Psychedelics in psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy

I think I’m finally starting to wrap my head around this. DMT and similar compounds are actually produced within the body. Even people who have significantly expanded their consciousness end up creating more complex compounds that allow them to perceive much deeper layers of existence. When you mix those visions with actual awareness, you get a picture of reality and depth that is limited only by how much consciousness you can handle.

Shamans and similar groups were able to use mushrooms, DMT, or mescaline to reach states where their vision could zoom all the way down to the molecular level—they could literally see molecules. The thing is, most people just use psychedelics as a wild party or a way to act crazy. But you really need to stay calm and sink into a trance state to get anywhere meaningful.

However, the visions you get while high aren't coming from your conscious mind, which can actually make things worse. Sometimes a person just isn't ready because it triggers a massive flood of repressed emotions. For someone willing to dive deep, it works, but for the 99% of people who aren't looking inward, it's just a fun ride. For those who aren't afraid to look the devil in the eye—which means looking at themselves—it can be absolute hell. When you experience visions on drugs, you often walk away with nothing but fragmented memories without any true realization. You don't actually *live* what you learned. It’s one thing to read about relativity, but it’s an entirely different thing to live it. You have to experience it to truly embody it. If you're just observing through the intellect, the consciousness doesn't truly experience it, and it fails to incorporate it into your being as living, present knowledge.

And another thing. For certain people—myself included—LSD and stuff like that hits way harder than it does for others. It probably comes down to specific neurotransmitters. Some people will honestly never understand the kind of journeys this stuff can take you on.

My conclusion is that every experience is beneficial if it's guided by a professional. And I don't mean some medical hack, but someone who actually knows the path. In the long run, drugs might cause minor physical harm, but the psychological toll can be huge. When you weigh it all up, there's really no need to mess around with these substances when everything can be achieved through natural means.

Because just because you see something, doesn't mean you're actually looking at it.😕

"What you see isn't actually what you're seeing."

With LSD, the thing is, reality isn't some objective truth. It's so subjective that some people just can't handle the idea that the foundation of everything is just our own emotional reaction to whatever's around us. Reality doesn't really exist—there's just this "trip" we're all building ourselves... and we call that trip "life." Man, once you realize it's all just one big trip, you start wondering what the point even is.🙂

:P

Haha, I guess you could put it that way! xD

goldenscout47 said:I think I’m finally starting to wrap my head around this. DMT and similar compounds are actually produced within the body. Even people who have significantly expanded their consciousness end up creating more complex compounds that allow them to perceive much deeper layers of existence. When you mix those visions with actual awareness, you get a picture of reality and depth that is limited only by how much consciousness you can handle.

Shamans and similar groups were able to use mushrooms, DMT, or mescaline to reach states where their vision could zoom all the way down to the molecular level—they could literally see molecules. The thing is, most people just use psychedelics as a wild party or a way to act crazy. But you really need to stay calm and sink into a trance state to get anywhere meaningful.

However, the visions you get while high aren't coming from your conscious mind, which can actually make things worse. Sometimes a person just isn't ready because it triggers a massive flood of repressed emotions. For someone willing to dive deep, it works, but for the 99% of people who aren't looking inward, it's just a fun ride. For those who aren't afraid to look the devil in the eye—which means looking at themselves—it can be absolute hell. When you experience visions on drugs, you often walk away with nothing but fragmented memories without any true realization. You don't actually *live* what you learned. It’s one thing to read about relativity, but it’s an entirely different thing to live it. You have to experience it to truly embody it. If you're just observing through the intellect, the consciousness doesn't truly experience it, and it fails to incorporate it into your being as living, present knowledge.

And another thing. For certain people—myself included—LSD and stuff like that hits way harder than it does for others. It probably comes down to specific neurotransmitters. Some people will honestly never understand the kind of journeys this stuff can take you on.

My conclusion is that every experience is beneficial if it's guided by a professional. And I don't mean some medical hack, but someone who actually knows the path. In the long run, drugs might cause minor physical harm, but the psychological toll can be huge. When you weigh it all up, there's really no need to mess around with these substances when everything can be achieved through natural means.

Because just because you see something, doesn't mean you're actually looking at it.😕

It is worth noting that those "medical idiots," as you call them, are absolutely necessary here. Why?
Some individuals have a predisposition for psychotic reactions or "slips" into psychosis, which are often permanent.
Psychedelics allow for a shift from one level of existence to another.
People with a solid ego structure, high adaptability to reality, strong ego boundaries, and a relatively well-established personality can likely handle psychedelic consumption well and return relatively intact—*restitutio ad integrum*.
Those with fragile ego structures and a genetic predisposition toward psychosis may, though not always, trigger a psychotic process from which there is no return without neuroleptics.

