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by FactoryReboot 1322 days ago
“ I managed to tuck away very nicely“ There is a fine line between compartmentalization and repression.
1 comments

for sure, but these memories only bother me with the extremely heightened emotions that mushrooms give me, not normally so it really doesn't feel like something I'm repressing. It already feels dealt with and in the past, it just doesn't need to be brought up
If the trauma surfaces and you have a negative reaction, it's likely the trauma could still be affecting your behavior and thus your life in some way.

It's your decision if the pros outweigh the cons in your situation, but in my experience tackling trauma head-on in a safe environment has measurably improved my overall health.

Even "worse", unresolved trauma affects people around you negatively, whereas it is typical that you have a blind spot for how exactly until you face it. I really strongly urge everyone to work on unresolved trauma, and not keep it "tucked away", even if it may feel like you have it under control and it is "not affecting you in any way".
As someone who had a similar mindset about my childhood, I'd like to share that you might be wrong in thinking they're "resolved" if "dredging them up" still stirs negative emotions in you. Also, even if it doesn't directly, there are other parts of your daily life that it might insidiously influence without you even noticing. So, if you have never talked to someone about these things (I'd suggest a professional, friends and family can inadvertently cause trauma reactivation by offering help or advice, and that can be very dangerous depending on the trauma, especially if gaslighting was involved).

But regarding mushrooms: on their own, I believe they're not that useful for healing. I have a (layman's) theory that post-trip therapy is probably more successful due to increased neuroplasticity of the brain[1]. There was also some research that suggested the DMN gets a bit "scrambled"[2], so another of my layman's theories is that it's able to reach a new "equilibrium" once it was kicked into this unstable state.

[1]: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.17.431629v1...., and a more easily digested version is here https://www.sciencealert.com/one-dose-of-psilocybin-regrows-...

[2]: Can't find the thing I was thinking of now, but googling "psilocybin dmn" will yield some interesting reads regardless!

this. also for so successful medical trials for depression, they are always done with a psychologist to help assimilate and direct the experience. If it was just the substance, all party going mushroom popping teens would have gotten cured of depression. My overall view has been that narrative is important, therapy (meds or no meds) is mostly about what story we are telling ourselves. If the story is, i take this, have this mind opening meaningful experience and that will make things better, thats what works here.