Leo's Blog Discussion Mega-Thread

[Leo Gura]

@integral What do you attribute your recovery to? Were there certain techniques that helped you? Or it just takes time to pass and resolves on its own?

[integral]

31 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@integral What do you attribute your recovery to? Were there certain techniques that helped you? Or it just takes time to pass and resolves on its own?

I resolved it through dumb luck trial and error.

I discovered that I was "allergic" to anything that gives off any scent of any kind. And if I remove 100% scent, all my hallucinating and the thousands of voices in my head disappear.

I know it sounds really stupid and simple, but there's no way for you to know that a smell can cause total sleep deprivation and hallucinations.

I'm not saying I have a solution for anyone who has psychosis, but in the same way that you attribute heavy metals to a lot of illnesses, scent, like all the toxic man-made stuff and even counterintuitively normal things like cooking smell, will trigger all sorts of health problems within people.

If there's a flower (natural) anywhere in a house that I'm in I will experience hallucinations and total sleep deprivation. Even vinegar causes Problems and I have to avoid it, so I just wash with water.

This sounds like I don't have psychosis and I just have an allergy, but the question is what if a lot of these people with psychosis are just allergic to laundry detergent, and the laundry detergent makes them hallucinate? Does society really understand what an allergy is? Can an allergy cause psychosis?

I'm hesitant to say any of this out loud because it sounds so wrong and stupid. That's why it took me 12 years to figure it out, embarrassingly.

If you're hallucinating with thousands of voices in your head the last thing you're thinking about is that some scent is causing it. And there is absolutely no human or resource on the internet that will ever explain this insight to you. 

So I was on my own and forced to discover new knowledge that doesn't exist.

All I know is that I smoked the weed, I was then in a permanent state of hallucinations because of a intolerance to smell.

So the conclusions I came to was that my genetics make me more sensitive to environmental toxins, and in my case after smoking weed it began causing hallucinations, while for other people it might cause different problems that are unrelated. So it's a wide net.

Edited Monday at 04:42 AM by integral

[LifeEnjoyer]

It's wild knowing my grandmother killed herself due to schizophrenia and when I was warned about the risks of weed from my therapist the first time, I just completely ignored them.

It got to the point where the torture and suffering was so bad (I was hearing voices and people coming into my room and none of this was actually happening,) that I was left with no other option. 

Amazingly, I got away scot free, knock on wood.

[Girzo]

@integral It doesn’t sound stupid at all, the smell receptors have similar structure to brain receptors and smelling something activates the brain in general. So why not, maybe you are built so that the reaction to smells is too strong and hits the wrong parts of the nervous system.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

@LifeEnjoyer @integral It is good you got out with lucidity.

I recently worked on a fitout of a hardcore mental health lockdown ward at a hospital. For acute mental health care.

The things I saw while working there... turbo level volatility. The schizophrenics that were checked in from weed psychosis would turn on you in the most unexpected ways.

I'll never forget the man who came at me for some measuring I think I had to do, accusing me of stealing 'all my fucking black jelly beans' because I was in his temporary bedroom. Apparently later that day he smeared his shit all down the walls while speaking to 'the shadow people'. We had security details with us when we went to the ward to do any works. I have close family who have also experienced amphetamine psychosis. 

I'm not sure what the care system is like for psychotic patients in the US, but here in Australia is a shitshow. Pump you full of meds and send you on your way. Its just a triage system, no proper long term care.

Not surprised @integral, you had to resort to trail and error. 

It goes to show we really do not fully understand mental health. The system of the brain and body is so complex...

[Nemra]

I have been smoking weed recently. I do it only on days that I'm free. No addiction yet. It doesn't even make me feel good.

[Yimpa]

2 minutes ago, Nemra said:

It doesn't even make me feel good.

What makes you keep doing it then? 

[Nemra]

28 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

What makes you keep doing it then? 

To understand the experience that it puts me into. It doesn't give me good feelings; however, I like getting mindfucked.

I smoke it 2 or 3 days a week. On those days, I take 1 to 4 puffs.

Edited Monday at 05:47 AM by Nemra

[Davino]

@Leo Gura Your weed post has been really eye opening. I connected some dots. I've taken a break from weed and it will continue this way for a long time.

It's interesting because the most challenging drug for me is weed, besides salvia, and I never understood why. I thought as such an experienced psychonaut I should be able to navigate the headspace and I just kept going on and on without just leaving it alone. Till I saw it was just not benefiting my life and it made very ungrounded. Weed really fucks with my mind but I also felt some unhealthy bizarre connection to it.

