My Favorite Bit of Information From The Week:
| The Best Article on Psychedelics!: |
| I am really excited to share this article from Fortune Magazine this week! It is the best article I have read on psychedelics and their ability to help with mental illness in our community. If you have wanted to know the benefits and the research that is backing up the psychedelic craze in our community, if you want to know where the stigma stems from, if you want to know an affordable way that folks can start getting mental health care, if you want to know how to support the research or have links to more research: THIS. IS. THE. ARTICLE. |
| Past Post on Psychedelics: If you are more of an auditory learner, you can access my past post on psychedelics and the panel discussion on the topic lead by Tim Ferriss. I am a firm supporter of psychedelics as a means of treating mental illness based on my own experience. When I did Ayahuasca (a tea traditionally made from two plants combined. Banisteriopsis caapi, a vine containing monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and the leaves of Psychotria Viridis or other plant containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), and often several other admixture plants. The drink allows DMT to be released in the brain and causes healing of neural pathways.) When experiencing Ayahuasca I watched myself die multiple times and watched my partner die (experiences that are common for folks who do psychedelics, and even the writer of the article shares a similar experience). I saw myself being eaten by worms and I saw my bones in the earth. And I saw my partner go through the same process. This may sound extremely macabre or depressing out of context, but it was actually quite peaceful and safe. The experience allowed me to reexamine my feelings and fears about death, and I’m able to walk through life with less weight as a result. If the theory I shared in last week’s post, about death being the root of all our existential angst and aspects of mental illness, then I am living proof that psychedelic drugs can bring about healing. After I experienced three ceremonies of Ayahuasca I felt no depression or anxiety for 6 months, and when I did encounter these experiences again they were very different and more approachable. I do not think ceremonies or psychedelic experiences are to be taken lightly or approached without reverence and wisdom. However, I think they are the brightest light for the future of mental illness treatment we have right now. I hope you read and enjoy the article as much as I did. If you want to get together and chat about it, or if you wish to email about it please reach out. This topic has a special stigma (or mark of shame) surrounding it within the already large stigma on mental illness. |
Update On My Show:
If you didn’t get a chance last week, take a moment to read the review that was written about One Woman Hamlet in the Columbia Chronicle by Opinions Editor Margaret Smith.
In the works of putting together the next set of shows! Hopefully more news to come soon!