Certain unstable personalities, who are otherwise dreamy or prone to fantasy, easily accept hallucinogenic phenomena as objective reality. They subsequently build their worldviews and attitudes around these visions, which inevitably damages their ability to function in society...

During a hallucinatory syndrome caused by psychedelics, it is entirely possible to endanger one's life through irrational actions or impulses.
Chronic use leads to personality disintegration and a decline in social functioning due to the erosion of the self and an obsession with these sensations and ruminations—all of which amounts to nothing.

Everyone experiences and expresses hallucinations in their own unique way. The content is dictated by one's personal history and current emotional state. Finding identical experiences among different people is rare.

Shamans won't help when a "bad trip" or loss of control hits. They can wave their hands all they want, but the solution is the administration of neuroleptics and proper care in an appropriate setting under adequate supervision...

Anyone who’s ever messed with LSD knows it’s basically just an extreme side effect of some aspirin.
And for those of you who haven't? You probably don't even realize your head is throbbing in the first place.

It’s true—LSD is actually proving to be an effective treatment for cluster headaches right now.
🙂
Even its relative, melatonin, can be used to help with headaches.
But there's a catch—if you go too high with the dosage (anything over 20mg), it actually does the exact opposite and triggers a headache instead. 🙂
Whenever I overdose on melatonin, I run into another side effect: bleeding.
My gums start bleeding like I’ve caught Ebola—at high doses, melatonin acts on the blood much like aspirin or high-dose omega-3s: it thins the blood and prevents clotting, which leads to bleeding.

crimsoncanyon6 said:It’s true—LSD is actually proving to be an effective treatment for cluster headaches right now.
🙂
Even its relative, melatonin, can be used to help with headaches.
But there's a catch—if you go too high with the dosage (anything over 20mg), it actually does the exact opposite and triggers a headache instead. 🙂
Whenever I overdose on melatonin, I run into another side effect: bleeding.
My gums start bleeding like I’ve caught Ebola—at high doses, melatonin acts on the blood much like aspirin or high-dose omega-3s: it thins the blood and prevents clotting, which leads to bleeding.

I don't think Austin Davis3 meant it like that...

Kenneth Campbell said:It is worth noting that those "medical idiots," as you call them, are absolutely necessary here. Why?
Some individuals have a predisposition for psychotic reactions or "slips" into psychosis, which are often permanent.
Psychedelics allow for a shift from one level of existence to another.
People with a solid ego structure, high adaptability to reality, strong ego boundaries, and a relatively well-established personality can likely handle psychedelic consumption well and return relatively intact—*restitutio ad integrum*.
Those with fragile ego structures and a genetic predisposition toward psychosis may, though not always, trigger a psychotic process from which there is no return without neuroleptics.

Certain unstable personalities, who are otherwise dreamy or prone to fantasy, easily accept hallucinogenic phenomena as objective reality. They subsequently build their worldviews and attitudes around these visions, which inevitably damages their ability to function in society...

During a hallucinatory syndrome caused by psychedelics, it is entirely possible to endanger one's life through irrational actions or impulses.
Chronic use leads to personality disintegration and a decline in social functioning due to the erosion of the self and an obsession with these sensations and ruminations—all of which amounts to nothing.

Everyone experiences and expresses hallucinations in their own unique way. The content is dictated by one's personal history and current emotional state. Finding identical experiences among different people is rare.

Shamans won't help when a "bad trip" or loss of control hits. They can wave their hands all they want, but the solution is the administration of neuroleptics and proper care in an appropriate setting under adequate supervision...

Haha. You make some really solid points there. But at the end of the day, everything that exists is just fundamentally real.
Nothing exists outside of the whole. It’s the same with psychosis. They might not seem real to anyone else, but they are absolutely real to the person experiencing them, simply because they are experiencing something happening within themselves.

A man with a rock-solid ego is definitely stable. But then again, you have to admit that total stability is also the defining characteristic of dead matter.

Coming off neuroleptics can be a massive hurdle, and honestly, in certain situations, heading back on them might be the only viable path forward—and potentially even the best one. It’s all about perspective. If you take a leap that’s just too big and end up breaking both legs, it’s much smarter to stay still and rest than to try and force yourself to keep moving. Sometimes, stability is the priority.

When you're standing in the light, fear doesn't really bother you because you can see clearly that whatever you're afraid of just isn't there. But once the lights go out and things get dark, that’s when the anxiety starts creeping back in. It’s always lurking in the background. Most people spend their lives building up these mental defenses and constructing personalities specifically designed to avoid facing their shadows. But sometimes, when you use something like LSD or DMT, those internal structures just collapse. All those rigid, unshakable beliefs suddenly become incredibly loose, and that suppressed part of your personality finally finds a way to crawl out into the open.

