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Psychedelics to cure fear?

J

juniorcat

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Jun 14, 2011
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Is it possible through the ingestion of psychedelics to overcome fear?

Has anyone experienced this?
 
One of the things MAPS are looking into is the use of psychedelics to reduce anxiety in terminal cancer patients. You can check this thread in DITM for a recent example (though I'm not sure it has anything to do with MAPS.) They're also looking into MDMA to treat PTSD, so it's quite likely that used in the 'right way' the answer to your question is yes. Though I haven't experienced it.
 
yes, you can use psychedelics as a catalyst to explore your own fears

on a philosophical level, you can begin to understand your existence on a more exponential level (evolution, the universe, etc.) which can allow the little things we worry about in our small lives to appear as small as they are

on a psychological level, you can also dig up unconscious and repressed material from your past and from your life circumstances, allowing you to understand where these fears might have grown from in the beginning
 
I'd tentatively say MDMA is more useful for overcoming fear given that some (not sure of the size or scope) studies suggest it increases ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity, which is responsible for fear-processing and stress reduction. Psychedelics could be a somewhat of a crap-shoot: you could overcome your fear or be sent into a negative thought loop about your fear.
 
MDMA seemed to work well for me at first. But it doesn't seem to have created any long term beneficial effects. Which, to be fair, it has never done to the same extents as the more profound psychedelics for me.
 
I have overcome my fear of the dark during my first LSD trip. Me and my ex were walking throught the forest during the night and I learned how to control my fear. Since then the darkness is not something I am afraid of! =]
 
That's interesting jiva. Could you give me some more details on that trip and what actually happened in your mind that made you overcome your fear?
 
I'd tend to say yes, but I'd like to hear more specifically about what you are asking. Are you asking about phobias? Anxiety? General fear of everything? Fear of a specific event, person, place, thing, etc.?

I would also like to hear more from sljiva about how LSD helped you learn to control fear. What do you do now when you are in the dark? How is life different from the way it was before LSD? What exactly happened during the trip?

To both:
 
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in lite doses sure

but you go to heavy to many years and its different
i question everything, people, places, buildings
time space and matter, you dig deep into yourself

youll never imagine what you pull out :D
 
i think it all depends on what you think psychedelics do to your mind in the first place. if fear is just another thought, then the same way in which a good trip can leave you with long lasting love for nature and the universe, it could also leave you with a resolve for the fears you had.

but i dont think theres an easy way to rid you of fears.
its quite attractive to think that some substances that reduce social anxiety could have permanent benefits, but without some actual work this is almost never a permanent effect. the human mind is just so volatile...
 
You used to be such a nice boy, now you've got your mother all upset and your father thinks you're a goddam communist
 
In my own experience, whilst under the influence of MDMA I found a large insect in the bathroom. Fascinated, I studied it and picked it up. This is significant because I won't even sleep in a room if there is a spider or something in it. I HATE things like that. They make me scream in terror if they manage to creep up on me.

It didn't cure me of that fear, obviously, but alot of evidence points towards its potential long term benefits. Perhaps if I encountered something like that every time I rolled, it would start to break what is a strong lifelong phobia.
 
Life in its self is a stuggle.Also if the what was that supposed to mean 4 me.Iwas simply saying i think mainly during the 1960s that LSD and combined phychotherapy were used to try to get to the root of phychological issues thats all!
 
Definitely, this is one of the most powerful applications of psychs, imo.

It seems maybe there are 2 basic ways that fear can be dissolved w/ psychs:

-thru analysis, insight, following the fear to its source, personal exploration, etc - the more common way, used for PTSD & terminal illness, etc

-thru being so utterly fucking mortally terrified that afterward ordinary fears are entirely trivial & inconsequential in comparison :) the hard way ;)
 
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