Nobody here wants to hear this but I don't give a fuck because it's true. Alcohol is a shitty drug. Same with nicotine. Just because they're legal and have a history of use doesn't mean they're even remotely healthy.
Psychedelics are the only class of inebriating subtlstances which I'll imbibe in nowadays. They are are psychoplastogens, which means they induce neural plasticity and allow your brain to change, which can help people escape negative ruminative thought patterns, or break addictions. Psilocybin was also shown to promote neurogenesis (regeneration of brain cells) by Yale recently. Obviously even these things need to be done with moderation and respect though. Here's a list of a growing body of evidence proving that they have unique characteristics which can actually IMPROVE your mental health:
10-20-21 - Open-label study of COMP360 psilocybin therapy for depression in cancer patients demonstrates feasibility of simultaneous psilocybin administration in small groups -
https://ir.compasspathways.com/news-releases/news-release-details/open-label-study-comp360-psilocybin-therapy-depression-cancer 10-4-21 - Psychedelic therapy: a roadmap for wider acceptance and utilization -
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01530-3 7-22-21 - Novel Class of Psychedelic Iboga Alkaloids Disrupts Opioid Addiction States -
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.22.453441v1 7-11-21 - Using Psychedelics With Therapeutic Intent Is Associated With Lower Shame and Complex Trauma Symptoms in Adults With Histories of Child Maltreatment -
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/24705470211029881 7-5-21 - Psychedelic spurs growth of neural connections lost in depression (Yale University) -
https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(21)00423-2?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627321004232%3Fshowall%3Dtrue Yale researchers show that a single dose of psilocybin given to mice prompted an immediate and long-lasting increase in connections between neurons. The findings are published July 5 in the journal Neuron.
"We not only saw a 10% increase in the number of neuronal connections, but also they were on average about 10% larger, so the connections were stronger as well." -Alex Kwan
6-29-21 - Real-world effectiveness of repeated ketamine infusions for treatment resistant depression during the COVID-19 pandemic -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34246008/ “We conducted a case series analysis of adults with TRD (n = 267) who received four ketamine infusions at an outpatient clinic in Ontario, Canada, during COVID-19 restrictions (from March 2020 - February 2021; n = 107), compared to patients who received treatment in the previous year (March 2019 - February 2020; n = 160). Both groups experienced significant and comparable improvements in depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and anxiety with repeated ketamine infusions.”
6-24-21 - Efficacy of ketamine and esketamine on functional outcomes in treatment-resistant depression: A systematic review -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34225208/ 6-1-21 - The effect of repeated doses of intravenous ketamine on measures of workplace attendance and productivity in adults with major depressive and bipolar disorder: Results from the canadian rapid treatment center of excellence -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33836470/ 5-10-21 - MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study -
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01336-3In the active group, 88% of participants had a significant reduction in symptoms, and 67% of participants no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis after the treatments.
5-1-21 - Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33146667/“Findings suggest that psilocybin with therapy is efficacious in treating MDD, thus extending the results of previous studies of this intervention in patients with cancer and depression and of a nonrandomized study in patients with treatment-resistant depression.”
4-15-21 - Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression (Imperial College of London) -
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994“A QIDS-SR-16 response occurred in 70% of the patients in the psilocybin group and in 48% of those in the escitalopram group, for a between-group difference of 22 percentage points (95% CI, −3 to 48); QIDS-SR-16 remission occurred in 57% and 28%, respectively, for a between-group difference of 28 percentage points (95% CI, 2 to 54). Other secondary outcomes generally favored psilocybin over escitalopram, but the analyses were not corrected for multiple comparisons.”
3-23-21 - Naturalistic Use of Mescaline Is Associated with Self-Reported Psychiatric Improvements and Enduring Positive Life Changes -
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsptsci.1c00018?fbclid=IwAR2LhdR2am21FO2uNEZhEt4ChiS7c1NIUOKs23UYQSN9WoSsHCEvsgyy9IU3-17-21 - Synthesizing the Evidence for Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: An International Expert Opinion on the Available Evidence and Implementation -
https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.20081251 2-17-21 - Psilocybin induces rapid and persistent growth of dendritic spines in frontal cortex in vivo -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34228959/9-28-20 - N,N-dimethyltryptamine compound found in the hallucinogenic tea ayahuasca, regulates adult neurogenesis in vitro and in vivo -
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-01011-06-4-20 - Long-term follow-up outcomes of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD: a longitudinal pooled analysis of six phase 2 trials -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32500209/ 2-4-20 - Transformative experience and social connectedness mediate the mood-enhancing effects of psychedelic use in naturalistic settings (Yale University) -
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/5/2338In a series of field studies involving over 1,200 participants across six multiday mass gatherings in the United States and the United Kingdom, we investigated the effects of psychedelic substance use on transformative experience, social connectedness, and positive mood...Controlling for a host of demographic variables and the use of other psychoactive substances, we found that psychedelic substance use was significantly associated with positive mood—an effect sequentially mediated by self-reported transformative experience and increased social connectedness.
1-9-20 - Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric and existential distress in patients with life-threatening cancer -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31916890/ “Reductions in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, demoralization, and death anxiety were sustained at the first and second follow-ups. Within-group effect sizes were large. At the second (4.5 year) follow-up approximately 60-80% of participants met criteria for clinically significant antidepressant or anxiolytic responses. Participants overwhelmingly (71-100%) attributed positive life changes to the psilocybin-assisted therapy experience and rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.”
