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Comment by Theodores | Hacker News Reader

At the moment I am trying to help a workmate hang in there and get life back on track after a period of intense depression. I am not going to advise her to take LSD or to meditate, even if 'hipster' style with this 'mindful' nonsense.

Normal people who have happy, functional lives do not meditate or take micro doses of LSD.

With all drugs the underlying condition is important, with hallucinogenic substances that usually means the base mood - happy or sad - gets amplified. That means the risk of a bad trip. My workmate has tried coping with 'party drugs' but the comedown is horrible - more depression.

I am doing well with my workmate, we do things like eating, walking, cycling and talking, i.e. doing stuff. For a laugh though I might tell her she needs LSD and minfulness bullshit.

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> Normal people who have happy, functional lives do not meditate or take micro doses of LSD.

Normal people who don't have a cold don't need to take cough syrup.

It's precisely because being depressed is an atypical state that you need to take special approaches to deal with it.

As if cough syrup works anyway - any comparison between getting a cold virus and being depressed is a bit lame. Very poor.

Normal people who aren't ill don't need special treatments. Is it clearer now?

Well... I believe depression is actually quite normal, everyone experiences depression (not to confused with sadness) at some stage or other.

What is not normal is sitting in front of some app, taking micro doses of LSD and 'meditating' in some stereotyped new-age fake-hipster-American way.

For normal depression for normal people it is possible to meditate without the LSD and the feigned posture. What you do is you go outside the front door and walk, ride a bike, go for a jog or go for a swim. Sure these normal activities do not have the pretence of the believe system that goes with mindful-LSD-taking but, for normal people with normal depression (including the suicidal thoughts), normal healthy activities can help too, e.g. a gentle stroll with no funny meds needed.

That you describe mindfulness meditation as "new-age" suggests to me that you aren't familiar with it, and are dismissing it out of hand rather than thoughtfully. The new-age movement has a spiritual element to it, mindfulness meditation does not. The complete, entire point of mindfulness meditation is learning to be present and aware of the workings of your mind. Real-time self awareness is not "new-age fake hipster", it's a valuable skill, particularly for depressed people. Having this improved self awareness can include recognizing when you become relatively more or less sad, which can lead you towards or away from various situations and behaviors.

I think you're reacting negatively because of the commenter's association with LSD. That's not representative of the mindfulness practice in general, so if that feels a bit too "Berkeley" for you then don't throw away the baby with the bath water. Personally, I've never tried LSD, and although I'm a bit curious about it, I've read accounts of people being mentally crippled for years by a bad trip - not worth the risk.

What is normal depression? What is a normal person?

How do you leave the house when you are depressed?

Mindfullness doesn't appear to be bullshit.

The evidence for mindfullness is about as good as for meds or cognitive behaviour therapy -- it helps some people, but not everyone.

It has a part to play in a package of bio-psycho-social care.

"Normal people who have happy, functional lives do not meditate or take micro doses of LSD."

Actually, they do. Especially meditation. Sometimes that is why they meditate - is because it keeps them healthy and happier. After all, a sign of a "normal, happy, functional" person is that they handle their stress. Additionally, many more people meditate as a course of religion, though sometimes they use the word prayer instead.

Happy, normal, functional people that are also curious might do micro doses of lsd just to see how it affects their life. Or they might have been doing ti for years to treat their illness so they can be that happy, functional person. Just like folks take anti-depressants daily and you assume they are normal people with happy, functional lives. I don't always react well to meditation, but some folks do. Seriously.

"... with hallucinogenic substances, that usually means the base mood - happy or sad - gets amplified"

Sure, for some folks, this stuff happens. But again, some folks react differently to therapy and "normal" psychiatric drugs, so I'm not sure why folks think the "party drugs" would be different in that respect. And obviously dosage is important: A teaspoon of cough syrup will produce different reactions than drinking the whole bottle. For what it might help, I will notice the normal, everyday "anxiety" coming back while hallucinogens are wearing off, but it really isn't a big deal for me. I wake up the next day feeling like I*ve been able to massage my brain - like it has been all limbered up for use, and the effects last for some time.

Sometimes the reasons why a person is happy or normal is because they are meditating.

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