Real Farmacy Psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms and LSD not only don’t cause mental health problems, they may actually improve mental health, say Norwegian researchers.
Those are the findings by neuroscience researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, who reported that LSD, psilocybin and mescaline not only don’t cause long-term mental health problems, but that in many cases the use of psychedelics is associated with a lower rate of mental health problems.
The study (here) pulled data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health, observing 130,152 randomly-selected respondents from the adult population of the US. 13.4% of that group (21,967 individuals) reported lifetime use of psychedelics. Comparing this data to standardized screening measures for mental health, the researchers found that neither lifetime psychedelic use nor use of LSD in the past year were independent risk factors for mental health problems—and that, in fact, psychedelic users had lower rates of mental health issues.
Teri S. Krebs and Pål-Ørjan Johansen, the Norwegian researchers, additionally noted that “psychedelic plants have been used for celebratory, religious or healing purposes for thousands of years” and that “psychedelics often elicit deeply personally and spiritually meaningful experiences and sustained beneficial effects… LSD and psilocybin are consistently ranked in expert assessments as causing less harm to both individual users and society than alcohol, tobacco, and most other common recreational drugs. Given that millions of doses of psychedelics have been consumed every year for over 40 years, well-documented case reports of long-term mental health problems following use of these substances are rare.”
The study also found absolutely no evidence that “flashbacks” afflict users of psychedelics, slaying another commonly-held superstition around psychedelic use.
The Norwegian study brings good news for the over 30 million Americans who have used psychedelics (compared to 100 million who have used marijuana). And while the media has been buzzing about Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s revelation that he “changed his mind on weed,” it may be time for psychedelics to get a similar PR rehabilitation.
While psychedelics still conjure images of 1960s-era bad trips like Art Linkletter’s daughter jumping out of a window on acid (an overinflated myth, says Snopes), they have undergone significant research and slow progress towards clinical acceptance in the past decades. Researchers still labor under the immensely negative Timothy Leary-era image of psychedelics, but are steadily chipping away at the cultural deadlock created by what many see as reckless abuse of psychedelics during the 1960s and 70s. Standing in stark contrast to the negatives of that time, however, are the immense clinical benefits that psychedelics are consistently being shown to offer.
Another recent study at the University of South Florida, for instance, found that psilocybin mushrooms erase conditioned fear response in mice, suggesting they could potentially be used to cure PTSD—and that psilocybin can even prompt growth of brain cells.
Multiple studies are currently being conducted (at New York University’s medical school and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center) into using psychedelics to alleviate fear in patients with late-stage terminal illness—easing the experience of death and allowing people to end their lives in states of acceptance instead of terror.
LSD and psilocybin even hold promise for treating cluster headaches, a condition so debilitating and painful that it often leads sufferers to consider suicide.
While marijuana enjoys its time in the spotlight, it may be time for its more potent—and potentially even more beneficial—siblings to join the party.
Read more at http://www.realfarmacy.com/magic-mushrooms-do-what-to-your-mental-health/#0IL9qr7D0Dw2J26K.99
Great article #1. I can vouch for what they say in this article. In fact LSD is – from what I have seen, personally experienced, and read in many articles – the best anti-alcohol drug out their. Far better than any AA/counceling, therapy, antibuse or what ever they try to feed people….. Yea, and by the way all, it is the weak minded/mentaly challenged people that have the bad trips and that give drugs a bad name.
Why am I not surprised you were the first one to post on this article, digger? LOL
Me on acid – 😯
Me on shrooms – 😆
I’ll take shrooms any day over acid.
HaHa yea, I figured that you had me in mind when ya posted this 😆 . Yea #1, I would do shrooms before cid too. Actually, Peyote is mighty awesome too, rare to find that though. I have done a lot of those baby hawian woodrose seeds and the pearly gates and heavenly blue too. Psyconaught me don`t ya know 😆 😎 Good things/people never change eh #1 I am proud to say 😉
My favorite peyote story:
4th of July, Salt Lake City, drunk brother-in-law.
So me, the ex, her older brother, and the younger brother’s wife are all at the house just blazing on peyote. The younger brother shows up, and he’s hammered – sh#tface drunk. He demands some peyote. I told him it probably wasn’t a good idea in his condition. No sale. O.K., here ya go, Lawrence. Have at it.
