3 ms·
For every Syd Barrett, how many hundreds if not thousands of people play with these compounds, and don't end up there? This kind of thinking scans to me like p
by rosser 8y ago
For every Syd Barrett, how many hundreds if not thousands of people play with these compounds, and don't end up there?
This kind of thinking scans to me like pointing at the severity of plane crashes as a reason not to fly, while poo-poohing their infrequency.
I have, for about a decade now, worked with a number of groups who ritually consume some of the most powerful psychedelics on the planet. I have journeyed with hundreds of different people, and seen truly adverse reactions, where it was more than just a bad trip and the person needed medical attention, all of once.
EDIT: Yes, absolutely, there are risks, but in my experience, they can almost all be mitigated with a little honesty and self-awareness. Maybe don't play with these things by yourself if you have a family history of some kinds of mental illness. Maybe don't play with them at all if you're on certain medications, or have certain, other mental health concerns.
Like schizophrenia. Yes, let's blame "drugs" for what happens when people whose brains are already wired to believe their own, demonstrably false narratives, take them.
- dTal 8y ago"This kind of thinking"? I made no comment as to whether it's worth the risk. I was simply responding to "it’s not like you can overdose on them. The worst that can happen is you do something stupid while on them." Which is demonstrably false, as you yourself have personally seen someone develop an adverse reaction and require medical attention.
- rosser 8y agoI wasn't singling you or your comment out as having said the thing. I apologize unreservedly if that's how it read. I replied to you because your mention of Syd Barrett was the best place to hang my "don't extrapolate from your cousin's brother's nephew's uncle's former roomate's anecdata" point, without coming across that dismissively, because it gave me the clearest opening to talk about occult mental health concerns and such. Of course you can overdose on them. Even a sub-threshold dose of psilocin can kill many rabbits. Some brains just can't handle the alterations in perception these agents induce. I still fail to see how that's the agent's fault, and not the person who put it in themselves, especially if they're being cavalier, or showing off, or mixing things they aren't prepared to handle. I can't go into the details of my friend requiring medical attention without violating confidences, but I can say their own behavior and attitude towards the experience beforehand were, let's call it "materially contributory" to their experience during and after. EDIT: Phrasing.