4 ms·

science barely knows if psychedelics are effective treatment for mental diseases. heck, we even have difficult with drugs made specifically for the purpose! yo

• superb-owl 4y ago
  Thanks! We actually have some great evidence that psychedelics are very effective at treating mental illness. See [1] for a meta-analysis. Nothing has reached phase 3 clinical trials, but MDMA is on its way [2]. If you look at the addendum, which goes through all the studies, I'm pretty candid about how horribly underpowered most of them are. My main goal with this article is to convince folks that this is a promising line of research, and we should be doing more to explore it. But also yeah...kind of a clickbaity headline. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32529966/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32529966/ [2] https://maps.org/mdma/ptsd/phase3/ https://maps.org/mdma/ptsd/phase3/
  • to1y 4y ago
    To me it always seemed like most of my progress caused by psychedelics was because I was terrified I had gone mad and was going to die(or worse; stay in that state) and that allowed me to let go of things that didn't matter. What are your thoughts?
    • superb-owl 4y ago
      Yeah the “letting go” seems to be a very common thread in positive experiences. Conversely, challenging trips seem to happen when you refuse to give up control. The fear of having gone permanently mad is common—one of the best things you can do for someone having a bad time is remind them that it’s only temporary. I’m glad you were able to let go and get something out of it!