9-19-18 - Psychoplastogens: A Promising Class of Plasticity-Promoting Neurotherapeutics -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6149016/“Neural plasticity—the ability to change and adapt in response to stimuli—is an essential aspect of healthy brain function and, in principle, can be harnessed to promote recovery from a wide variety of brain disorders. Many neuropsychiatric diseases including mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders arise from an inability to weaken and/or strengthen pathologic and beneficial circuits, respectively, ultimately leading to maladaptive behavioral responses...Here, I describe psychoplastogens—a relatively new class of fast-acting therapeutics, capable of rapidly promoting structural and functional neural plasticity. Psychoplastogenic compounds include psychedelics, ketamine, and several other recently discovered fast-acting antidepressants. Their use in psychiatry represents a paradigm shift in our approach to treating brain disorders as we focus less on rectifying “chemical imbalances” and place more emphasis on achieving selective modulation of neural circuits.”
6-12-18 - Psychedelics Promote Structural and Functional Neural Plasticity -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082376/“Here, we report that, like ketamine, serotonergic psychedelics are capable of robustly increasing neuritogenesis and/or spinogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. These changes in neuronal structure are accompanied by increased synapse number and function, as measured by fluorescence microscopy and electrophysiology...Our results underscore the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and, importantly, identify several lead scaffolds for medicinal chemistry efforts focused on developing plasticity-promoting compounds as safe, effective, and fast-acting treatments for depression and related disorders.”
5-14-19 - Cessation and reduction in alcohol consumption and misuse after psychedelic use -
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881119845793?journalCode=jopa 5-1-18 - 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans, firefighters, and police officers: a randomised, double-blind, dose-response, phase 2 clinical trial -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29728331/ 11-30-16 - Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367557/“Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients...High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety.”
8-30-16 - Survey study of challenging experiences after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms: Acute and enduring positive and negative consequences -
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881116662634“...Despite difficulties, 84% endorsed benefiting from the experience. The incidence of risky behavior or enduring psychological distress is extremely low when psilocybin is given in laboratory studies to screened, prepared, and supported participants.”
4-13-16 - Increased Global Functional Connectivity Correlates with LSD-Induced Ego Dissolution -
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30062-8 3-5-15 - Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25744618/ “A recent large population study of 130,000 adults in the United States failed to find evidence for a link between psychedelic use (lysergic acid diethylamide, psilocybin or mescaline) and mental health problems. Using a new data set consisting of 135,095 randomly selected United States adults, including 19,299 psychedelic users, we examine the associations between psychedelic use and mental health. After adjusting for sociodemographics, other drug use and childhood depression, we found no significant associations between lifetime use of psychedelics and increased likelihood of past year serious psychological distress, mental health treatment, suicidal thoughts, suicidal plans and suicide attempt, depression and anxiety. We failed to find evidence that psychedelic use is an independent risk factor for mental health problems. Psychedelics are not known to harm the brain or other body organs or to cause addiction or compulsive use; serious adverse events involving psychedelics are extremely rare. Overall, it is difficult to see how prohibition of psychedelics can be justified as a public health measure.”
1-13-15 - Classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population -
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881114565653“These findings indicate that classic psychedelics may hold promise in the prevention of suicide, supporting the view that classic psychedelics’ most highly restricted legal status should be reconsidered to facilitate scientific study, and suggesting that more extensive clinical research with classic psychedelics is warranted.”
1-1-15 - Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25806551/ 12-6-14 - Homological scaffolds of brain functional networks -
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsif.2014.0873 9-11-14 - Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25213996/“Biomarkers assessing smoking status, and self-report measures of smoking behavior demonstrated that 12 of 15 participants (80%) showed seven-day point prevalence abstinence at 6-month follow-up. The observed smoking cessation rate substantially exceeds rates commonly reported for other behavioral and/or pharmacological therapies (typically <35%).”
7-21-16 - Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27441452/ “At long-term follow-up, nine participants (60%) were confirmed as smoking abstinent. At 12-month follow-up 13 participants (86.7%) rated their psilocybin experiences among the five most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.”
8-19-13 - Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study -
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0063972“21,967 respondents (13.4% weighted) reported lifetime psychedelic use. There were no significant associations between lifetime use of any psychedelics, lifetime use of specific psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, peyote), or past year use of LSD and increased rate of any of the mental health outcomes. Rather, in several cases psychedelic use was associated with lower rate of mental health problems.”
5-2-13 - Effects of psilocybin on hippocampal neurogenesis and extinction of trace fear conditioning -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23727882/ 11-25-11 - Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21956378/1-20-06 Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16826400/ “At 2 months, the volunteers rated the psilocybin experience as having substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance and attributed to the experience sustained positive changes in attitudes and behavior consistent with changes rated by community observers.”
Meta Studies
2019 - Therapeutic Use of LSD in Psychiatry: A Systematic Review of Randomized-Controlled Clinical Trials -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6985449/ 5-17-17 - The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5603818/ 10-6-15 - Psychedelic medicine: a re-emerging therapeutic paradigm -
https://www.cmaj.ca/content/187/14/1054Shalom my dudes. I've lost way too many friends to opiates and suicide. Psychedelic medicines are potential solutions.