16 ms·
TA: "The fact that the effects last beyond the time that you take the medication -- that's really a new paradigm in psychiatry." I have no doubt that psychedel
by nmrm2 11y ago
TA: "The fact that the effects last beyond the time that you take the medication -- that's really a new paradigm in psychiatry."
I have no doubt that psychedelics are capable of producing lasting changes in behaviors, habits, or outlooks. Actually, I'd be surprised if that particular point is at all controversial.
However, prespcribing a psychedlic that could have lasting impacts on a person for "reasons we don't understand" seems... unnecessarily dangerous, whenever an alternative exists. Which of course is only an argument for more research.
- MichaelGG 11y agoIsn't this the state of most mental medicines? That is, "reasons we don't understand"? Hence the typical search for the right med combo of anti-depressants, stabilizers, and stimulants to make someone OK? Sure SSRIs might have lots more study than LSD and they might know how it affects certain neurotransmitters. But it seems a far cry from really understanding it.
- tedks 11y agoI know a lot fewer people who have started taking SSRIs and then started taking SSRIs every weekend and got involved in cults centered around taking SSRIs and experiencing enlightenment and then ended up broken shells of people. SSRIs have a very specific method of action, and it's drastically more limited in scope than these recreational drugs.
- Zelphyr 11y agoSSRI's have impacts (albeit not as long lasting) for reasons we don't understand yet they get dolled out like bread. Sure, you don't see visions while taking them but the side effects are no less profound. After years of personal experience with them I think they're WAY over prescribed. But the fact that they're legal at all, to me, is justification for legalizing psychedelics for research at the very least.