Psychedelics For Overcoming Social Anxiety and Fears

[MrTelepath]

Hey, everyone

I’ve been wanting to use Psychedelics for therapeutic purposes. In this case, overcoming certain deep-rooted fears I have and social anxiety. Some people are telling me it’s risky to use Substances for the purpose of overcoming mental struggles and others say it’s fine as long as you follow safety guidelines and use them responsibly.

I want to get as many viewpoints on the subject matter before I jump the gun. I get different responses from several people but I feel like I have to decide for myself, ultimately. I’m doing more research on Psychedelic Therapy to get more information, as well. 

Bottom line is, can I use Psychedelics to overcome social anxiety and fears?

[Yimpa]

To overcome social anxiety and fears requires coming face-to-face with it, over and over again.  Psychedelics will guide you towards doing that. However, psychedelics are not a magic cure for those conditions. There’s a lot of inner work that you’ll be doing during and well beyond your trips.

[MrTelepath]

1 hour ago, Yimpa said:

To overcome social anxiety and fears requires coming face-to-face with it, over and over again.  Psychedelics will guide you towards doing that. However, psychedelics are not a magic cure for those conditions. There’s a lot of inner work that you’ll be doing during and well beyond your trips.

I see! I was doing exposure therapy for a while and the social anxiety still progressed, worsening with age. And I'm curious to know if I can dig deep within my psyche through the use of substances to discover the root cause.

[Yimpa]

@Shrooms_Alvarez bravo! I have also done exposure therapy.

If there’s one thing I can recommend, it’s to make your journey more about self-exploration, rather than seeing yourself as a problem that needs to be fixed.

[Schizophonia]

2 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

@Shrooms_Alvarez bravo! I have also done exposure therapy.

If there’s one thing I can recommend, it’s to make your journey more about self-exploration, rather than seeing yourself as a problem that needs to be fixed.

You were the one who experimented with therapeutic ketamine, right? 🤔

[MrTelepath]

11 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

@Shrooms_Alvarez bravo! I have also done exposure therapy.

If there’s one thing I can recommend, it’s to make your journey more about self-exploration, rather than seeing yourself as a problem that needs to be fixed.

That’s a nice viewpoint! Though, I wouldn’t exactly call “being afraid to the point where you can’t leave your house” normal. I’m not there, yet, but I feel like I’m headed down that road if I don’t do something about it soon which is why I’ve always viewed myself as a problem.

And about Exposure Therapy, I mean it doesn’t work for me. A lot of people say the more you expose yourself to your fears the easier it gets and that’s not the case with me. The social anxiety gets worse by the day which is why I’m placing my faith in using Psychedelics. Not as a cure but as something that can show me what’s wrong with me and how I can go about fixing it. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Shrooms_Alvarez

[Yimpa]

8 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

You were the one who experimented with therapeutic ketamine, right? 🤔

Yes.

@Shrooms_Alvarez i see that you’re in Miami, Florida. There’s ketamine clinics there if you so choose to go that route.

Whatever route you take, expect things to actually get a lot worse first before it gets better… just being honest! Do I regret it? Absolutely not. Things I’m open to now in my life I was completely resisting before. 

[MrTelepath]

15 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

Yes.

@Shrooms_Alvarez i see that you’re in Miami, Florida. There’s ketamine clinics there if you so choose to go that route.

Whatever route you take, expect things to actually get a lot worse first before it gets better… just being honest! Do I regret it? Absolutely not. Things I’m open to now in my life I was completely resisting before. 

Thanks! I’ll look into it. I have access to Mushrooms and Cannabis, as well, but I haven’t used them for therapeutic purposes, yet. And I always prefer to do it under supervision if I’m doing it for mental health and things of that nature which is why I bring up Psychedelic Therapy a lot.

I know Ketamine isn’t a psychedelic. It’s a dissociative but I’m open to experimenting with some substances outside of traditional psychedelics. What did you gain from Ketamine Therapy?

Edited December 4, 2023 by Shrooms_Alvarez

[Yimpa]

5 minutes ago, Shrooms_Alvarez said:

What did you gain from Ketamine Therapy?

Becoming deeply aware of extremely painful parts of myself that keep me stuck and hateful.

Discovering that what people have told me is wrong and evil is actually my true, authentic self.

Slowly learning how to love and embrace myself again.

[The0Self]

Yeah it can work or it can make it worse. Ketamine (at a sufficient dose) is probably slightly more efficacious, but even that is risky — high potential payoff though. Ketamine can cause severe bladder damage though — but there have been no cases of it at 600mg daily dose for clinical pain management, however this is spread out throughout the day so it may be prudent to never exceed 100mg every 4 hours, or perhaps 200mg every 8 hours, or maybe even 50mg every 2 hours, we just don’t have enough scientific info yet to tell which. And it takes 150mg (intranasal) for a strong k hole (not that a k hole is necessary for spiritual or psychological growth/healing — Leo only experimented with 30mg, I believe).

