single dose of one drug can ease anxiety and depression for five years

[DIY-HP-LED]

I used to grow Psilocybe Cubensis back in the day, it's easy to do and there are instructions online these days. Growing it in sterile grain culture is fairly simple and you can get spore prints online, don't freeze spores though. I found Psilocybin had the opposite effect on me and I never bothered with them outside my misspent youth. I've been a mindfulness meditation practitioner for several decades now and these issues do not arise.
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Follow-up study finds a single dose of one drug can ease anxiety and depression for five years | TheHill
Follow-up study finds a single dose of one drug can ease anxiety and depression for five years
Participants “rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives,” according to the study.

Story at a glance

• A 2016 study found that a one-time, single dose of psilocybin offered rapid improvements in the levels of anxiety, depression and dread of death in cancer patients when combined with psychotherapy.
• A follow-up four and half years later indicated substantial, long-lasting effects from the treatment.
• Psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, can affect mood and perception to “regulate arousal and panic responses.”

The Journal of Psychopharmacology published a study in 2016 in which researchers found that a one-time, single-dose of psilocybin offered rapid improvements in the levels of anxiety, depression and dread of death in cancer patients. A recent update found that the single dose, combined with psychotherapy, led to long-lasting improvements in these patients approximately five years later.
Psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, was given to patients in the study in 2016 and resulted in immediate, substantial relief of symptoms that was sustained and documented at their follow-ups more than six months later.

Almost five years later, researchers found enduring effects in the subset of participating patients when combined with psychotherapy.

At the four-and-a-half year follow-up, 71 to 100 percent of participants credited improvements in levels of anxiety and depression to the single-dose psilocybin and therapy combination of the study. The participants further “rated it among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant experiences of their lives.”

Though further research needs to be done, it’s thought that because psilocybin can affect mood and perception to “regulate arousal and panic responses,” the drug interacts with the networks of the brain to shape it into being more amenable to entertaining new thought patterns.

Researchers believe that psilocybin can be beneficial to patients by strengthening the effects of psychotherapy and aiding in a larger-spanning reduction in symptoms.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

If you suffer from depression seek medical help. If you need help with depression or want to learn how to meditate reply here or PM me.

The leading treatment for meditation these days is MBCT (Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy). It is extremely effective at treating depression with results in a few weeks.
Online Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy | Centre for Mindfulness Studies

And you can buy a book and audio combo too
The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness: Williams, J. Mark G., Teasdale, John D., Segal PhD, Zindel V., Kabat-Zinn, Jon: 8601400745380: Mental Health: Amazon Canada

You can also try this free online course, it's the same as the above except it has a bigger focus and doesn't contain the specific cognitive therapy part. MBSR is the best way to learn how to do mindfulness meditation these days, better than puzzling your way through Buddhism. This is a secular evidence based practice developed by people who are scientists and long term meditation practitioners for a variety of medical conditions or just to be happier, it is an exercise, not a free ride to happiness, but happiness is one of the side effects.

Here is where I send beginners, he is an expert and spent a lot of time and effort setting up this great website and course. I teach locally, but this is better, secular and is evidence based, you can also take it locally, but there's a pandemic on right now.. Once people complete this basic training I can help them to go further if they wish, including recommending a master to help them get liberated, but ya GOT TO REALLY WANT TO.
Online MBSR/Mindfulness (Free) (palousemindfulness.com)

What Science Can Teach Us About Practice

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Tripitor (Psilocybin) | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube

 

[StonedGardener]

Is the purpose of meditation to eliminate "pain" ( which arises from a multitude of situations, health,relationships,work,school,want etc. I think ) by altering thought process?

 

[StonedGardener]

Always loved that fungus, still do. Best trips ever. I understand you, friends of mine feel the same way.

 

[PJ Diaz]

Psilocybin works because it allows the mind to be more open to new ideas and ways of viewing the world.

As William Blake poetically once said, which helped to fuel the title of Aldous Huxley's famous book ("The Doors of Perception"):

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern".

 

[StonedGardener]

Psilocybin works because it allows the mind to be more open to new ideas and ways of viewing the world.

As William Blake poetically once said, which helped to fuel the title of Aldous Huxley's famous book ("The Doors of Perception"):

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern".

So damn true, so sad.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Is the purpose of meditation to eliminate "pain" ( which arises from a multitude of situations, health,relationships,work,school,want etc. I think ) by altering thought process?