Edited Monday at 09:49 AM by Davino

[Rafael Thundercat]

On the context of the last Blog post about Rigth Wing ideiology dominatiing social media and the fusion of Blue and Orange stages on their more corrput forms.

check the language 

 

[Rafael Thundercat]

3 hours ago, Davino said:

@Leo Gura Your weed post has been really eye opening. I connected some dots. I've taken a break from weed and it will continue this way for a long time.

It's interesting because the most challenging drug for me is weed, besides salvia, and I never understood why. I thought as such an experienced psychonaut I should be able to navigate the headspace and I just kept going on and on without just leaving it alone. Till I saw it was just not benefiting my life and it made very ungrounded. Weed really fucks with my mind but I also felt some unhealthy bizarre connection to it.

In Ayahuasca circles I never cant connect well with Weed Smokers. I even dont understand how can they smoke weed on top of Ayahuasca  is like blowing wind on fire. Sometimes I dont even get along with people ,just to discover later that they smoke a lot weed. Their excuses are that the weed helps then navigate life more creativivily, but in the end what I observe is that weed actualy helps them to be creative in creating more complex excuses to keep smoking. For some tribes in Amazon they even dont use this plant and say this plant is a deciver spirit or a witch plant that dont helps at all human evolution. For then weed is a poison. And Shipibo masters say is one of the plants that is difficult to cut ties with. It means, to break the addiction is hard like the addiction in heroin.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

2 hours ago, Rafael Thundercat said:

In Ayahuasca circles I never cant connect well with Weed Smokers. I even dont understand how can they smoke weed on top of Ayahuasca  is like blowing wind on fire. Sometimes I dont even get along with people ,just to discover later that they smoke a lot weed. Their excuses are that the weed helps then navigate life more creativivily, but in the end what I observe is that weed actualy helps them to be creative in creating more complex excuses to keep smoking. For some tribes in Amazon they even dont use this plant and say this plant is a deciver spirit or a witch plant that dont helps at all human evolution. For then weed is a poison. And Shipibo masters say is one of the plants that is difficult to cut ties with. It means, to break the addiction is hard like the addiction in heroin.

In my personal experience, you get to this point where you feel like you need to be high to enhance any activity. 

It becomes the constant in life that underpins every event to make all activities less boring.

'I need to be high for this' 

It ends up backfiring and working against you. It robs you of the ability to get on with the cotidien nature of reality, and your tolerance for boredom is decreased. 

Say goodbye to your appreciation of the small things, of just being. Nope, gotta be high for this ... 

Not good

[Thought Art]

Admittedly, I think a lot of my anxiety of my 20s, was due to low psychosis and anxiety induced from chronic Weed use. I think weed can lead to forgetfulness, depression, anxiety and a variety of emotional and mood issues. Weed is also very addictive. But, it also has positive qualities and has it's place. So, it's complicated.

Allan Carr's Easy Way book on quitting Cannabis helped me to realized I'd been mislead by people like Joe Rogan and others in pop culture who said weed was harmless and cool and so I got into it and soon my friends all smoked weed and it was very normalized. Because an addiction and misuse for me. However, my opinions are changing that it should generally be avoided.

However, I do find it helpful when used sparingly. Though, in general I am moving toward total avoidance. 

This is a good reminder for me to review those books and my cannabis journaling because quitting it was one of my biggest challenges.

In regards to these ADHD medications, I was given them as a kid and I know first hand how toxic they feel, and how they can distort your emotions and personality. They, may have played a role in getting me through school but I wonder the damage they may have caused.

I am lucky my brain still seems to function as well as it does.

Edited Monday at 04:30 PM by Thought Art

[Vynce]

Regarding amphetamines, from an ADHD perspective:

Even though I'm pretty robust in my personality and not prone to psychotic or schizophrenic episodes, I notice a noticable tendency to overthink and feel fear when taking Ritalin. Its subtle, but its there.

In general this is a good thing when learning and working on mundane stuff, since you are connecting and thinking more about the stuff you work on. However, In social situations its more benefitial to be relaxed, laid back and a little "drunk" if you know what I mean. 

So depending on the circumstances, amphetamines have their clear benefit and subtle disadvantage. But being conscious about this mechanic enables you to control it in healthy and overall net positive ways.

The underlying take-away here is:

A less excited brain (ADHD, Depression and Suicidality) can be hell. Since you are not motivated about life, or can't keep your motivation on "normal" stuff for long. 