Edited December 5, 2023 by The0Self

[Yimpa]

14 minutes ago, The0Self said:

And it takes 150mg (intranasal) for a strong k hole (not that a k hole is necessary for spiritual or psychological growth/healing — Leo only experimented with 30mg, I believe).

70 mg IV did it for me for sure. No way can a human being maintain that state of bliss. I was literally dead for a good 20 mins, and it felt like an eternity.

[Yimpa]

Keep in mind that I didn’t start at 70 mg IV. The clinic will ramp up your dose gradually each session. I personally started at 30 mg. 

Their protocol is very simple, they just go by your body weight and height and hope for the best. And most people handle it well!

[The0Self]

15 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

70 mg IV did it for me for sure. No way can a human being maintain that state of bliss. I was literally dead for a good 20 mins, and it felt like an eternity.

That’s really funny because my IV dose was also 70mg. And yeah it was a k hole and a half — strongest one I ever experienced. 50mg would’ve done it. I actually think ketamine at k hole (ego death) doses is way stronger than any psychedelic except 5-MeO-DMT at ego death doses.

[flowboy]

On 04/12/2023 at 5:45 AM, Shrooms_Alvarez said:

can I use Psychedelics to overcome social anxiety and fears?

Yes.

I have gotten quite a bit of progress with talking to strangers while taking LSD at festivals. Great fun, too. And wonderful insights.

On 04/12/2023 at 5:45 AM, Shrooms_Alvarez said:

Some people are telling me it’s risky to use Substances for the purpose of overcoming mental struggles

@Shrooms_Alvarez Well I hope you don't mean me.

I just said that if you want to find the root cause, and change that, then psychedelics are not a safe option and you would risk messing yourself up.

However, I'm making a nuanced point here trying to bridge vocabulary differences: what most people would consider a root cause, I do not.

You see, you can have a psychedelic trip about something and have an insight about where it comes from, for example:

• "lack of self acceptance" or
• "negative subconscious beliefs" or
• "lack of trust in myself/the universe"

Those things are not root causes.

And then with a bit of luck, your mind can be rewired to ditch that negative belief, or remember that feeling of trust for example, and make progress that way.

And that's what all these psychedelic healing stories are about, people have insights, change feelings, beliefs, and make progress. It can happen.

What's wrong with that?

Nothing. Try it.

But as others have stated, it doesn't take you all the way there.

Psychedelics can be great for unwiring the most problematic knots in your mind!

Those knots are there for a reason though, or rather, there is an energy driving your mind into those knots.

That energy is something that you have never felt before.

And your mind is creating those knots in order to keep you from feeling this forbidden thing.

You will not be able to guess what that thing is with your mind.

It is literally a feeling you have never felt before because your system thinks it means DEATH.

Because, at some point between ages 0 and 7, that was true.

Now that energy is still there, and it is creating many other knots in your mind, and in your body.

Think of other irrational emotional issues you might have, negative recurring thought patterns, physical tension, sleep problems, you name it.

Unwiring one knot makes space for the other.

This is what I mean by root cause.

I know how to get to that root cause, and when you feel an authentic desire to go there, trust me, you don't want to be tripping.

For now, I think you should try psychedelics because you seem really curious about it, and some short-term wins would be good for you.

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by flowboy

[MrTelepath]

@flowboy You give the most insightful answers! Thank you. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Shrooms_Alvarez

[Yimpa]

@Shrooms_Alvarez And you can communicate that to yourself as well! Best wishes on your journey towards embracing Yourself.

[Federico del pueblo]

On 4.12.2023 at 5:45 AM, Shrooms_Alvarez said:

Hey, everyone

I’ve been wanting to use Psychedelics for therapeutic purposes. In this case, overcoming certain deep-rooted fears I have and social anxiety. Some people are telling me it’s risky to use Substances for the purpose of overcoming mental struggles and others say it’s fine as long as you follow safety guidelines and use them responsibly.

I want to get as many viewpoints on the subject matter before I jump the gun. I get different responses from several people but I feel like I have to decide for myself, ultimately. I’m doing more research on Psychedelic Therapy to get more information, as well. 

Bottom line is, can I use Psychedelics to overcome social anxiety and fears?

I can only give you the advice to not do what I did with LSD, which is the following:

LSD is a substance that will (at least after a few trips) automatically liberate stored/pent up emotions from your body and thus it will become conscious to you as energy/emotion, maybe accompanied by memories and can be clearly located in the body. Your body might react with movements in an attempt to "burn" the stress from these past experiences and their emotional charge.

Anyway, here's what I did but you shouldn't:

Even though the substance was already liberating and releasing emotions I thought it would be a good idea to additionally deeply feel into my triggers on full doses of LSD. I thought "but like this I can bring up more and release it".

