Physical exercise is a pretty good way to handle depression, so maybe it'll work out! I'm not 100% sure about the safety profile of psilocybin in teenagers, not without looking it up at least, but my intuition would lean towards it being safe-ish. Probably not a big deal if he's towards the end of his teen years. Thank you for your kind words!
great write up, I recommend you check out the predictive coding model of psychedelics for a deeper understanding. Check out my work https://youtu.be/Iy3SaBGEvuQ?si=FYCMEgIIyXXq6ot3 or REBUS papers (pretty similar theory). I feel very aligned with your "materialistic" view and my experience is that having a clear scientific model of the ways in which psilocybin induces neural plasticity allowed me to play with "reprograming" my neural networks and somatic pattern, no spiritual element needed. "ego- dissolution" has been part of my trips and has deepened my understanding around models of "self" especially being part of a plural system https://youtu.be/LgMFnaEDTyk?si=-LebXZ6gCxU8CsmJ
One thing about nausea, there are also serotonin receptors in your gut so your stomach is also literally tripping. Ondansetron helps a lot
Thanks for the link! I'm a big fan of the predictive processing/Bayesian model of cognition in the first place, so it's no surprise that it has a relationship to psychedelics in the form of loosened priors. I'll take a look!
Interesting. For a first time user, were you adequately prepared for what you could expect during a session? I think given your psychiatry background, you would have had a good idea but did the people running the study give enough information on what one could expect. I imagine someone getting the highest dose would have had a much wilder trip.
My core psychiatry syllabus didn't have much to say about psilocybin! It's a relatively niche topic, as it's not a common drug of abuse. That being said, I've had independent interest in psychedelics for decades, and would consider myself at least theoretically familiar with most of them. I read r/drugs for the sake of people watching, it's very fun haha.
The study was relatively up front about what to expect, they could have done more, but I don't think even someone relatively naive to the topic would have been blind-sided. They told us about the possibility of visuals, disorientation and nausea, and there were staff ready at hand to support. I think I got less of the lecture, because they knew I was a psychiatry resident and was familiar with the topic beyond that.
Thanks for the post, the biological explanations of the changes in consciousness were very interesting.
Was the dose extracted, or was it the same as consuming shrooms? Is LSD nearly identical in effects? And were you in a therapy session during the trip? I thought the benefits would require active counseling, but it sounds like you just did fun stuff (music, reels, etc.), didn't think much about anything meaningful (introspection into your depression), and still had an incredibly positive outcome.
COMP006 is, to the best of my knowledge, pure psilocybin. Magic mushrooms have both psilocybin and psilocin in them. This isn't a major difference, since psilocybin is quickly broken down into psilocin shortly after ingestion. I would expect that the subjective and objective differences would be nigh indistinguishable between the very specific formulation used here and normal shrooms.
I've never tried LSD, but the effects are supposedly quite similar. I don't think it's quite as nausea inducing, and while it might be more dose dependent, the amount typically used for recreational purposes is usually enough for stronger visuals. It's another promising candidate for depression, and I've seen studies with significantly positive outcomes. I haven't carefully vetted the studies, so that's more of an eyeball impression.
The therapy? I did my best to avoid it haha. I've been in therapy before, without much benefit, and this time I did the absolute bare minimum allowed. I noticed the antidepressant effect very quickly, and before any followup CBT sessions, but I waited some time before writing this so as to ensure the effects were durable.
Thanks for your kind words! I'm glad you liked the post.
For legal reasons, the only option I have in mind is healthy living and ice-cold water. That being said, I had looked into ketamine, I believe there's a grand total of one clinic in my geographical neighborhood, and it's under-staffed and over subscribed. If my depressive symptoms relapse, and psilocybin isn't an option, I might consider it. Unfortunately, that would likely require going through my GP or psych again, and people here aren't quite up to speed on ketamine, I've seen my own consultants dismiss it as an option despite patient request.
Some of the details here are badly off e.g. choosing your own music, bringing your own headphones and scrolling on your phone during dosing - were you really on a Compass phase 3 trial when you had this experience?
Er.. Yes? They offered me eye covers and there was already some music playing, but when I declined they didn't make a fuss. I had already engaged with the therapist present, and I needed something to if I was going to be there for more than 6 hours.
Congratulations for trying psilocybin and enjoying the benefits so quickly. If you ever get curios about the deeper effects with higher doses, check my website, I love to watch the transformation of scientists, atheists, skeptics and the like when they experience their most divine part that was always there hidden deep in their subconscious. www.shape-my.life
If boxing doesn’t work, maybe we’ll try this for the teenager who’s pretty depressed.
I think getting his ass beat in a safe environment will help a lot, but we’ll see.
Very nice write up.