Shamans focus on preparing you for the arrival of a much larger, hidden dimension of yourself. But more importantly, they prepare you to actually accept it. They don't look at these experiences as some kind of sickness to be medicated away or locked up in a psychiatric ward. They simply see a much more expansive version of the human being than what modern medicine is capable of recognizing. Honestly, it feels like they just need a better kind of MRI—one that can actually perceive the full spectrum of who we are. We all carry around these massive reservoirs of suppressed anger, rage, and fear. It seems to me that the billion different addictions popping up today were essentially invented just to maintain an increasingly thin and fragile boundary between us and our true selves.

Human beings are far more complex than our imagination can even begin to grasp. No two instances of psychosis are identical, just as no two illnesses are exactly the same.

Modern medicine is really focused on tracking disease right now. It’s all about categorizing symptoms into endless layers of classifications, naming everything, studying those patterns, and then trying to find that one specific molecule that can knock a symptom out of existence. If they find that molecule, they call it a cure. But honestly, if you’re someone who—perhaps without even realizing it—is putting your body through the wringer and pushing for more than it can handle, a simple pill isn't going to cut it. The actual roots of these issues run much deeper, moving in non-linear ways far beneath the surface.

Most people living today are basically just trapped in a drug-induced projection of existence. The twist is, the substances being used are actually internal.

The big takeaway here is that the ego functions like a massive, heavy-duty fortress—complete with thick walls, barred windows, and reinforced doors designed to keep intruders out. But in reality, it’s nothing more than a projection of the self; it's our own self-imposed prison.

post🙂

There are process psychoses—true psychosis—as well as reactive or temporary psychotic episodes. Similarly, personality disorders can be classified as persistent, syndromic, or neurotic developments...

The entirety of a person's personality is a composite of material foundations (physiological makeup and function), developmental milestones during growth, cultural environment, and social standing...
In terms of homeostasis, maintaining normal organism function is vital. Physiological homeostasis is a basic requirement for life itself. Psychological homeostasis, however, implies a balanced relationship between an individual and their social environment, where biological, psychological, and social needs are met in harmony. An excess or a quantitative deficiency in these stimuli leads to a disruption of homeostasis. The result is regression—a sliding back down from one's current level of functioning. Depending on how deep that regression goes, you get the full psychological picture of an individual's state. Regression is driven by fixation points (traumatic events), ego strength and its structure, and the intensity and outcome of current stressors. When these factors intersect with a physiological predisposition—which can be a deciding factor in the final outcome—you see the clear clinical manifestation of psychosis...

In process states, personality repair is difficult, and residues of the underlying disorder always remain. In acute or reactive states, however, full recovery through repair is possible. Quantitatively, distinguishing between these two different disorders can sometimes be difficult, but they are fundamentally distinct...

The way psychedelic substances induce changes in personality and perception is highly subjective. Whether a psychedelic acts as a trigger or a precipitating factor for a process state is difficult to predict; it might happen, or it might not. It depends on many variables...
If such a shift occurs, it results in a permanent personality change trapped within a psychotic process. Repair becomes difficult if there are underlying predispositions pointing toward unfavorable outcomes...
Reality is the floor beneath our feet. Anyone who loses those planks is going to fall and find themselves in a precarious position...
The tendency to indulge in fantasies or myths is a human trait, but as one psychologist noted, "people live in fantasies; it is hard to accept reality, but it is even harder not to."

After a long and pretty exhausting search, I’ve finally landed on DMT. My mind is made up—I'm definitely doing this. I've done my homework, but I'm still totally open to some professional psychological advice if anyone has any. Hit me up via PM.

Stanislav Grof is heading to Washington, D.C.,
so mark your calendars—he’s doing a talk at the AMC Theater this Tuesday, Oct 8th, at 4 PM.
heads up though, seats are super limited, so don't wait too long,
you can grab tickets right through his site here:
http://www.grofvisit.com/en/events/

See you there! 😉

Kenneth Campbell said:There are process psychoses—true psychosis—as well as reactive or temporary psychotic episodes. Similarly, personality disorders can be classified as persistent, syndromic, or neurotic developments...

The entirety of a person's personality is a composite of material foundations (physiological makeup and function), developmental milestones during growth, cultural environment, and social standing...
In terms of homeostasis, maintaining normal organism function is vital. Physiological homeostasis is a basic requirement for life itself. Psychological homeostasis, however, implies a balanced relationship between an individual and their social environment, where biological, psychological, and social needs are met in harmony. An excess or a quantitative deficiency in these stimuli leads to a disruption of homeostasis. The result is regression—a sliding back down from one's current level of functioning. Depending on how deep that regression goes, you get the full psychological picture of an individual's state. Regression is driven by fixation points (traumatic events), ego strength and its structure, and the intensity and outcome of current stressors. When these factors intersect with a physiological predisposition—which can be a deciding factor in the final outcome—you see the clear clinical manifestation of psychosis...

