5 ms·

It's a pity that research on MDMA was stopped due to the drug war.

empath75 9y ago
Yeah just anecdotally, it did make me a better person. Not at first, but the experience of being unequivically, obviously _happy_, for the first time in my life, understanding that I was going to be okay, that I could just like talk to people and make friends, and so on — even if it was mediated by drugs, made me realize how much of my perception of how the world was, lived only inside my head. Nothing about the world had changed, but suddenly it felt beautiful and safe to me in a way that it never had before. My perception of the world was obviously distorted in some way by the drug, but my perception while sober was also distorted by a lifetime of traumatic experiences that molded how I felt about myself and other people. I forged new relationships with people, I cut off relationships with other people that were bad for us both. It wasn’t an immediate change, I took years for me to dig myself out of the hole that I was in— but I genuinely believe that mdma saved my life. And this was in a totally unregulated environment, where I pretty much exclusively took it at raves and all the therapeutic talking sessions were with random strangers on ecstasy that happened to be around when the mood to talk struck me. I have to believe that a professional therapist would have accelerated the process significantly.
- iovrthoughtthis 9y ago
  > My perception of the world was obviously distorted in some way by the drug, but my perception while sober was also distorted by a lifetime of traumatic experiences that molded how I felt about myself and other people. This. I wish we could put this realisation on par with object permenance and other massive cognitive models we discover as we grow.
- slfnflctd 9y ago
  This was my experience as well, way back in the 90s-- it was like all the 'walls' dividing me from others came down. I would add that another aspect which could have been helped by the presence of a therapist is the comedown. I went from one of the most elated & connected experiences of my entire life to one of the worst depressions, as I realized that 95% of the good feelings were fading away and my walls were involuntarily coming right back up. The only silver lining was the belief (which I still hold) that at least parts of that connectedness could be revisited by being more dedicated to cultivating moments where it was likely to occur.
tachyonbeam 9y ago
FYI, that research has resumed: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opinion/ecstasy-ptsd.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opinion/ecstasy-ptsd.html There is also research being done on using mushrooms and ketamine to treat depression: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/13/magic-mushrooms-reboot-brain-in-depressed-people-study https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/13/magic-mushro... I think the attitudes people have towards recreational drugs are changing slowly, but they are changing. Sidenote: while MDMA is believed to have therapeutic potential, it's usually categorized as an empathogen rather than a psychedelic. It helps people feel empathy (a connection to others) and temporarily suppresses anxiety and fear. Makes it possible to re-examine traumatic events in your past without judging yourself negatively. However, it isn't known to produce visions or a "mystical experience" as psychedelics do.
- meko 9y ago
  even psychedelic can be a bit ambiguous. I prefer entheogen, personally.

Yeah just anecdotally, it did make me a better person. Not at first, but the experience of being unequivically, obviously _happy_, for the first time in my life, understanding that I was going to be okay, that I could just like talk to people and make friends, and so on — even if it was mediated by drugs, made me realize how much of my perception of how the world was, lived only inside my head. Nothing about the world had changed, but suddenly it felt beautiful and safe to me in a way that it never had before. My perception of the world was obviously distorted in some way by the drug, but my perception while sober was also distorted by a lifetime of traumatic experiences that molded how I felt about myself and other people. I forged new relationships with people, I cut off relationships with other people that were bad for us both. It wasn’t an immediate change, I took years for me to dig myself out of the hole that I was in— but I genuinely believe that mdma saved my life. And this was in a totally unregulated environment, where I pretty much exclusively took it at raves and all the therapeutic talking sessions were with random strangers on ecstasy that happened to be around when the mood to talk struck me. I have to believe that a professional therapist would have accelerated the process significantly.

iovrthoughtthis 9y ago
> My perception of the world was obviously distorted in some way by the drug, but my perception while sober was also distorted by a lifetime of traumatic experiences that molded how I felt about myself and other people. This. I wish we could put this realisation on par with object permenance and other massive cognitive models we discover as we grow.
slfnflctd 9y ago
This was my experience as well, way back in the 90s-- it was like all the 'walls' dividing me from others came down. I would add that another aspect which could have been helped by the presence of a therapist is the comedown. I went from one of the most elated & connected experiences of my entire life to one of the worst depressions, as I realized that 95% of the good feelings were fading away and my walls were involuntarily coming right back up. The only silver lining was the belief (which I still hold) that at least parts of that connectedness could be revisited by being more dedicated to cultivating moments where it was likely to occur.

tachyonbeam 9y ago

FYI, that research has resumed: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opinion/ecstasy-ptsd.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/opinion/ecstasy-ptsd.html There is also research being done on using mushrooms and ketamine to treat depression: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/13/magic-mushrooms-reboot-brain-in-depressed-people-study https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/13/magic-mushro... I think the attitudes people have towards recreational drugs are changing slowly, but they are changing. Sidenote: while MDMA is believed to have therapeutic potential, it's usually categorized as an empathogen rather than a psychedelic. It helps people feel empathy (a connection to others) and temporarily suppresses anxiety and fear. Makes it possible to re-examine traumatic events in your past without judging yourself negatively. However, it isn't known to produce visions or a "mystical experience" as psychedelics do.

meko 9y ago
even psychedelic can be a bit ambiguous. I prefer entheogen, personally.