Physical exercise is a pretty good way to handle depression, so maybe it'll work out! I'm not 100% sure about the safety profile of psilocybin in teenagers, not without looking it up at least, but my intuition would lean towards it being safe-ish. Probably not a big deal if he's towards the end of his teen years. Thank you for your kind words!
great write up, I recommend you check out the predictive coding model of psychedelics for a deeper understanding. Check out my work https://youtu.be/Iy3SaBGEvuQ?si=FYCMEgIIyXXq6ot3 or REBUS papers (pretty similar theory). I feel very aligned with your "materialistic" view and my experience is that having a clear scientific model of the ways in which psilocybin induces neural plasticity allowed me to play with "reprograming" my neural networks and somatic pattern, no spiritual element needed. "ego- dissolution" has been part of my trips and has deepened my understanding around models of "self" especially being part of a plural system https://youtu.be/LgMFnaEDTyk?si=-LebXZ6gCxU8CsmJ
One thing about nausea, there are also serotonin receptors in your gut so your stomach is also literally tripping. Ondansetron helps a lot
Thanks for the link! I'm a big fan of the predictive processing/Bayesian model of cognition in the first place, so it's no surprise that it has a relationship to psychedelics in the form of loosened priors. I'll take a look!
Were you allowed to use your own personal device during the session?
Indeed. They had no issues with me using my phone throughout, albeit recording wasn't allowed.
Interesting. For a first time user, were you adequately prepared for what you could expect during a session? I think given your psychiatry background, you would have had a good idea but did the people running the study give enough information on what one could expect. I imagine someone getting the highest dose would have had a much wilder trip.
My core psychiatry syllabus didn't have much to say about psilocybin! It's a relatively niche topic, as it's not a common drug of abuse. That being said, I've had independent interest in psychedelics for decades, and would consider myself at least theoretically familiar with most of them. I read r/drugs for the sake of people watching, it's very fun haha.
The study was relatively up front about what to expect, they could have done more, but I don't think even someone relatively naive to the topic would have been blind-sided. They told us about the possibility of visuals, disorientation and nausea, and there were staff ready at hand to support. I think I got less of the lecture, because they knew I was a psychiatry resident and was familiar with the topic beyond that.
No way, this is likely a home doser pretending to be part of a trial
Thanks for the post, the biological explanations of the changes in consciousness were very interesting.
Was the dose extracted, or was it the same as consuming shrooms? Is LSD nearly identical in effects? And were you in a therapy session during the trip? I thought the benefits would require active counseling, but it sounds like you just did fun stuff (music, reels, etc.), didn't think much about anything meaningful (introspection into your depression), and still had an incredibly positive outcome.
COMP006 is, to the best of my knowledge, pure psilocybin. Magic mushrooms have both psilocybin and psilocin in them. This isn't a major difference, since psilocybin is quickly broken down into psilocin shortly after ingestion. I would expect that the subjective and objective differences would be nigh indistinguishable between the very specific formulation used here and normal shrooms.
I've never tried LSD, but the effects are supposedly quite similar. I don't think it's quite as nausea inducing, and while it might be more dose dependent, the amount typically used for recreational purposes is usually enough for stronger visuals. It's another promising candidate for depression, and I've seen studies with significantly positive outcomes. I haven't carefully vetted the studies, so that's more of an eyeball impression.
The therapy? I did my best to avoid it haha. I've been in therapy before, without much benefit, and this time I did the absolute bare minimum allowed. I noticed the antidepressant effect very quickly, and before any followup CBT sessions, but I waited some time before writing this so as to ensure the effects were durable.
Thanks for your kind words! I'm glad you liked the post.
As a fellow psychiatry resident and psychonaut, this was very fun to read. What’s next in your journey? Ketamine? MDMA?
Good to run into a like-minded colleague here!
For legal reasons, the only option I have in mind is healthy living and ice-cold water. That being said, I had looked into ketamine, I believe there's a grand total of one clinic in my geographical neighborhood, and it's under-staffed and over subscribed. If my depressive symptoms relapse, and psilocybin isn't an option, I might consider it. Unfortunately, that would likely require going through my GP or psych again, and people here aren't quite up to speed on ketamine, I've seen my own consultants dismiss it as an option despite patient request.
Some of the details here are badly off e.g. choosing your own music, bringing your own headphones and scrolling on your phone during dosing - were you really on a Compass phase 3 trial when you had this experience?
Er.. Yes? They offered me eye covers and there was already some music playing, but when I declined they didn't make a fuss. I had already engaged with the therapist present, and I needed something to if I was going to be there for more than 6 hours.
There is zero chance of Compass letting you watch videos and scroll etc on your phone during one of their trials..
Watching MapMen during your dose?
Congratulations for trying psilocybin and enjoying the benefits so quickly. If you ever get curios about the deeper effects with higher doses, check my website, I love to watch the transformation of scientists, atheists, skeptics and the like when they experience their most divine part that was always there hidden deep in their subconscious. www.shape-my.life