Psychedelics in psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy

Listing side effects is intended for people who are assumed to be conscious, grown-up, and capable of critical thinking—otherwise, they’d need someone else to do that heavy lifting for them. Besides, you always have the option to just be reckless and take full responsibility for it!

So what if someone takes it while they're already high, or drinking, or even huffing paint?

That’s a textbook example of irresponsible behavior. No one can step in and help you there if you don't have any self-discipline to begin with. Instructions aren't designed to raise children; they're meant for people who can actually look after themselves.

And just to clarify, I wasn't talking about 1000:1 dosage ratios; I was referring to the frequency of a specific side effect at its mildest level within the general population (say, 1 in 1,000).

It's also worth noting that experiencing a side effect doesn't necessarily mean something catastrophic is happening. It might, but it isn't a guarantee. That makes the actual probability of something terrible occurring relatively slim. You're statistically more likely to get into a car wreck—yet everyone still loves their cars! It's all about your mindset.

Medication is much like operating heavy machinery, or handling firearms! If you know what you're doing, you can manage them safely throughout your entire career. But if they end up in the wrong hands, things get dangerous fast.

I’m dying to know how people think you’d actually strip someone out of a photo using some kind of tech. Like, what's the actual move? You just dose them with LSD and see what happens?...

I mean, come on... drugs aren't just about chasing a high or seeing things. Most people actually use them for totally different reasons, and those trips are really just side effects.

I don't get it. What kind of side effects are we talking about?

Any news?
LSD is way less damaging than benzos or booze, but of course, it’s illegal—mostly because the alcohol and Big Pharma lobbies won't let it happen.🤷

The CIA banned LSD with a single decree—just like that, overnight. It’s my belief that several key figures were actually under the influence of LSD when they stumbled upon truths they weren't supposed to find.

The US government views any research into the subconscious—whether it's inhibited, repressed, or even lost to amnesia—as dangerous. That’s why they make such a joke out of psychoanalysis.

Meanwhile, behind closed doors in their own labs, the CIA is quietly experimenting with LSD and DMT, all in an attempt to develop telepathy and other similar phenomena.

crimsoncanyon6 said:The CIA banned LSD with a single decree—just like that, overnight. It’s my belief that several key figures were actually under the influence of LSD when they stumbled upon truths they weren't supposed to find.

The US government views any research into the subconscious—whether it's inhibited, repressed, or even lost to amnesia—as dangerous. That’s why they make such a joke out of psychoanalysis.

Meanwhile, behind closed doors in their own labs, the CIA is quietly experimenting with LSD and DMT, all in an attempt to develop telepathy and other similar phenomena.

Stop talking nonsense about conspiracy theories. 🙂

The method of treatment just changed.
Pharmacology has evolved more than almost any other industry since the 60s, producing countless effective psychopharmaceuticals. Patients can actually hold down jobs now; they don't need to spend months in sanitariums, deal with electrodes frying their brains, or be strapped down with LSD just to cure alcoholism.

Nobody made psychoanalysis a laughingstock; pharmacology simply took the lead.
"Psychoanalysis"—if you mean Freud’s methods—works, but it takes forever, results are hit-or-miss, it's expensive, and there aren't enough specialists.

Besides, look at where tons of narcotics end up.

And what do you think antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and neuroleptics are made of?

Poppies and chamomile? 😬

Alex Cooper8 said:What are your thoughts on using Psychedelics within the field of psychology?
I was just listening to some lectures by Stanislav Grof, who is pretty much considered one of the heavyweights in personality psychology—basically the face of transpersonal psychology—and he brought up some truly incredible stuff. I ended up watching a documentary on LSD afterward, featuring several psychologists who were actually involved in those research projects back in the day.

For the most part, there were massive amounts of positive results in psychotherapy, whether you were looking at treating addiction, alcoholism, or PTSD...
It seemed like the perfect tool for deep psychoanalysis, too. From what I can gather, LSD was being used in psychological practice for a solid decade... I have no idea why it was so abruptly "forgotten." The whole shift away from working with LSD happened basically the moment the government banned it.
Generally speaking, not a single shred of evidence was ever found to suggest that LSD is harmful, and when things are done under controlled conditions, the chance of having a "bad trip" is minimal.

There’s also this book about DMT, which is arguably the most potent tryptamine-based Psychedelic out there, and it's something our own brains naturally produce. It’s the only official study conducted on DMT, which, incidentally, is released during birth, orgasm, REM sleep, near-death experiences, and dying.

And more recently, there was research done with psilocybin—the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms—to treat people with chronic OCD, and the results they got were exceptionally positive.

Then there’s another controversial substance I saw a documentary on, which is MDMA (or what people call ecstasy today). Back in the 80s, it was used as a therapeutic aid for people suffering from PTSD. Psychotherapists claimed MDMA was the ultimate tool for analyzing and treating individuals with deep-seated trauma, and when it was banned, hundreds of American therapists voiced their frustration...
This last one might be a bit more contentious because it's widely documented that it can damage the serotonin system, but if you were to administer pure MDMA synthesized in, say, a Pfizer lab, paired with some antioxidants and a tiny bit of diazepam afterward, the harm would be reduced to almost nothing.