First we must define things a little clearer, pain is the inevitable part of the human condition and can be both physical and psychological in nature. We are all familiar with physical pain and unfortunately it is a chronic condition for many, but ephemeral for most people, myself included. We can also feel the pain of loss and grief and the pain of social rejection is felt in the same areas of our brains we use to experience physical pain. Nature recycles a lot and social evolution happened later and this mechanism is very important for human survival.

Suffering is another thing that we layer on top of pain and amplifies it's experience in the mind. In Buddhism the word is Dukkha (Pali) and it means more than suffering which it is often translated into. From the web to save some typing:

"Duḥkha (Sanskrit; Pali dukkha) is a term found in ancient Indian literature, meaning anything that is "uneasy, uncomfortable, unpleasant, difficult, causing pain or sadness". It is also a concept in Indian religions about the nature of life that innately includes the "unpleasant", "suffering", "pain", "sorrow", "distress", "grief" or "misery." The term dukkha does not have a one-word English translation, and embodies diverse aspects of unpleasant human experiences".

The formal practice of sitting meditation is an exercise that puts us in touch with our bodies, the seat of "feelings" in this context feelings are defined as correlation to basic approach and avoidance behaviors found in all animals. In Buddhism these are called desire or craving and aversion. We evolved feelings first then more complex emotions later, depending on the level of socialization of the animal, dogs can experience more complex emotions than cats, which are more approach/avoidance driven. Humans experience the most complex emotions of all because we are the most socially developed.

First came feelings and there is a feeling "tone" of attraction, avoidance and neutral that is attached to everything we experience and this conditions us both grossly and subtilty. Feelings drive the whole conscious machine and filter our subsequent experience of reality at the doorways of perception and form the root of our intentions. Then more complex emotions are layered on top of that and finally reason is employed to almost always rationalize our feelings and accompanying emotions. Emotion and reason are bound together in the mind like the strands of a rope.

When we train we become aware of our feelings and thus are aware of our emotional state. Our emotions evolved first and drive our thinking and set it's priorities for problem solving. We first become aware of the contents of our mind and gradually can take some control over our emotions and thus our thoughts, outside of our formal practice. There is more to it than this though, the practice also deconditions and renovates our mind especially in the social/emotional realm.
In a practice it's not what you gain that counts the most, its what you lose, your baggage.

Meditation can help us to perceive less and tolerate higher levels of pain and with some kinds of pain, like after a work out, actually somewhat enjoy it. It is less likely to impact our mood and of course we don't add to the pile of hurt with needless suffering.

Enough, I just woke up and haven't had a coffee yet! I'm off my circadian clock and only had a few hours sleep (runs in the family and is bad in spring) and I have to go for the jab later today. I'm looking forward to a sore arm.

 

[Rurumo]

I 100% believe this. It took me years to make the connection, but I had the longest super functional stretch of my life after tripping with friends on a camping trip in my early 20s-totally got my shit together for years until it all fell apart again. I wish I had made the connection earlier, but regular-not often, but regular-use of shrooms really tunes up your brain. I'd like to experiment more with micro-dosing, but it's hard to find them in the rural area I live in now. They're definitely easy to grow, now more than ever, but now that I'm growing weed legally now on a registry, the idea of growing shrooms makes me extremely uneasy since cultivation get's you the proverbial "hard time" in the slammer here. Sad, considering this is a LIFE CHANGING medicine....I mean, dosing shrooms regularly could bring hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people back into the mainstream and fully participating in the economy, paying taxes, lessening the burden on our emergency rooms, etc.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

For those who wanna try and pry open the doors of perception with a crowbar...
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How to Grow Magic Mushrooms (Step by Step Guide)
How to Grow Magic Mushrooms (Step by Step Guide) - Psilocybe Guide

Growing magic mushrooms can be incredibly rewarding.

If you follow this process, in a few weeks you’ll have more mushrooms than you’ll know what to do with!

In this guide, we’ll cover the fundamentals of growing magic mushrooms — including how to create ideal growing conditions, how to make and inoculate spawn, how to initiate fruiting, and how to harvest and dry your mushrooms properly.

We’ll finish with a troubleshooting guide to help you find a solution for the most common and frustrating problems you’re likely to encounter while growing magic mushrooms.

