3 ms·

One thing I don't understand is how targeted we can expect this to be. I do worry that some treatments (both this and standard pharmaceutical products) could b

One thing I don't understand is how targeted we can expect this to be. I do worry that some treatments (both this and standard pharmaceutical products) could be doing things that truly change what we can measure in positive ways but also have different side effects that we don't measure. Could it be consistent with the data that potent psychedelic drugs banishes all prior strong feelings? If so, is that a good trade off in all situations? It is a very different type of drug, and very anecdotal, but in a previous relationship I came to the conclusion while high on edibles I didn't truly love my girlfriend. Intense feelings (both good and bad) I had for many months disappeared and I became very indifferent to the idea we had a special connection. Perhaps if I had PTSD marijuana edibles would have been positive as they would have made my negative feelings towards my past closer to indifferent, but I'm always curious the boundaries of when then is good or bad.

BugsJustFindMe 3y ago
Like many things, I think it's important to tread carefully, both in engaging in mind-altering actions, but also in how we think about and frame questions like this. PTSD is for many people incalculably and incomprehensibly life-ruining. The smallest things, like someone casually saying just "hey, what'cha doing?", that anyone else thinks nothing of, lead to explosive aggression or crushing panic or explosive aggressive crushing panic. It's not good, and it's not worthwhile, and nobody should ever be made to feel like erasing the pain would be bad. IMO, as much as it maybe sucked to conclude that you didn't love your girlfriend, there isn't a good feeling on earth that feels better than not being in anguish anymore.
trompetenaccoun 3y ago
>Could it be consistent with the data that potent psychedelic drugs banishes all prior strong feelings? That's not how psychedelic drugs work. If anything I would say it's more the opposite. We tend to naturally suppress a lot of feelings and memories when in regular everyday-life mode. A psychedelic experience can make people dig all those up, open all the mental closets and make people re-evaluate their feelings about everything.
- fasthands9 3y ago
  I suppose all I'm asking if there is consensus that is universally good or not. In the goal of eliminating PTSD it clearly seems worth it, but do we think that something that can very quickly "make people re-evaluate their feelings about everything" has zero negative consequences?
  - trompetenaccoun 3y ago
    Right, got you now. Universally good seems like an impossible bar but it's a good question and I don't think there is such consensus. >do we think that something that can very quickly "make people re-evaluate their feelings about everything" has zero negative consequences? How many negative consequences does sticking with the status quo have, over potential alternatives? To be clear, I'm critical of the hype around psychedelics for treating people's mental issues, like PTSD. It has cultish undertones where the drug is the miracle savior that will fix all your problems. There also seems to be an industry developing of groups and companies trying to push this idea for profit, because they see the potential. There's always good money to be made with religious believers. That said though, used in the right way, with the right intentions and realistic expectations, psychedelic drugs can be a very useful tool.

BugsJustFindMe 3y ago

Like many things, I think it's important to tread carefully, both in engaging in mind-altering actions, but also in how we think about and frame questions like this. PTSD is for many people incalculably and incomprehensibly life-ruining. The smallest things, like someone casually saying just "hey, what'cha doing?", that anyone else thinks nothing of, lead to explosive aggression or crushing panic or explosive aggressive crushing panic. It's not good, and it's not worthwhile, and nobody should ever be made to feel like erasing the pain would be bad. IMO, as much as it maybe sucked to conclude that you didn't love your girlfriend, there isn't a good feeling on earth that feels better than not being in anguish anymore.

trompetenaccoun 3y ago

>Could it be consistent with the data that potent psychedelic drugs banishes all prior strong feelings? That's not how psychedelic drugs work. If anything I would say it's more the opposite. We tend to naturally suppress a lot of feelings and memories when in regular everyday-life mode. A psychedelic experience can make people dig all those up, open all the mental closets and make people re-evaluate their feelings about everything.

fasthands9 3y ago
I suppose all I'm asking if there is consensus that is universally good or not. In the goal of eliminating PTSD it clearly seems worth it, but do we think that something that can very quickly "make people re-evaluate their feelings about everything" has zero negative consequences?
- trompetenaccoun 3y ago
  Right, got you now. Universally good seems like an impossible bar but it's a good question and I don't think there is such consensus. >do we think that something that can very quickly "make people re-evaluate their feelings about everything" has zero negative consequences? How many negative consequences does sticking with the status quo have, over potential alternatives? To be clear, I'm critical of the hype around psychedelics for treating people's mental issues, like PTSD. It has cultish undertones where the drug is the miracle savior that will fix all your problems. There also seems to be an industry developing of groups and companies trying to push this idea for profit, because they see the potential. There's always good money to be made with religious believers. That said though, used in the right way, with the right intentions and realistic expectations, psychedelic drugs can be a very useful tool.