And a brain with too much excitement (schizophrenia, psychosis and alike) can be hell. Since every event, every person, every thought gets supercharged with unrealistic meanings of sorts. 

Both scenarios can make your life "un-livable".

And if a solid balance can only be achieved with medications - where their benefit outways the side-effects, one should absolutely take them.

[Yimpa]

The only substance I need is Love.

[Ulax]

50 minutes ago, Vynce said:

Regarding amphetamines, from an ADHD perspective:

Even though I'm pretty robust in my personality and not prone to psychotic or schizophrenic episodes, I notice a noticable tendency to overthink and feel fear when taking Ritalin. Its subtle, but its there.

In general this is a good thing when learning and working on mundane stuff, since you are connecting and thinking more about the stuff you work on. However, In social situations its more benefitial to be relaxed, laid back and a little "drunk" if you know what I mean. 

So depending on the circumstances, amphetamines have their clear benefit and subtle disadvantage. But being conscious about this mechanic enables you to control it in healthy and overall net positive ways.

The underlying take-away here is:

A less excited brain (ADHD, Depression and Suicidality) can be hell. Since you are not motivated about life, or can't keep your motivation on "normal" stuff for long. 

And a brain with too much excitement (schizophrenia, psychosis and alike) can be hell. Since every event, every person, every thought gets supercharged with unrealistic meanings of sorts. 

Both scenarios can make your life "un-livable".

And if a solid balance can only be achieved with medications - where their benefit outways the side-effects, one should absolutely take them.

I agree

[cistanche_enjoyer]

Cannabis, just like other psychedelics, requires you to be in perfect health if you want to use it. If you have any issues with hormones, thyroid, etc. (like most people have nowadays) it can become quite unpredictable.

However, when one is truly healthy, there can also be value in using it once in a while. I find it allows for deeper introspection, better ability to concentrate during meditation, and deeper insights during contemplation. Similar to a psychedelic trip but when you don't want to go as deep in. Also, it's easier to get where it's legal.

Moreover, there are many strategies to mitigate the negative effects of MJ:

• Vaporizing it (so avoiding combustion) in a dry herb vaporizer.

• supplementing L-Theanine: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7842745

• supplementing COX-2 inhibitors (aspirin, curcumin, ginger): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3918429

• Chronic marijuana use can lead to memory problems due to the internalization of CB1 receptors, which also affects NMDA receptors critical for memory function, learning, and synaptic plasticity, and this effect is exacerbated by the natural decline of NMDA receptors with age. Studies suggest that Acetyl L-Carnitine (ALCAR) may counteract these memory deficits by increasing NMDA receptor numbers or attenuating their decline, with users reporting noticeable improvements in memory after a few days of ALCAR supplementation.

[EternalForest]

Insightful post about the percentage of right wing vs left wing channels. Only caveat is I would argue that Joe Rogan is actually beyond left or right, He's a masculine (but not toxic) version of Stage Yellow and more open minded than most in my opinion.

[Vynce]

*My head hurts..* @EternalForest

Joe Rogan in yellow means he has fully integrated green and has lived in it for some years.

Where in his life has a ever walked in greens boots, let alone integrated it?

He is pretty much the most prominent hater of anything green. 

So there is a lot of room for contemplation on how you have come to you opinion. Of course your entire assessment for Rogan to be yellow can only be rooted in you living on the entire spiral up to yellow for years. Have you?

Edited Tuesday at 03:37 PM by Vynce

[Rafael Thundercat]

On 07/04/2025 at 5:40 AM, integral said:

If you're hallucinating with thousands of voices in your head the last thing you're thinking about is that some scent is causing it. And there is absolutely no human or resource on the internet that will ever explain this insight to you. 

I understand you perfectly. In the Ayahuasca retreats I go sometimes people use this ridiculous scents, like Agua Florida,Palo Santo,Sage, etc.. of course sometimes it can be warmless but I saw some shamans forbiding any scent because scents carry information,  and when you have a crystal, DmT,Cannabis etc.. flowing inside you, any scent can affect your system via nostrils. Think Prana as the carrier of this elements. 

One day I came out of the ceremonial room and there was a scent in the air,I followed the scent and found this artemisia plant, the scent was almost making me purge, so I came back to the room and was all ok again. 

Same reason one feels sick in the road in the summer, a lot of fumes full of chemicals. If one is clean one feels the effects.