4 ms·

He talks about MDMA and how it reduces anxiety near the end. When I first tried it, I found it quite amazing how a pill could completely eliminate my social anx

He talks about MDMA and how it reduces anxiety near the end. When I first tried it, I found it quite amazing how a pill could completely eliminate my social anxiety for a few hours. I'd never felt so comfortable in my own skin and surrounding environment. I'd never realized that at every waking moment, even when alone, even when I think I'm pretty relaxed, I always feel some amount of background anxiety. This drug was able to take the anxiety down to zero. I was no longer afraid to go talk to strangers, I could really have fun at parties. The downsides, though, are pretty obvious. For one, MDMA causes a crash. Sometimes, I'd be down for 2, even 3 days afterwards, which would be quite unpleasant and kill my productivity. Another thing is that well, anxiety and fear are sometimes useful. If you're too trusting of people around you, you might eventually get yourself in risky situations. You might trust people you really shouldn't. There's also been a study on MDMA that showed that it changes the way you interpret signs of rejection given off by people. You interpret people's response to you more positively, even if it isn't all that positive. MDMA can help you approach people, but it can also make you a little delusional (over optimistic) about the way people perceive you. My personal opinion is that people with less baseline anxiety are probably still generally better off in the modern world. They're less stressed, they're more open to approaching and being approached by people, they end up having more friends because of this. They might have a tendency to be more trusting and not notice as much when they annoy people, but it probably generally works in their favor. I probably worry too much about displeasing other people.

bitwize 13y ago
MDMA sounds to humans what Toxoplasma gondii infection is to rats.
- tachyonbeam 13y ago
  With the difference that you're presumably much more intelligent than a rat. Even if you don't feel anxious, you can reason on a purely logical basis as to what might be a bad idea. Even if you stopped feeling fear, you'd probably still be intelligent enough to look on both sides before crossing the street. I do agree that it can, and probably will increase risk taking, though. The risks I took on MDMA were social risks, things I don't actually deem to be dangerous, things my fear stops me from doing but that I should probably be attempting more often. I find that MDMA makes it very easy to "open up" to people and tell them what you think. This is probably one of the reasons why people are looking into using it as a therapeutic aid for PTSD and rape victims. In the context of a party though, this can translate in you being very comfortable telling your friends what you really think about them, even if it isn't a good idea. I found I'm still able to ask myself rationally "is this something I should be telling this person?", "could this be hurtful to this person?" and stop myself from saying stupid things. This is different from alcohol, which makes you both less anxious and less intelligent. I can tell you that on MDMA, I actually feel extremely sharp, more than normal (better recall, better verbal fluency, etc). I can tell you that people have said stupid and offensive things to me while high on MDMA, however. One girl told me that she disliked my new hairstyle (thanks, I like it just fine), and also told me that she frequently had sex dreams about me, but that nothing could come of it since she had a boyfriend. Both of these were things I didn't want to know. I will say though that this same girl has said more offensive and annoying things to me while sober.
flanbiscuit 13y ago
wow this all sounds so familiar and I wonder if this explains certain parts of my personality. I did Ecstasy A LOT for the summer of 2000, and then randomly here and there after that (now it has been a couple years since my last time). I was already generally easygoing and a people pleaser before then but it probably enhanced it.
Ygg2 13y ago
I didn't read the articles, but sample of one (a.k.a. ancedotes) don't pique my interest - Root beer can take away your social anxieties if you think it's alcohol.
- tachyonbeam 13y ago
  You probably don't experience much anxiety if you say that. Strong adrenalin-induced responses, or panic attacks even, are pretty much impossible to ignore. Try being social when you're shaky, sweating, and have shifty focus (i.e.: fight-or-flight response, your brain is looking for threats in your environment). It's hard slash impossible to will these kinds of symptoms away. Usually, this kind of social anxiety is only amplified by jumping into a social situation. Furthermore, being even slightly inebriated from alcohol has a very noticeable feel to it. If I went to a party that only had non-alcoholic beverages but pretended these had alcohol, I'm quite sure that I'd be able to tell.
  - Ygg2 13y ago
    That's different from what I've said. I meant that placebo effect was highly possible, nothing more and nothing less. You knowing it's a placebo doesn't cause placebo effect.
    - Anderkent 13y ago
      >You knowing it's a placebo doesn't cause placebo effect. Actually it's often the case that even knowing you're taking a placebo still gives results, though smaller than when taking placebo unknowingly.

bitwize 13y ago

MDMA sounds to humans what Toxoplasma gondii infection is to rats.

tachyonbeam 13y ago
With the difference that you're presumably much more intelligent than a rat. Even if you don't feel anxious, you can reason on a purely logical basis as to what might be a bad idea. Even if you stopped feeling fear, you'd probably still be intelligent enough to look on both sides before crossing the street. I do agree that it can, and probably will increase risk taking, though. The risks I took on MDMA were social risks, things I don't actually deem to be dangerous, things my fear stops me from doing but that I should probably be attempting more often. I find that MDMA makes it very easy to "open up" to people and tell them what you think. This is probably one of the reasons why people are looking into using it as a therapeutic aid for PTSD and rape victims. In the context of a party though, this can translate in you being very comfortable telling your friends what you really think about them, even if it isn't a good idea. I found I'm still able to ask myself rationally "is this something I should be telling this person?", "could this be hurtful to this person?" and stop myself from saying stupid things. This is different from alcohol, which makes you both less anxious and less intelligent. I can tell you that on MDMA, I actually feel extremely sharp, more than normal (better recall, better verbal fluency, etc). I can tell you that people have said stupid and offensive things to me while high on MDMA, however. One girl told me that she disliked my new hairstyle (thanks, I like it just fine), and also told me that she frequently had sex dreams about me, but that nothing could come of it since she had a boyfriend. Both of these were things I didn't want to know. I will say though that this same girl has said more offensive and annoying things to me while sober.

flanbiscuit 13y ago

wow this all sounds so familiar and I wonder if this explains certain parts of my personality. I did Ecstasy A LOT for the summer of 2000, and then randomly here and there after that (now it has been a couple years since my last time). I was already generally easygoing and a people pleaser before then but it probably enhanced it.

Ygg2 13y ago

I didn't read the articles, but sample of one (a.k.a. ancedotes) don't pique my interest - Root beer can take away your social anxieties if you think it's alcohol.

tachyonbeam 13y ago
You probably don't experience much anxiety if you say that. Strong adrenalin-induced responses, or panic attacks even, are pretty much impossible to ignore. Try being social when you're shaky, sweating, and have shifty focus (i.e.: fight-or-flight response, your brain is looking for threats in your environment). It's hard slash impossible to will these kinds of symptoms away. Usually, this kind of social anxiety is only amplified by jumping into a social situation. Furthermore, being even slightly inebriated from alcohol has a very noticeable feel to it. If I went to a party that only had non-alcoholic beverages but pretended these had alcohol, I'm quite sure that I'd be able to tell.
- Ygg2 13y ago
  That's different from what I've said. I meant that placebo effect was highly possible, nothing more and nothing less. You knowing it's a placebo doesn't cause placebo effect.
  - Anderkent 13y ago
    >You knowing it's a placebo doesn't cause placebo effect. Actually it's often the case that even knowing you're taking a placebo still gives results, though smaller than when taking placebo unknowingly.