What are the dangers of psychedelics?

[Preety_India]

Broadly, what are the dangers of psychedelics? 

I'm getting increasingly frustrated how this place keep promoting psychedelics so freely. 

 

[Thought Art]

A bunch... There should be threads on this and Leo has a whole video.

They are very dangerous and require maturity and responsibility taking.

[Vincent S]

Leo made a video about this, no?

[Preety_India]

@Thought Art  of course. Damn. 

 

[Adodd]

@Preety_India if you dont even know what the dangers are/are not than why are you so upset about them being promoted?

Also coming up with a list of dangers isn't a good way of deciding if they are "bad" or not. If you're already a bit against them, than compiling a list of the problems of them will only strengthen your biases. Perhaps look to understand the whole picture instead. Dangers, harm reduction, benefits, success stories. All of it. Are you really trying to better understand the subject or are you just looking for confirmation on your assumptions. And since you don't know the whole picture yet they 100% ARE assumptions.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Adodd

[Preety_India]

@Adodd because it could damage people. 

 

[Vincent S]

1 minute ago, BenG said:

They can inflate the ego 1000x and even give you a Messiah complex.

Depends on who is taking them
They just amplify what you already are, no?

[Preety_India]

2 minutes ago, BenG said:

They can inflate the ego 1000x and even give you a Messiah complex.

Hope you aren't being sarcastic? 

 

[Preety_India]

Just now, BenG said:

I'm not being sarcastic at all. This is a vary real danger of psychedelic use. Especially for late teens and early twenties college students.

Awful. 

 

[Adodd]

15 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

@Adodd because it could damage people. 

 

And it could help people. There are two sides to this. No response to the rest of the my response? I think I make pretty valid points.

If you want to know the dangers of psychedelics there is already plenty on this form about that. Its also odd that you are saying we need to talk about "the dangers of psychedelics" like Leo and this form neglects that subject. Leo has a video LITERALLY called "the dangers of psychedelics" and I also saw TODAY Leo warning someone today that they were not being safe with them.

Yes, We should all be aware of the dangers but after knowing and discussing them we should be able to openly discuss them and the benefits/experiences. Thats not close to the same as reckless promotion of dangerous drugs.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Adodd

[Preety_India]

@Benton @Adodd . 

How would you even know for whom its safe and for whom it isn't? 

 

[Preety_India]

@Benton ok

[Adodd]

THIS IS MY OPINION ANDNOT MEDICAL OR PERSONAL ADVICE:

You can't 100% know. It IS a risk. I think a lot of time its more about what set and setting is than it is about WHO. But generally speaking people with a predisposition to schizophrenia shouldnt touch them. People without any history of self development or spiritual practice shouldnt mess with them either. But even if none of those things apply its still a risk that the individual must decide if theyre willing to take.

This has been repeatedly said by Leo and other members of this forum. So again, the problem isnt reckless promotion (of course i have seen some of that here too). If you want to know the dangers that is very understandable and I'm glad you asked! But dont act its because the only info on the forum is pure reckless encouragement because that's objectively false. Its not just what you ask but also what you're implying by the way you ask.

Edited April 24, 2022 by Adodd

[Thought Art]

 

Take it easy dude

[Vynce]

33 minutes ago, BenG said:

They can inflate the ego 1000x and even give you a Messiah complex.

Have you actually had a direct of experience of this claim?

I personally felt, that even "normal" egoic projections and behavior patterns feel terrible with psychedelics. You can almost feel the physical pain, when attached to ego while tripping. But thats just my view.

[Vynce]

 

9 minutes ago, BenG said:

Not while tripping. While not tripping. Which is where almost all of life takes place.

Did your ego inflate retrospectively on the idea, that you are God? 

[Kamo]

@Benton @BenG  Yeah I think normally most us will experience this ego inflation at some point to one degree or another, But in my experience the more you frame those experiences as being personally attributed to you as a private gift if you will, and don't mention them very much the more you can integrate the lessons into your own worldview. It will humble you when you can have deep experiences and never even mention you had them. During specific discussions on the topics, it can be appropriate to bring them up to contribute to advising others but stay mindful to not mention in a way that you assuming you are better than them but simply to help them learn and understand. We are students and teachers to each other. Generally the insights are yours to understand privately.

[Carl-Richard]

Same as with all other force multipliers.

[bambi]

The dangers of all psychedelic's are escapism. Anything that changes your state in a positive manner has high potentiality for addiction

[Jodistrict]

The traditional medicines like Ayahuasca are very safe.  They have been used by tribes for centuries and would have been weeded out long ago if dangerous.    That’s why it is good to stick with the traditional medicines. Also, a good shaman is very important.  I have done over a dozen ceremonies with the same shaman and have seen him guide many people that were going through serious traumatic purges in a way that was healing.   I can’t imagine what would happen to these people under the care of one of the many fake and unqualified servers.  

“I avoid synthetic drugs and prefer the organic hallucinogens, because I believe that a long history of shamanic usage is the first seal of approval that one must look for when selecting a substance for its possible effects on personal growth. And if a plant has been used for thousands of years, one can also be fairly confident that it does not cause tumors or miscarriages or carry other unacceptable phys­ical risks. Over time, trial and error has resulted in the choice of the most effective and least toxic plants for shamanic use.

Other criteria are also relevant when evaluating a substance. It is important to use only those compounds that do not insult the physical brain; regardless of what the physical brain does or doesn't have to do with the mind, it certainly has much to do with the metabolism of hallucinogens. Compounds alien to the brain and therefore difficult for it to metabolize should be avoided. One way of judging how long a relationship between humans and a plant has been in place is to notice how benign the compound is in human metabolism. If after you have taken a plant, your eyes are not in focus forty-eight hours later, or your knees are feeling rubbery three days later, then this is not a benign compound that has evolved into a smooth hand-in-glove fit with the human user.”

Terence McKenna. Food of the Gods (Kindle Locations 3668-3672).