[Nursie]

How will society actually be different afterwards? Please be specific in your answer.

I've seen this sort of utopian thinking any number of times. If only everyone could just take a trip man, we would all live in love and harmony!

Except it's either just vague pipedreams and semi-mystical aspiration, or it's something more solid like communal living that in general disintegrates in the cold light of day.

[Disruptive_Dave]

My two cents - psychedelics can open your mind to a new way of processing information and thinking about your daily existence. Anecdotally, it's happened to me over the last 11+ years (not through psychedelics, but through other spiritual practices like meditation). The result is that I'm less angry, less judgmental, less likely to fly off the handle. Much better at processing information, removing clutter (bullshit), and disassociating from perceptions and feelings that used to define me.

In a very practical manner, this has made my interactions with everyone around me much..."better" doesn't feel like the right word but I'll use it here anyway. This is very simple - I'm "happier" (again, not the right word, but it'll do for now), I end up treating others better, which in turn has positive impacts on their lives and hopefully the lives of others that they engage with.

[Nursie]

well firstly, as you said, you've done this without the aid of psychedelics, so I'm not sure it's exactly an answer to my question!

And secondly, well that's not exactly a societal change. Has it made you ready to ditch capitalism?

(edit -- I'm sure your change in mindset is a positive thing, I'm not disputing that. I'm also not disputing that psychedelics can have a profound effect on individuals. But as someone who has used a fairly wide variety of psychedelics over a number of years, I've also experienced and observed that they can induce a false sense of the deeply profound. They do also seem to leave people with this idea they could change the world, but they never really seem to know how)

[dwaltrip]

If they play an important role in reducing the prevalence and severity of mental illness by an order of magnitude, I think that would be a huge boon to society, human well-being, and the advance of civilization. There have been a number of very promising studies.

It's hard to fully capture the damage that is done by debilitating depression or anxiety, for example. I think the statistics are that 20% of the entire population will experience at least one episode during their lifetime. And that number has been increasing.

[yycfoofoo]

perhaps a "state of chill"? nothing fancier that to be kind, be cool, and be able to put yourself in others' shoes for a second.

[orasis]

Psychedelic medicines allow people to attempt to heal themselves. Individual-driven intervention is not utopian.

[AstralStorm]

It is suicidal for most people. They're not equipped to handle these things safely, and however safe and non-addictive these substances are they do have side effects. Sometimes, rarely, lasting and not necessarily pleasant.

You can oversell them like SSRI are as well, that would be bad and easy to do.

Study then first and use them, but be careful about the consequences.

[orasis]

"suicidal for most people". You are flat wrong. Read the research. I would point people to Michael Pollan's new book "How to Change Your Mind" if you're interested in this type of therapy.