In process states, personality repair is difficult, and residues of the underlying disorder always remain. In acute or reactive states, however, full recovery through repair is possible. Quantitatively, distinguishing between these two different disorders can sometimes be difficult, but they are fundamentally distinct...

The way psychedelic substances induce changes in personality and perception is highly subjective. Whether a psychedelic acts as a trigger or a precipitating factor for a process state is difficult to predict; it might happen, or it might not. It depends on many variables...
If such a shift occurs, it results in a permanent personality change trapped within a psychotic process. Repair becomes difficult if there are underlying predispositions pointing toward unfavorable outcomes...
Reality is the floor beneath our feet. Anyone who loses those planks is going to fall and find themselves in a precarious position...
The tendency to indulge in fantasies or myths is a human trait, but as one psychologist noted, "people live in fantasies; it is hard to accept reality, but it is even harder not to."

I realize I’m commenting on a post from two years ago, but please bear with me, I just had to 🙈..

Kenneth Campbell, you write with such clinical precision—don't blame me if I haven't quite grasped every nuance..

If I've understood you correctly, you're suggesting that psychedelics might help people who have experienced trauma later in life, once their personality is already set in stone. Things like a divorce, the death of a loved one, and so on. But that they won't be effective for individuals with a fragile ego structure or an existing personality disorder 🤔?

I see where you're coming from, but certain psychedelics (DMT, Ayahuasca) have proven to be absolutely stellar in many cases involving those exact conditions..
I'm no shrink, so I can't claim there was a total "personality repair," but honestly, that's beside the point. What matters is that for many, there was a massive improvement..
That group also includes people dealing with severe childhood traumas, sexual abuse, etc..
I don't believe they necessarily possessed a strong ego structure, yet it helped them regardless..

Personally, I don't think things are quite this black and white.. Someone with a rock-solid personality might find relief, while someone without one might spiral into psychosis.. It's possible, but it's certainly not a guarantee..
Regardless of what kind of personality we're talking about, things can go in two directions: the trip could turn sour and lead to psychosis, or it could result in personality repair, to varying degrees..
Professional supervision during psychedelic use is absolutely essential and highly recommended..

I'm speaking specifically in the context of Ayahuasca, and potentially DMT, because that's what I follow. As for LSD, mushrooms, and the rest, I really don't know 😁..

Tyler Jackson6 said:Stanislav Grof is heading to Washington, D.C.,
so mark your calendars—he’s doing a talk at the AMC Theater this Tuesday, Oct 8th, at 4 PM.
heads up though, seats are super limited, so don't wait too long,
you can grab tickets right through his site here:
http://www.grofvisit.com/en/events/

See you there! 😉

In light of this whole situation and the topic we’ve been chewing on, I thought I’d share this lecture by Stanislav Grof...
I’ve started watching it, and honestly? It looks pretty fascinating. It dives right into the exact same territory I was just touching upon earlier. 😁..

I’ve been sitting here staring at this video, trying to process what we just witnessed. It’s heavy. It’s deep. Honestly, it’s a lot to take in all at once. The way they break down the intersection of psychedelic experiences and the deeper architecture of the mind... it’s staggering. You can’t just watch this and move on with your day. It forces you to look inward, whether you're ready for it or not. I keep thinking about what Rebecca Sanders37 mentioned earlier regarding the sheer intensity of these shifts. She was right—it isn't just a "trip"; it's a complete recalibration of how you perceive reality itself. And when you factor in the work of Stanislav Grof, everything starts to click into place in a way that feels both terrifying and incredibly beautiful. It reminds me of those conversations we had about the difference between a casual experience and a true, life-altering breakthrough. One is a fleeting moment; the other is a tectonic shift in your soul. What do you all think? Is this the kind of insight that actually changes lives, or are we just looking at profound theories that struggle to survive in the "real world"? I’m leaning toward the former, but I know there's plenty of debate to be had.

The latest research regarding the benefits of LSD and other psychedelics

Far out : Crowdfunding gives New Life to LSD, MDMA Research
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovati...search-n325096

🕺 And yet, it moves.

Another significant milestone in validating "magic mushroom" therapy:
https://www.rt.com/usa/442357-psiloc...-fda-approval/

A little more research for those interested:
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fu...vCxAXiHNofreuw