[ensacco]

More anecdotal than anything else, my fiance suffered from crippling anxiety and moderate depression until mushrooms. Since then, she's come leaps and bounds, and she attributes quite a bit of this to her trip.

As for myself, it helped me get over a mountain of grief after a rough childhood. I feel like there's no way I'd be where I am or forgive as much as I have unless I had taken them.

No, they're not addictive. No, you can't take them repeatedly within a short time span. Yes, they're decriminalized/legalized in many areas.

[saiya-jin]

That's all nice and dandy, but with severe mental issues you mention, you both were much more lucky than you clearly realize. Shrooms can do true magic, but can easily drag you to the deepest sewer your mind can come up with, and drown you there. In extreme cases, it can literally break you, sometimes forever. There are people who end up in psychiatric ward for the rest of their lives after single acid trip, sometimes after way too high dose, sometimes not.

There is no way to guarantee the outcome the first time, that's why medical expert supervision is important, especially for people with mental issues/baggage.

That is all being said by person who did shrooms few times, alone, laying with closed eyes and the journey inward and back, with dissolution and later recomposition of every sense and part of my being as a bonus. By far the strongest experience in my life. It was absolutely amazing and beyond positive. But I don't have any mental or childhood issues and am very balanced person who knows himself pretty well (also thanx to these experiences).

[dokem]

I'm sorry but your comment is fear mongering. The idea that psychedelics are dangerous unless you are 'mentally healthy' misses the point of these substances entirely. Yes they can sometimes do real harm but I would dare to say that those cases are extremely rare and often relate to people with mental ailments like schizophrenia, not issues like depression, anxiety, regret, remorse.

[sxv]

| But I don't have any mental or childhood issues

found the replicant

[krrrh]

Our understanding of the effects of set and setting has come a long way, and a lot of bad experiences can be chalked up to not taking these into account. The understanding of severe psychological conditions that would serve as a contraindication for psychedelic medicine is also progressing.

On the subject of bad trips (or the better term "challenging experiences"), Roland Griffith's lab at Johns Hopkins has found that people who had "bad trips" on psilocybin often actually experienced better long term improvements. Sometimes the best way out is through, and these medicines appear to help people confront issues that they have a hard time facing through standard approaches.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/qanda_griffiths.h...

[gunshai]

>there are people that end up in psychiatric wards after one acid trip.

Really, where have you heard this. I have only heard myths about this. Do we have any collections of data for these cases?

Something that is interesting is one of the lead researchers in the area professes that the disclaimer about psychotic episodes due to psychedelics in research is not based on any study more of a fear of tainting the study outcomes.

[Jugglerofworlds]

This happened to me, but with a high dose of marijuana. It was maybe maybe 3rd time I ever tried it. There is a confirmed connection between marijuana use and psychosis in those genetically susceptible. Hang around any schizophrenia forum long enough and you'll see plenty of stories from people who obtained their mental health problems from drug use.

[ensacco]

When we considered the permanent and irreversible dependency and damage that years of anti-depressants could have done, the choice seemed to favor mushrooms.

That said, we... - took smaller doses - went with a beginner friendly strain - dosed in a calm, trusting setting - had guides that ensured our safety

Don't take these things lightly, and they'll treat you well.

[taneq]

> There are people who end up in psychiatric ward for the rest of their lives after single acid trip, sometimes after way too high dose, sometimes not.

There are also people who end up in a psych ward for the rest of their lives without ever taking hallucinogens.

[akomtu]

This is textbook fearmongering: handpicking bad outcomes to paint the wrong picture. I bet the risk of losing mind after shrooms is much lower than dying in a car accident.