 

[StonedGardener]

First we must define things a little clearer, pain is the inevitable part of the human condition and can be both physical and psychological in nature. We are all familiar with physical pain and unfortunately it is a chronic condition for many, but ephemeral for most people, myself included. We can also feel the pain of loss and grief and the pain of social rejection is felt in the same areas of our brains we use to experience physical pain. Nature recycles a lot and social evolution happened later and this mechanism is very important for human survival.

Suffering is another thing that we layer on top of pain and amplifies it's experience in the mind. In Buddhism the word is Dukkha (Pali) and it means more than suffering which it is often translated into. From the web to save some typing:

"Duḥkha (Sanskrit; Pali dukkha) is a term found in ancient Indian literature, meaning anything that is "uneasy, uncomfortable, unpleasant, difficult, causing pain or sadness". It is also a concept in Indian religions about the nature of life that innately includes the "unpleasant", "suffering", "pain", "sorrow", "distress", "grief" or "misery." The term dukkha does not have a one-word English translation, and embodies diverse aspects of unpleasant human experiences".

The formal practice of sitting meditation is an exercise that puts us in touch with our bodies, the seat of "feelings" in this context feelings are defined as correlation to basic approach and avoidance behaviors found in all animals. In Buddhism these are called desire or craving and aversion. We evolved feelings first then more complex emotions later, depending on the level of socialization of the animal, dogs can experience more complex emotions than cats, which are more approach/avoidance driven. Humans experience the most complex emotions of all because we are the most socially developed.

First came feelings and there is a feeling "tone" of attraction, avoidance and neutral that is attached to everything we experience and this conditions us both grossly and subtilty. Feelings drive the whole conscious machine and filter our subsequent experience of reality at the doorways of perception and form the root of our intentions. Then more complex emotions are layered on top of that and finally reason is employed to almost always rationalize our feelings and accompanying emotions. Emotion and reason are bound together in the mind like the strands of a rope.

When we train we become aware of our feelings and thus are aware of our emotional state. Our emotions evolved first and drive our thinking and set it's priorities for problem solving. We first become aware of the contents of our mind and gradually can take some control over our emotions and thus our thoughts, outside of our formal practice. There is more to it than this though, the practice also deconditions and renovates our mind especially in the social/emotional realm.
In a practice it's not what you gain that counts the most, its what you lose, your baggage.

Meditation can help us to perceive less and tolerate higher levels of pain and with some kinds of pain, like after a work out, actually somewhat enjoy it. It is less likely to impact our mood and of course we don't add to the pile of hurt with needless suffering.

Enough, I just woke up and haven't had a coffee yet! I'm off my circadian clock and only had a few hours sleep (runs in the family and is bad in spring) and I have to go for the jab later today. I'm looking forward to a sore arm.

I put pain in quotes to indicate a broad source of circumstances you talk about. I tried distilling the practice. Pain to me obviously includes suffering, which is a word just as vague, many meanings. I can't differentiate between the two, therefore layering is not understood. Great rolling with ya, love that dive into the human condition. Beats talking about copays !

 

[StonedGardener]

I 100% believe this. It took me years to make the connection, but I had the longest super functional stretch of my life after tripping with friends on a camping trip in my early 20s-totally got my shit together for years until it all fell apart again. I wish I had made the connection earlier, but regular-not often, but regular-use of shrooms really tunes up your brain. I'd like to experiment more with micro-dosing, but it's hard to find them in the rural area I live in now. They're definitely easy to grow, now more than ever, but now that I'm growing weed legally now on a registry, the idea of growing shrooms makes me extremely uneasy since cultivation get's you the proverbial "hard time" in the slammer here. Sad, considering this is a LIFE CHANGING medicine....I mean, dosing shrooms regularly could bring hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people back into the mainstream and fully participating in the economy, paying taxes, lessening the burden on our emergency rooms, etc.

Rural areas, around here, abound with magic. So many horses, some much horse shit, so many " dung loving " shrooms their for the picking ! The "bluefoot" there to in the deciduous woods. Then again, I'm in NE, where they grow, you may live in New Mexico. Anyway, when gathering these babies ya better know, or be with a dude that knows what he's doing. I don't know of a more violent death than mushroom poisoning. From what I know, the real heavy hitters grow in NW. As far as micro dosing, titrating, I've always found, for me, that the super duper high comes after eating a whole ounce and vomiting. I met Jesus in a dark hallway of my house after doing this. Odd thing is I'm an atheist, I like the Taoist construct of our world.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

I put pain in quotes to indicate a broad source of circumstances you talk about. I tried distilling the practice. Pain to me obviously includes suffering, which is a word just as vague, many meanings. I can't differentiate between the two, therefore layering is not understood. Great rolling with ya, love that dive into the human condition. Beats talking about copays !