Essentially, the main theory is that almost all Psychedelics are banned in psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy simply because if people can actually "heal" themselves in a single session, pharmaceutical companies won't have anyone left to sell their drugs to—drugs that mostly just mask symptoms.

Anyway, what’s your take on using Psychedelics for healing or exploring the mind?

Oh, and one little quote: a psychologist once said that psychology without Psychedelics is like astronomy without a telescope.🙂

Actually, that was Carl Jung🙂

Benjamin Sullivan7 said:Stop talking nonsense about conspiracy theories. 🙂

The method of treatment just changed.
Pharmacology has evolved more than almost any other industry since the 60s, producing countless effective psychopharmaceuticals. Patients can actually hold down jobs now; they don't need to spend months in sanitariums, deal with electrodes frying their brains, or be strapped down with LSD just to cure alcoholism.

Nobody made psychoanalysis a laughingstock; pharmacology simply took the lead.
"Psychoanalysis"—if you mean Freud’s methods—works, but it takes forever, results are hit-or-miss, it's expensive, and there aren't enough specialists.

Besides, look at where tons of narcotics end up.

And what do you think antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and neuroleptics are made of?

Poppies and chamomile? 😬

The truth is, they've pumped out tons of psych meds that are just as useless. At the end of the day, Big Pharma's main goal is the bottom line, so they just repackage the same stuff under different names. Real cures don't exactly drive massive profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkwoq0KwkcU

But hey, that sounds like a conspiracy theory, so I won't dive too deep into that rabbit hole. The real power of LSD is self-awareness and shifting how you perceive reality. I don't think LSD is some magic cure for alcoholism or PTSD, but it might be a tool that helps us make peace with those issues and gives us the push to fight our own "inner demons." First off, LSD isn't a magic pill that fixes you. It basically just shows you a new reality you haven't experienced before. What comes from that experience is totally up to the individual.

As for saying LSD isn't harmful—that's a mix of lies and truths. Maybe there aren't physical side effects for everyone, but you have to realize not everybody is wired to handle a total shift in consciousness. For some people, it can trigger intense psychological shifts that are incredibly hard to recover from later. Plus, we still don't fully get how it affects the brain. Facts like "LSD doesn't hurt your cognition" could easily be debunked once more research actually gets done.

It’s funny how they banned LSD while leaving alcohol completely untouched. 🙄
They’re being totally hypocritical here.

Their logic was basically that too many people abuse LSD—plus, they claim it isn't naturally occurring in the human body.

Yet, nobody claims alcohol is being abused—and sure, alcohol exists in the system. 🤣😂 Use some common sense.

It's also interesting that they went after DMT, despite knowing it exists naturally within us.

Honestly, it’s a miracle they haven't banned melatonin in the States yet; over in Germany, they actually treat it as a controlled substance: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/fh_011.htm
I take one 3mg tablet of melatonin every day. To actually get any psychedelic effects, you'd have to take about 100mg—which means popping 30 tablets, or just an entire bottle. 🙂

crimsoncanyon6 said:It’s funny how they banned LSD while leaving alcohol completely untouched. 🙄
They’re being totally hypocritical here.

Their logic was basically that too many people abuse LSD—plus, they claim it isn't naturally occurring in the human body.

Yet, nobody claims alcohol is being abused—and sure, alcohol exists in the system. 🤣😂 Use some common sense.

It's also interesting that they went after DMT, despite knowing it exists naturally within us.

Honestly, it’s a miracle they haven't banned melatonin in the States yet; over in Germany, they actually treat it as a controlled substance: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/fh_011.htm
I take one 3mg tablet of melatonin every day. To actually get any psychedelic effects, you'd have to take about 100mg—which means popping 30 tablets, or just an entire bottle. 🙂

You can mess with alcohol for years without totally wrecking your mental health, whereas just one bad trip on LSD can cause massive issues.

And look, DMT is easily one of the most intense psychedelics out there. Just imagine if someone could get it legally—like some high school kid trying to act tough in front of his friends without any guidance or supervision. DMT changes you forever. People say it’s the first time they truly grasp what time actually is. A five-minute trip on that feels like 5 or 6 hours in your head... just think about hearing your own heart pounding or random noises from the room. And don't even get me started on the visuals. Those distortions are way too heavy, so it's probably better that it isn't available openly, or even on the black market. By the way, DMT is closely linked to NDEs (near-death experiences).

Psychedelics act much like deep meditation—or even a successful course of psychoanalysis—by unlocking the doors to your subconscious. All those buried fears and forgotten memories start surfacing. Honestly, I’m not sure if controlled use of LSD or DMT (say, during a session with a therapist) is any more harmful than traditional psychoanalysis itself.

🙂 Sure, in people who are already mentally unstable, it can trigger (temporary) psychosis—but psychoanalysis can lead to similar territory too.

It’s definitely not something for daily use, nor is it for someone just thinking, "Hey, let me try this on a whim." Unfortunately, way too many people who aren't mentally prepared dive into psychedelics, which is basically a perfect recipe for a bad trip.

