Comment by pizzeriafrida | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pizzeriafrida | Hacker News Reader

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There was a great interview between Peter Attia and David Nutt on the research and effectiveness of psychedelics on various disorders https://peterattiamd.com/davidnutt/

He touches on the history of governments banning various drugs through junk science and propaganda (mostly from the US which influences the rest of the world). The scheduling system for drugs is a joke.

Also interesting that the inventor of AA credited LSD for his ability to quit drinking.

Edit: David Nutt authored this study in the NEJM https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2032994 which pitted psilocybin against lexapro for the treatment of depression and it showed the same effectiveness (more nuanced than that but you'll have to read or listen). Peter talked about how he is very familiar with Lexapro and it's side effects (libido, a blunting effect on life) in his patients and remarked that what was most exciting about that study is that it showed it could be as effective as Lexapro with less side effects.

I wasn't aware of the credit the AA inventor gives for his fixing drinking problem to LSD - that's certainly an interesting story, From what I understand the connections one might make considering the religious tones AA has, the common idea of what a high dose LSD experience might entail and the fact that LSD and other psychedelics have proven effective against addiction all together match the science so far - tied together by the interesting fact that for people suffering with depression or addiction who seek out help through psychedelics, religious or spiritual experience, not necessarily dose, is what associates with life improvements including long term. Those who did not have what felt to them a deeply significant experience did not reap the same benefits.

I think though the psychedelic community can be somewhat pseudo-sciency (they were of course driven out of main stream science), the reference to psychedelics as a healing tool is apt. It is not the mere ingestion of psychedelics which helps people, but the intense and vivid realizations, visions, and feelings they come to experience which deeply affects them. Its a subtle difference - but I hypothesize that if you put people under anesthesia and gave them a high dose the long term results would be measurable weaker than those who were lucid for the experience.

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