Using psychedelics to treat anxiety

[phantomcosmonaut]

I used to have bad anxiety, mostly socially, but it presents itself in more than just that way. After the first time I used LSD I became surprisingly more sociable, my reasons for taking the drug were mostly recreational, and I didn't really think it would do this. The last time I did LSD I was coming up on a city bus (yes; stupid, but I had unintentionally taken a large dose and the onset was very fast) and I noticed an extreme lack of paranoia or anxiety which I would normally feel a lot on a psychedelic in a public setting. To this day my anxiety has been reduced significantly, but not completely. I am planning on taking magic mushrooms soon, what can I do to make this experience more "midicinally-aimed" to hopefully further reduce my anxiety?

 

[RobotRipping]

i dont know i think psychedelics really brought my anxiety out, yeah they can help you deal with issues that cause your anxiety but it is very unpredictable.

to make a good experience be in a super safe setting, turn off all phones, communications devices and make sure no one will bother you. I'd get a notepad and think heavily about some tough times in your life, start from childhood and pinpoint where the anxiety started and think about the reasons why it started. This will not be a fun or easy experience and it may get emotional, but after it's all out i bet you'll feel better and this is probably the best way IMO to use psychs medicinally.

mushrooms aren't that great for this though, i find them more recreational than anything and at high doses i get too fucked up to even think straight or tell which direction i'm looking at. They can also produce anxiety. I'd personally use a different psych for your medicinal purposes.

 

[Dmytry]

mushrooms worked amazing for me at working out my problems, but only at low doses (~1.5-2.5g dried)

^youre right about higher doses (>~4g dried) not really doing much, and maybe making the problems worse. mushrooms are too chaotic to get much work done when the room is changing sizes and doing flips and youre holding on for dear life

 

[phantomcosmonaut]

Unfortunately for most people, psychedelics are hard to come by, and the same goes for me. This happens to be the only psych I can find at the moment (and fuckin expensive at that). Thanks for that input though, I would have otherwise taken an eighth and tried this. I'll give a low dose a shot for this purpose, then maybe blow my brains out with a high dose next time, haha.

 

[daytryptr]

YMMV, but personally they worked great initially at dealing with anxiety ime. Over time that efficacy was lost, no matter how i approached the experience. I don't doubt they are useful for some people, i just think its either a life changing experience that forces you to deal with your anxiety issues, and if you do its dealt with. Alternatively, you get short term reduction in anxiety, but ultimately if you don't get to the root cause, its just a temporary solution. And then theres the experiences that amplify/make worse anxiety, caused by a bad/uncomfortable trip.

I think its a risky endeavor (dealing with anxiety w/ psychedelics), but not impossible. In a controlled setting, perhaps it would be a lot more effective, like with a therapist/psychologist, IE the lsd/psilocybin end of life anxiety clinical studies. But theres always that risk of just making things worse, and you really have to be careful, especially if the relief from anxiety only comes with repeated dosing. Ultimately, i think the only way you can deal with anxiety using psychedelics, is as a tool to go deep into your mind and find out why your anxious, then change your lifestyle to fix that. Long term dosing to treat anxiety is risky though imho, and not something you should try to self medicate that way. All it takes is one disaster/difficult trip and they do just the opposite and make your worse off, which is inevitable with long term dosing imho.

 

[phantomcosmonaut]

I understand what you mean, and maybe I'll regret trying, but I'm still going to go for it (not repeated, just this once). I think it's a waste to have this amazing tool to help solve my issue, and not try to apply it. I guess there isn't much to it other than preparing myself for the experience.

 

[daytryptr]

I understand what you mean, and maybe I'll regret trying, but I'm still going to go for it (not repeated, just this once). I think it's a waste to have this amazing tool to help solve my issue, and not try to apply it. I guess there isn't much to it other than preparing myself for the experience.

For sure. Definitely give it a try. Just be careful it you need to trip regularly to treat that anxiety. If it works, and your able to handle that anxiety better than before for an extended period of time after the trip, more power to ya.

I've had some pretty psychologically abrasive trips from being anxious going into a trip expecting the usual break from anxiety i get though, its just something to watch out for if you have anxiety and trip with any degree of regularity. By no means a reason not to give it a shot initially. Just be careful about the set/setting/dose, which I'm sure you already know.

There's been a few good 4-aco-dmt trips where i just sat there laughing my ass off thinking about all the things i was afraid of the past few months, really cathartic stuff and definitely helped in the long term imho.

 

[Jabberwocky]

+1 for psychs reducing anxiety (and helping to develop ego)
(when used right - i've def been in ill-advised situations that temporarily made anxiety worse. but over time i lost almost-all / all anxiety, and while it was through general "growth", a massive factor in that growth was psychedelics, specifically boomers/acid/mdma, typically in combination)

[EDIT: i just want to clarify the "way" this happens, lest my experience get misconstrued or ppl think it's as simple as popping drugs. The very act of "tripping"/"flipping" isn't what i found useful, as that can, if not used properly, be nothing more than a fun(or disturbing!) night. it's what they allow you to do/see, and if used the right way they are absolutely HUGE tools for personal development. That does not preclude them from being tools for personal downfalls when used wrong!]

 

[MikeRWK]

before i went to the doctor for my anxiety problems, a good shroom trip helped.I would feel calm and in control on shrooms and after they wore off id try to stay in that mindstate, it helped some but not enough.

 

[Jabberwocky]

oh, having a "good trip" can reduce anxiety, but fwiw i was not referring to "trying to keep it alive". I was referring personal development, growth, etc that can occur during trips, qualities that become part of you (permanently, like years after said trips).

also, fuck benzodiazepines (xanax/valium/klonazepam/etc) for anxiety. sure they offer (strong!)immediate relief from anxiety symptoms, but absolutely make the overall condition worse w/o a doubt.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

its risky too say the least op

 

[P A]

I don't know about anyone else, but this sounds to me like a pretty good recipe for a future psychiatric emergency. By their nature, psychedelics are unpredictable; and for precisely that reason, they are inherently unreliable and volatile in 'healing' contexts, especially in combination with preexisting psychopathology.

OP, visit a shrink. I entreat you to try at least two different approved medications before turning to hallucinogens for psychotherapy.