By the way, DMT can actually be used legally within the context of Ayahuasca ceremonies; most of the world avoids prosecuting it because it serves a "religious purpose." There's a Christian-Indigenous sect that uses it globally, and they allow anyone to join freely.😉

You’re just talking about how certain drugs hit you physically. In that sense, LSD is relatively harmless. But that doesn't mean it can be used as a psychological cure-all for everyone. Look, I’m all for legalization, but not based on the arguments you're making about physical safety.

First off, LSD can trigger schizophrenia in people who are mentally unstable, at worst. Even in the best-case scenario, even the most grounded people might go through an adjustment period involving some psychosis. Most "bad trips" happen because people walk in thinking it’s totally safe, and then once that initial nausea kicks in during the first hour, they start fighting the shift in consciousness. Once that happens, there's a huge chance the whole trip is going to suck.

So, using psychedelics in psychology won't necessarily grant you some grand cosmic enlightenment, though for an individual, it can definitely be a turning point. The issue is that everyone struggles with some form of psychosis or mental baggage they don't understand. The biggest problem with LSD is that it carries this "medicine" label, so people take it thinking it's a magic fix. That’s where things go sideways. LSD might help you grasp the nature of reality and time, but it sure as hell isn't going to solve your personal problems. It can actually lead to withdrawal or that feeling that "it’s all just a trip"—basically triggering symptoms of derealization and depersonalization. It can even progress into bipolar disorder.

And yeah... just so we're clear, these aren't super rare scenarios. This isn't just something that happens to long-term users; it's actually pretty common even with short-term use. There’s no test out there to tell if someone is truly ready for a trip. And honestly, those little mental annoyances—those small issues that nag us every day—they aren't small anymore after a trip. They become massive. How ready are people to face the reality of impermanence? If they can handle that, then maybe they're ready for the trip...

which is precisely why it’s highly advisable to utilize psychedelics within strictly controlled environments and under precise, measured dosages

after all, without rigorous, empirical research and clinical practice, we can't even begin to map out the actual long-term consequences—let alone attempt to develop any sophisticated new compounds

given the rather mediocre success rates we see with most standard forms of psychotherapy these days, an approach like this sounds quite compelling...

Ketamine—the anesthetic used in operating rooms all over the US—can actually trigger psychosis (things like dissociation or schizophrenia). It’s reportedly 100 times more likely to do that than LSD; some researchers even refer to it as a "ketamine model of schizophrenia." http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/arti...ticleID=172364

It makes me wonder if the real reason LSD is banned isn't just about the psychosis risk. 🙂

The same goes for psychoanalysis—in someone who's already emotionally unstable, it can trigger a psychotic break.

Personally, I'd much rather deal with a psychotic episode under the care of a psychiatrist than wake up from surgery feeling that way. 🙂

Let’s not get carried away here. There is an entire spectrum of medications—substances that are perfectly legal and widely utilized in mainstream medicine—that you simply cannot walk into a drugstore and pick up off the shelf; they require a strict prescription from a doctor. By that same logic, just because LSD isn't technically illegal doesn't mean its status is being questioned solely on health grounds, nor does it follow that any random person could just consume it whenever they felt like it and then act surprised when their living room rug starts coming to life right in front of them.

You don't even need LSD to trigger a "psychosis"; there are plenty of "natural" ways to get there. A brick to the head, a hammer to the balls, or holding your breath underwater for three minutes until you're oxygen-deprived—those work just fine.

Basically, any technique that starves your brain of oxygen can induce psychosis. You get that feeling of floating, those fake "subconscious" realizations, or hallucinations of aliens, deities, and various "entities" from other dimensions... all that stuff.

crimsoncanyon6 said:Ketamine—the anesthetic used in operating rooms all over the US—can actually trigger psychosis (things like dissociation or schizophrenia). It’s reportedly 100 times more likely to do that than LSD; some researchers even refer to it as a "ketamine model of schizophrenia." http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/arti...ticleID=172364

It makes me wonder if the real reason LSD is banned isn't just about the psychosis risk. 🙂

The same goes for psychoanalysis—in someone who's already emotionally unstable, it can trigger a psychotic break.

Personally, I'd much rather deal with a psychotic episode under the care of a psychiatrist than wake up from surgery feeling that way. 🙂

The thing is, when people use ketamine recreationally, they're taking way higher doses than what's used in a medical setting. That's when you get into that whole trip phase. Users lose touch with their surroundings and deal with intense hallucinations. But for patients on actual medical doses? It doesn't act like that at all. It's super safe for clinical use—they even use it on kids without any issues. Zero danger there.

If we could actually integrate psychedelics into mainstream psychology, the breakthroughs would be absolutely mind-blowing! Seriously, we're talking next-level progress. But man, it’s such a massive hurdle right now because of how fast everything moves. What these substances do to your thoughts and emotions happens at such a lightning pace that the person tripping just can't find the words to describe it properly while it's happening. It all stays locked inside their own head, and honestly, most of the time once the trip settles down, they forget like 90% of what was actually going on in there! You're just left with this lingering vibe, kind of like when you wake up from a super intense dream—you know it felt huge and life-changing, but you can't quite grab onto the specific details from memory.