The difference between pain and suffering becomes apparent with training and the rant should have been for those with some training. It only takes a few weeks to come to this realization, meditation is exercise and should be approached the same way. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to get into "shape", the same as for any other exercise. Yoga works like mindfulness too and has many of the same results, if done properly. It's what you do with your mind, not yer ass that counts!

 

[StonedGardener]

Wanted to thank you for replies......." pain and suffering", wonderful topic for debate. Like to ask you more but have a couple quick questions...............are partial effects of meditation, "white noise" and self-apathy?

 

[Psyphish]

The only positive effect I've noticed after mushroom tea is my sense of smell is increased for a few days, to the point of nausea from perfumes etc. But I also can't stop thinking about killing myself for a few days after so it's not really worth it lol.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Wanted to thank you for replies......." pain and suffering", wonderful topic for debate. Like to ask you more but have a couple quick questions...............are partial effects of meditation, "white noise" and self-apathy?

It's a nice day here and warming up nicely and I'm determined to get my lazy ass out in the sunshine and sweat it for a bit!
No white noise is not part of the effects of meditation. When we practice there is a decoupling of two brain networks that are coupled up as a result of chronic stress, in nearly everybody to varying degrees. We couple up the evaluative (thinking working) part of the brain with the experiential part (our senses). When we practice meditation we evoke the relaxation response a hypometabolic state that is the opposite of the fight or flight mode. This does a number of things, including changing the blood flow patterns in the brain, the PFC is flooded with blood. When you are running from the tiger in fight or flight, blood flow patterns in your body and brain change to aid in survival and resource management, you aren't checking your social calendar!

When we are thinking and problem solving we are really trying to survive and for humans thinking can help a lot with survival, as we see every day! When we practice meditation it causes this coupling of neural networks become decoupled and it does this by deconditioning away the traumas that induced it (baggage dropping). In modern humans all threats are social in nature and the PFC is the most recently evolved area of the brain that controls our emotional/social selves. After about 8 weeks of practice it starts to get real quiet behind the eyeballs, silent and peaceful. Thinking is brought online as required since we are not always in survival mode, but can rest in the senses and our experience of reality is richer because it is less filtered by our conditioning. Being in the present moment means being into your senses, they operate in real time and your mind most often is in the past or future.

Self apathy is an alien concept for meditators and is more closely associated with depression. Being mindful means being aware of our intentions and motives, we tend to operate on a higher social level than most of those around us who are driven by feelings. We can stand back from our emotions and put an expanded space between stimulus and response. It is also a wisdom practice and the more egotistical you are the less wise you are, look at Trump as an example of extremely unwise behavior. Meditation practice tends to give most people more energy as less is taken up by worry and better self regulation to meet higher long term goals and be less subject to immediate gratification.

I could go on and on, but like I said it's a nice day outside and I've gotta sit for a spell. Meditation is exercise and you know it's one by the difficulty in getting around to it, even though it feels nice during and after, just like exercise.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

are partial effects of meditation, "white noise" and self-apathy?

PS. While I'm not doing something as spectacular this afternoon, I am gonna do something similar. Does this look apathetic or suicidal? Full screen and crank it.

 

[StonedGardener]

First of all.........loved it,first thing I saw waking up drinking a cup of black coffee, what a rush......should of told 5me to " freshen " my head......so I did and watched again........................hang on your ass!
Hope that was a drone. What a ride that would be.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

There's more to life than sitting on yer arse watching yer breath! This is a retirement hobby, this is mostly (FPV quads) a pursuit of young men, planes attract an older bunch. Many just look at the the plane flying around, but some like to fly it from the inside. You tend to get more exercise when you screw up and have to do the "walk of shame".

Here is what a racing quad can do with a talented young pilot, unlike the old RC plane world, there are a lot of professional FPV pilots.

Here is another thread of mine
FPV Flying, Where gamers go to die, reality. | Rollitup

 

[Dr.Amber Trichome]

I might do it . My husband wants to do it.