that I've been much better about calling her and being active in her life.

Did the drugs change who I am? No but they gave me insight into how to work on things to change me for the better.
 
Did the drugs change who I am? No but they gave me insight into how to work on things to change me for the better.
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yeah that's an important point. most of the time, a psychedelic exerience can only give us input on how to be better, but we have to take on the challenge to integrate this into our daily lives.
 
On one hand, psychedelics may assist you in approaching the entire situation differently; instead of seeing introversion and quietness as negative, psychedelics may help you to accept these traits that are inherent and rather difficult to radically change. There's nothing wrong with either of these qualities; in fact, they can provide the sort of backdrop that one may find useful for "deep" thinking and comprehension of the active world around them. Of course, these traits can become too pronounced and induce a feeling of exclusion to the present moment and a hard-to-shake anxiety and unease when engaging with the often incomprehensible other person. A trip may help to stabilise a more accepting attitude towards these aspects of your self and provide some comfort and stability within you to reach for a sort of happy middle state.

On the other hand, psychedelics can prove disastrously detrimental to the more fragile mind and actually deepen some neuroses and automatic thoughts. Its a bit of a hit-or-miss 'solution' to employ, and given the potential for a negative experience may prove too lopsided on the risk/reward scale. I also think that the positive outcomes you seek are more safely attainable via practises such as meditation or even exercise. For me, psychedelics have been mainly helpful in allowing me insight and to restructure some aspects of my self, but I have found that this sort of use should be supplementary to action oriented toward invoking about the same effects when sober. They are not a magic bullet; they are better then that :)

I would urge a degree of caution here; there is rarely an easy and simple answer to the complexity of Lifes question- and most things claimed to be such are often misguided or false.

Peace :) <3
 
Good point willow - exercise may be a wonderful thing for you, depending on whether you are in shape right now or not. Being in shape and having muscle definition makes you feel better about yourself for many reason: you feel better, you have more endorphins flowing, and you look better, all of which increase your self-esteem.
 
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