Not ten minutes later, he jumped up off of the couch, started to bolt for the bathroom, got about halfway across the living room floor, and proceeded to hurl the most incredible projectile vomit I’ve ever seen in my life. It literally arced about 5 feet through the air before spattering all over the wall. OUTSTANDING!!!
Needless to say, the rest of us couldn’t stop howling. We laughed till tears were running down. One of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen, even to this day.
Wish I had it on video. 😆
HaHaHa, Yea I bet that was hillarious for sure. Peyote really isn`t one of those party things as has been my experience. Everytime I did it I puked too. 😆 Still love the stuff though.Good stuff once ya puke ya know – that is where I got the sayin` – “ya gotta puke to get off”, and as is in the case of Peyote it is true 😉
Sorry, digger, that’s a myth. I never threw up. The secret is to cut the buttons up into very small pieces (after removing ALL of the white fibers, as those are strychnine, and THAT’S what knots up your stomach), then I toss them to the BACK of my throat, and wash them down with something immediately. That way you don’t even get the taste, which is so bitter that it causes a gag reflex, hence the hurling.
Yes, we removed the strichnine too. We always ground up dry cleaned buttons and then we boiled them down in a tea and drank the tea. The hard core would alway do the sludge from it. Yea it does have a sour bitter taste doesn`t it. we usually did 4 – 6 buttons each. For 4 people would be minimum of 16+ buttons to grind up for the tea. 😉 . Haven`t did any of that sinse the mid 70`s It is a rare find for sure. ya know that another name for those baby hawaian woodrose seeds is “Asian Peyote”. Those were my substitute for mescalito – if ya know what I mean 😎
My experience is LSD and mushrooms simply expand the person you are..I am very spiritual, so I get more spiritual…I had a friend that was adventurous, he got more adventurous, to a scary point even, climbing high things etc. You wont find suicidal people killing themselves when on lsd, because if they were afraid to do it before, then their fear expands along with the suicidal tendency. If a person has a yucky life, they will have a bad trip. I never took it unless I was in a good, healthy mood.
I could explain this better but I would be writing a novel. Hope I am making sense here.
Absolutly right hweinhard !! 🙂
# 1 NWO Hatr , I know you don’t yet know me on this website, but I have found a great place to hang out! Another great informative article here!
I wish that I could find some of those mushrooms out here in the high country. So far no luck. I have NEVER felt uncomfortable taking Psilocybin mushrooms, unlike LSD.
Welcome to the best patriot/truther site around, RickE.
I actually read the comments on quite a few more articles than I comment on, and I’ve seen a number of yours. We’ve got some outstanding regulars here (as well as an OUTSTANDING host and hostess), and if you stick around, you’ll see what a great bunch they are.
As far as acid, I wouldn’t take it again. Too iffy. I never had a single bad trip on mushrooms, but my stomach usually hurt the next day from laughing so hard.
I love to wonder around good art museums flying on shrooms.
I did so at the philly art museum once and it was incredible.
They had exhibits of different culture’s art in an entire theme.
For example: you walk through egyptian and then pass a curtain and small tunnel thing and emerge in eskimo land snow everywhere, and igloos and then in mayan, etc. I kept thinking I was navigating the time streams.
And I always love disneyworld on pot and shrooms…and really really miss mr. toads wild ride! The train at the end…wow! Or the boats of peter pan flying over london. Do i really need to mention alice in wonderland 😉
Those kids rides are a blast..hell the first few years of childhood were an acid trip for me…before i became fully aware, everything was a rainbow fantasy.
-flek
I used to pick my own Liberty Caps when I lived for a few months in Blodgett Corners, OR.
Wicked good bud up in that neck of the woods, too. 🙂
Damn right! Those liberty caps are real mind benders s:)
Yep, great pot from n.cali to the okanagan.
http://www.cool-t-shirts.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Dude-my-dad-made-this-shit1.png
-flek
There’s something kinda special about picking your own.
And yes, those were some of the best shrooms ever, at least insofar as the quantity needed to be consumed.
WOW!!! 😯 😆 😯 😆
😆 😯 😆