I brought up more indeed when I did this "mental exposure therapy" a few more times and in one last attempt I brought up a lot, it clearly felt too much and like some really deep dark energy had been brought up, creeping up through my upper back and neck. The trip ended normally though and I thought nothing too bad had happened.

A few days later I got triggered by one of my regular triggers and the anxiety then quickly spiraled into deep fear and panic. I had the most horrible existential fears you could ever imagine for several days.

This became a severe retraumatization with some of my prior fears and new fears arose from that too, together with dark depression and hopelessness. I'm still dealing with the consequences over 4 months later.

With a substance like LSD (on a full dose) you basically create a little temporary hole in the barrier between conscious and unconscious mind so that unconscious material can come up. If you are then overly eager and try to bring up even more you might create a stream of emotion that is a little bit too strong and that can rip the little hole wide open and thus leave some damage in the barrier that doesn't immediately heal/close again after the trip. And then you can get flooded.

So be careful. Just let come up what wants to come up and don't try to bring up all at once in one experience.

Also at some point in this process very big experiences might happen, like reexperiencing very early unconscious traumatizations. This can be very challenging or overwhelming if you're by yourself and you might want to at least have a trip sitter or even better professional guidance.

[Hojo]

Im not sure it will help you overcome social anxieties but it might help you be more comfortable with yourself so you become more open in social situations but you still have to go through the motions to become less self concious. It can help you actually look at your mind during these situations and see where your brain is trying to fuck you, and you can reflect and change them later because now you are more comfortable with yourself and are being more conscious about thought patterns.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Hojo

[MrTelepath]

2 hours ago, Federico del pueblo said:

I can only give you the advice to not do what I did with LSD, which is the following:

LSD is a substance that will (at least after a few trips) automatically liberate stored/pent up emotions from your body and thus it will become conscious to you as energy/emotion, maybe accompanied by memories and can be clearly located in the body. Your body might react with movements in an attempt to "burn" the stress from these past experiences and their emotional charge.

Anyway, here's what I did but you shouldn't:

Even though the substance was already liberating and releasing emotions I thought it would be a good idea to additionally deeply feel into my triggers on full doses of LSD. I thought "but like this I can bring up more and release it".

I brought up more indeed when I did this "mental exposure therapy" a few more times and in one last attempt I brought up a lot, it clearly felt too much and like some really deep dark energy had been brought up, creeping up through my upper back and neck. The trip ended normally though and I thought nothing too bad had happened.

A few days later I got triggered by one of my regular triggers and the anxiety then quickly spiraled into deep fear and panic. I had the most horrible existential fears you could ever imagine for several days.

This became a severe retraumatization with some of my prior fears and new fears arose from that too, together with dark depression and hopelessness. I'm still dealing with the consequences over 4 months later.

With a substance like LSD (on a full dose) you basically create a little temporary hole in the barrier between conscious and unconscious mind so that unconscious material can come up. If you are then overly eager and try to bring up even more you might create a stream of emotion that is a little bit too strong and that can rip the little hole wide open and thus leave some damage in the barrier that doesn't immediately heal/close again after the trip. And then you can get flooded.

So be careful. Just let come up what wants to come up and don't try to bring up all at once in one experience.

Also at some point in this process very big experiences might happen, like reexperiencing very early unconscious traumatizations. This can be very challenging or overwhelming if you're by yourself and you might want to at least have a trip sitter or even better professional guidance.

Wow, thanks for sharing! Yeah, I’m definitely taking precautions when it comes to using it for healing or things of that nature.

 

[Javfly33]

Imo i tried the psychedelic route and didnt worked. At first It seemed like It but then nah. Imo social anxiety come from dark karmic energies absorbed. IMO No therapy, psychedelic, or reiki session can rewire It for Life. For a day, yes, but if the software doesn't get a permanent upgrade, It Will still drag you. The only solution ive discovered are yoguic kriyas, in this you ramp Up your inner energies in such a way that the inner intelligence that is your being, is vibrating in a certain high way that no longer will choose to identify or feed that old low vibration dark software.

But there is still a lot work to be done. If i stop doing the kriyas the karmic substance comes back. Is like a drug. I need to do them each day, most of times twice a day, ideally. Is in my Hope, there IS a possibility for this inner energy to completely dismantled the old software. A lot of work has to be done, but i think It IS possible.

This IS my experience, you should experiment with what you feel like, but beware, you might be dealing with sonething much much bigger and extremely well welded into your system that what you thought. If you want to get free of It, you might need a tool of gigantestic proportions. A true miracle. Chances are the karmic substance Will laugh of your trials of you trying to solve this with an Amazon book or a 3 day ayahuasca retreat.

Much luck.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Javfly33