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by simplemts 2517 days ago
MDMA boosts empathy: https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/mdma http://theconversation.com/ecstasy-users-are-more-empathetic...

LSD on Empathy (Increasing altruism): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5813062/

LSD enhances emotional empathy: https://www.nature.com/articles/npp201682

Lifetime usage of psychedelics correlates to increase in nature relatedness: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28631526

Anecdotally, 3 of my friends and myself (sample=4) all have self-reported significant improvements in empathy, as well as verified confirmation by our romantic partners. This has also led to objective changes such as volunteering, random acts of kindness, increased gratitude and altruism, and more.

There are also studies on terminally ill showing dramatic decreases in anxiety and depression: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367557/

I don't know if you've ever suffered from either of these, but I can assure you, severely depressed or anxious people are not overly empathetic as they are ruminating and caught in their own minds more than being interested in others (overactive default mode network).

In short... there are numerous scientific studies confirming the benefits of these drugs. I fail to see any "overrated" potential after studying these molecules myself for years for experientially and academically.