[ExI] 'Magic mushroom' compound may work just as well as antidepressants, small study finds

Fri Apr 23 04:33:36 UTC 2021

 These Psychedelic Drugs Show Promise for Treating Mental Health Disorders

https://www.livescience.com/63310-psychedelic-drugs-mental-health-disorders.html

LSD alters consciousness by breaking down barriers in the brain

https://www.livescience.com/lsd-breaks-down-barriers-brain.html

Microdosing with 'shrooms or LSD no better than placebo, study finds

https://www.livescience.com/microdosing-lsd-placebo-effect.html

I admit to being very surprised about the third article on how microdosing
was shown to be no better than a placebo. I have read a number of articles
by people who swore by it, saying that it greatly increased their sense of
well-being and ability to focus for long periods. And of course it is now
the hip new trend in Silicon Valley, to enhance work performance.

..I wish all of these drugs would be legalized, and then utilized in
intelligent ways to enhance the lives of people. And especially to help
those who suffer from depression, anxiety and other mood disorders.

There is now a Ketamine clinic in Arizona, but health insurance does not
cover treatment, which means the initial three month therapy costs four
thousand dollars out of pocket!

John

On Sun, Apr 18, 2021 at 11:52 AM John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Nuala Thomson, I look forward to hearing further what you have to say... I
> find these subjects deeply fascinating....
>
> John
>
> On Sun, Apr 18, 2021 at 10:40 AM Nuala Thomson via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> I'm so sorry Bill W!
>> That is a huge question and hard to answer.
>> No matter what, every single person reacts differently and experiences
>> differently to both pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs. So the latest in DNA
>> testing to narrow down which antidepressants are more likely to help rather
>> than hinder I think is a very much needed first step.
>>
>> https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/gene-testing-to-guide-antidepressant-treatment-has-its-time-arrived-2019100917964
>> The next stage is going to be able to confirm whether it's a person's
>> state of mind/way of thinking or an actual chemical imbalance and therefore
>> whether a form of therapy (CBT, DBT, etc.) Would be better suited to them
>> over antidepressants, stabilisers, or antipsychotics. The struggle to
>> differentiate on the more suitable path is real, and quite often here
>> (Australia) doctors opt for both (therapy and drugs) simultaneously. This
>> is both good and bad.
>> I'm going to go back to gene testing for antidepressants for a moment and
>> I'm going to use 'Subject J' as an example. He had been on and off
>> antidepressants for the better part of 20 years trying to find one that
>> actually worked with acceptable side effects. I can't say what the last one
>> he took was but I can say that it was 'the one'. His neuro chemistry is
>> permanently changed and he no longer needs to take medication. This is what
>> I hope the dna tests will help to accomplish in a more acceptable time
>> frame.
>> I could talk a lot more on the use of therapy treating borderline and
>> bipolar disorders which stem from trauma but I want to touch on illicit
>> substances.
>> Again, everyone reacts differently so one person might respond to MDMA as
>> I would expect (loving, friendly, talkative, open communication) another
>> person will respond entirely differently. An example that I saw was
>> nauseous, tired, completely closed off. That person ended up just going to
>> sleep. Opposite responses will happen with everything.
>> Illicit drugs and mental illness is also a mega topic for me and typing
>> this email on a phone screen is getting frustrating.
>> Illicit substances in the use for dealing with mental illness is not as
>> funded as I would like it to be, and obviously this email started with
>> evidence that it should have more funding. MDMA in couples or marriage
>> sessions can be great as it is the love drug. People are able to openly
>> communicate coming from a place of love instead of a place of spite or
>> maliciousness. Hallucinogenics I'm assuming everyone knows how they work
>> whether or not you've actually tried any. I believe for a more permanent
>> response in the treatment of mental illness the trip should be guided. I'm
>> going to refer to my own experiences for this one. My first time ever
>> specifically. I was 18 and dating a pretty amazing person. I also have a
>> history of mental illness myself. Keeping this simple and vague; Somewhere
>> in the journey, in the span of about 30min I cycled through every possible
>> emotion processing childhood abuse. The person I was with just allowed and
>> accepted everything and listened.
>> Now for sure there is still some processing to do but not like that. That
>> was about 75% of the process complete in one go. If I had been alone in
>> that, it would not have gone like that. Long term, the benefits still blow
>> my mind.
>> It's that benefit that I hope will eventually be more accepted. Micro
>> dosing is certainly a lot safer and more easily controlled.
>> A major problem I see with mental illness and illicit drugs is the
>> habitual use as a way of masking pain and trauma. The excessive use stops
>> the healing process and causes more long term issues. I've found the people
>> in this situation are a lot less likely to seek professional help, are
>> reluctant to let someone help them, and will just continue until something
>> changes, but denial runs strong in that group.
>> And then we have the group of people (such as myself) who have
>> pre-existing mental illness, who micro dosing would be extremely beneficial
>> for, but where the risk of adverse effects is strong.
>> E.g.. Paranoid after effects.
>>
>> I'm sorry. I would love to continue but I'm truly sick of typing on a
>> phone. I would love your opinion and experiences on such topics and we can
>> continue the conversation later.
>>
>> On Sun., Apr. 18, 2021, 09:17 William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat, <
>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 8:16 PM Nuala Thomson via extropy-chat <
>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Will, do you mean pharmaceuticals in terms of the treatment of mental
>>>> illness or something else?
>>>>
>>>
>>> It's Bill W - anything at all that you know - mental illness -
>>> self-treatment for mental problems, etc.  Just the illegal drugs.   bill w
>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat., Apr. 17, 2021, 10:40 William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat, <
>>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Nuala, what do you think of the efficacy of the drugs as far as you
>>>>> are concerned?   bill w
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 7:30 PM Nuala Thomson via extropy-chat <
>>>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Here in Aus medical marijuana still has THC and gets you fucked up!
>>>>>> The strongest weed you could possibly get.
>>>>>> On the other hand CBD oil which is also being shown to help with
>>>>>> anxiety and depression does not contain THC.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sat., Apr. 17, 2021, 04:00 William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat,
>>>>>> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Yes, but medical marijuana has the THC taken out of it - no highs.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This is false  It depends:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/medical-marijuana/art-20137855#:~:text=Medical%20marijuana%20%E2%80%94%20also%20called%20medical,)%20and%20CBD%20(cannabidiol
>>>>>>> ).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 11:37 AM Will Steinberg via extropy-chat <
>>>>>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021, 12:09 PM William Flynn Wallace via
>>>>>>>> extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Yes, but medical marijuana has the THC taken out of it - no
>>>>>>>>> highs.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This is false
>>>>>>>>
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