Drugs
lobster
Crusty Veteran
On Social media and the cyberverse in general, you may hear of short cuts using psychedilics or other drugs.
They will not compare to real time and pratice
Came across this on social media from an experienced practitioner:
A very close friend of ours is going through an incredibly harrowing experience after some specific types of spiritual dabbling and attempting to shortcut discipline and effort with drugs to find some of the answers she was looking for. Yesterday she was admitted to a psych hospital, and we're coming to terms with the fact that while we hope she comes back to us, and we are remaining optimistic, she may not. She's experienced, essentially, a psychotic break, being tormented by voices constantly, for the last few months. No one knew - it took a huge and unfortunately timed breakdown for her to come out to anyone with what she's been going through.
Whether the voices are the result of purely biological, neurological changes due to excessive psychedlic use, or they're (as she believes) entities that have become attached to her, materially it doesn't matter. This is ultimately why I vehemently argue for discipline and thoughtfulness -and caution- in spiritual practice. This includes the use of psychoactive substances - particularly psychedelics. Regardless, it sounds like she was experiencing some severe mental health effects from the way she was conducting spiritual practice before she began effectively self-medicating and looking for spiritual guidance in drugs, which is one reason why we're concerned this may go deeper than temporary drug-induced psychosis.
JUST SO YOU KNOW
Comments
It can happen, especially in people who have a vulnerability in this area.
Playing with psychedelic drugs can be like a game of Russian roulette ...
Thus have I heard and experienced ...on more than one occasion ...
Be mindful of drugs... not (a) mind full of drugs...
Hmm I don’t think Russian roulette is quite the right comparison. A 1 in 6 chance of a bullet through the brain is a lot more severe and final than the 1 in 50 chance of a drug-induced psychosis and 1-2 months recovery.
Eckhart Tolle once said that drugs — prescription and street — had turned into a coping mechanism for many Americans.
But I think this case is particularly sad because the friend was trying to solve spiritual questions.
Thus have I heard:
For some lay people, a single psychedelic experience is so powerful and transformative that it shakes their entire worldview. For others, the urge arises to take more and more in an attempt to prolong the experience, while some find the intensity overwhelming and end up in psychiatric care.
It is true that in a study of first-time drug users partaking in psychedelic-assisted therapy in which psilocybin (the active substance from magic mushrooms) was used, seventy percent of the participants rated the experience among the top five most significant experiences in their lives, alongside for instance the birth of their children.
Many psychedelic users do end up changing their worldview, giving up views that the material world is all that exists for a new paradigm that holds that the spiritual world is much greater than that. Psychedelics have been studied to not be physically addictive, although some people do go on to try and repeat the experience, and are some of the safest substances known to man, having very high lethal doses unlike for example caffeine.
The chances of ending up in psychiatric care are remote but do exist, and it is recommended when trying psychedelics for the first time to have an experienced guide on hand.
If you want a book that gives a good overview of where the science of psychedelic-assisted therapy is at, I’d recommend Michael Pollan’s ‘How to Change Your Mind’. Most of the facts and statistics I’ve quoted are from that book.
When I first started going to teachings I met someone there who had taken LSD and had an ongoing impact from it. He said it was like the trip wouldn't stop, not in every way, but his perceptions were out of whack. It had been several months when I met him. He also said a shaman he went to see about it told him he blew open his crown chackra.
And then you have many spiritual seekers who say a psychedelic experience is what started them on the path.
The research being done now on therapeutic uses is pretty promising and exciting.
Of course it also can be used recreationally in ways that create harm.