Illegal drugs and mental health

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nezumi
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Illegal drugs and mental health

Post by nezumi » Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:26 am

So I was browsing that there internet and came across this.

Interesting stuff. My husband used to microdose LSD 30 years ago so it's not a new thing. He reported it being great for his mental health and his creativity. I'm a big believer that most, if not all, illegal drugs have at least potential medical uses and keeping them illegal is a Bad Thing (TM) - at a minimum they should be legal for research!

In the article it is pointed out that there is not a lot of research on microdosing as the majority of research is on full doses. Fair enough, I suppose, but that surely means there should be calls for that research. What if we're missing the single greatest drug for depression because we're basically being stupid and stubborn?
Non fui. Fui. Non sum. Non curo.

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lpm
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Re: Illegal drugs and mental health

Post by lpm » Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:53 am

1) These drugs are being studied.

2) They can be used for research legally.

3) Self medication is for morons.

4) Current evidence suggests some illegal drugs have significant medical impact, so f.cking around with them for fun is a bad idea.

5) A prosperous western country should have a proper mental health service with evidenced based treatments, instead of leaving so many people self medicating on random drug regimes with unknown side effects.
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nezumi
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Re: Illegal drugs and mental health

Post by nezumi » Thu Dec 02, 2021 9:20 am

lpm wrote:
Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:53 am

3) Self medication is for morons.

5) A prosperous western country should have a proper mental health service with evidenced based treatments, instead of leaving so many people self medicating on random drug regimes with unknown side effects.
These two points conflict, people can't get mental health support (in general) so they are turning to these things. I doubt it's many people with microdosing. Apart from anything else, FSM knows it's hard to get hold of LSD.

I must declare myself a moron, as, while I medicate (I take anti-depressants) I am also actively looking for self-medication options* because even with private health and access to Proper Mental Health Professionals, getting any drug based treatment (other than basic ADs) out of them is like getting blood out of a stone (same for referrals). This is most likely because of your point 5, which we clearly do not have.

Given that we don't have point 5 (even though we obviously should), surely self-medicating is understandable? People are in pain! It might be stupid, but it's often the only option available.

* For executive function issues, as I have no executive function at all some days. I hear stimulants are a good choice but I had some overly fun times with amphetamines when I was younger so I'm off them :lol: Weirdly, those are the times of my life when I Got Stuff Done, the ONLY times I might add. My brain is a big bl..dy bag of tangents.
Non fui. Fui. Non sum. Non curo.

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Woodchopper
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Re: Illegal drugs and mental health

Post by Woodchopper » Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:29 am

Here’s the article mentioned in the Guardian piece: https://elifesciences.org/articles/62878

Finds that:

All psychological outcomes improved significantly from baseline to after the 4 weeks long dose period for the microdose group; however, the placebo group also improved and no significant between-groups differences were observed. Acute (emotional state, drug intensity, mood, energy, and creativity) and post-acute (anxiety) scales showed small, but significant microdose vs. placebo differences; however, these results can be explained by participants breaking blind. The findings suggest that anecdotal benefits of microdosing can be explained by the placebo effect.
That’s just one study, so of course more research is needed.

plodder
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Re: Illegal drugs and mental health

Post by plodder » Thu Dec 02, 2021 1:20 pm

Placebo will likely be really important - there are loads of things people use to improve mood that are clearly hokum and clearly have an effect.

Micro-dosing may well be a more effective placebo to a funky young thing than lavender scented candles, whereas an LSD placebo might be a bit much for your grandad's mates who might get carried away on their mobility scooters or something.

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