<story><title>A Psychedelic Renaissance</title><url>https://www.philanthropy.com/article/With-Government-Skittish-About/246170?key=GCZRFFWJmdWfHIIYJmst8JP0M4DTMThB3J8gWMr73DvMQUzdvlnIckIeopOfeeXEQzk0Y0xhRF9fcWRWUGIyYTctTklFRXFZdTRyRVA1aFUwbGdhN0hPUk9tOA</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sharkweek</author><text>I would love to try a psychedelic trip with a trained therapist guiding me toward facing my fears.&lt;p&gt;I’m generally a pretty anxious person (diagnosed with OCD, managed with ERP therapy), and I feel pretty confident that it would force me to face that part of me. I have no doubt that it’d be a beneficial experience.&lt;p&gt;Buuuuut... part of me is super nervous about what I might also find. It’s like part of my mind wants to explore it, and the other part doesn’t, which creates a lot of inner conflict. I honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to do with two parts of my brain fighting with itself.&lt;p&gt;Side note: How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is a fantastic book and worth a read.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tasty_freeze</author><text>You are right to be cautious. Don&amp;#x27;t let people oversell the benefits and minimize the risk.  Yes, Johns Hopkins and some other places have early promising results, but these subjects were given counseling before, during, and after their trip. I&amp;#x27;m sure for some people a lightbulb goes off and suddenly they can see the problems in their life which had been invisible to them and the benefit is immediate.  Most of the time the message isn&amp;#x27;t so clear, and the benefit comes from actual hard work and changes that come as the result of your insights.&lt;p&gt;For example, I know I&amp;#x27;m getting older, time is limited, and I&amp;#x27;m mortal. Taking LSD and looking in the mirror and really seeing myself more objectively, all the wrinkles and saggy skin, the meat of my body hanging off my bones, makes my aging far more tangible and immediate than I can normally conjure.  The trick is afterward maintaining that feeling and using it to make decisions about health, prioritizing things that are important, and dropping things that won&amp;#x27;t matter to me in 20 years.&lt;p&gt;If I had anxiety issues or deep trauma to work through, I&amp;#x27;d absolutely want to use psychedelics in concert with a trained professional to minimize the risk of having things go wrong and to get help in figuring out what the trip meant to me (or &amp;quot;integrating&amp;quot; in the parlance).</text></comment>
<story><title>A Psychedelic Renaissance</title><url>https://www.philanthropy.com/article/With-Government-Skittish-About/246170?key=GCZRFFWJmdWfHIIYJmst8JP0M4DTMThB3J8gWMr73DvMQUzdvlnIckIeopOfeeXEQzk0Y0xhRF9fcWRWUGIyYTctTklFRXFZdTRyRVA1aFUwbGdhN0hPUk9tOA</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sharkweek</author><text>I would love to try a psychedelic trip with a trained therapist guiding me toward facing my fears.&lt;p&gt;I’m generally a pretty anxious person (diagnosed with OCD, managed with ERP therapy), and I feel pretty confident that it would force me to face that part of me. I have no doubt that it’d be a beneficial experience.&lt;p&gt;Buuuuut... part of me is super nervous about what I might also find. It’s like part of my mind wants to explore it, and the other part doesn’t, which creates a lot of inner conflict. I honestly don’t know what I’m supposed to do with two parts of my brain fighting with itself.&lt;p&gt;Side note: How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is a fantastic book and worth a read.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>h2odragon</author><text>Trained therapist? Nah. Good, trusted friend. Someone who will be willing to clean up embarrassing bodily functions for you type of friend.&lt;p&gt;You can&amp;#x27;t pay somebody to discover you, you&amp;#x27;re going to have to do that yourself. Having a companion is just to help keep things from getting messy.</text></comment>