LSD also gave me recurring intrusive thoughts for about 5 years after taking it. I’m better now but I wish more people knew about the potential risks because it wasn’t worth feeling “enlightened” for a few hours while on the drug
Based on my experiences I think MDMA likely has much more therapeutic value. To me regular psychedelics merely give the illusion of profoundness rather than actual profoundness, though I’ve heard they are the best treatment for cluster headaches and I’m not against people with treatment resistant depression giving it a shot
"LSD also gave me recurring intrusive thoughts for about 5 years after taking it."
There are definitely risks, but also ways to minimize the chance of negative effects and to constructively handle them afterwards.
All too many people go in strong psychedelic sessions with little preparation, in very poor settings, without experienced people they respect and trust around, and often even without knowing the substance or the dose of what they're taking.
If there are negative effects during the trip they don't know how to handle them, and many are lost as to what to do afterwards, and don't take advantage of support offered by trained psychedelic therapists or even ordinary psychologists.
It's a formula for increasing the odds of trauma and subsequent PTSD.
If anyone is considering taking psychedelics, please, please educate yourself thoroughly on them and how to use them constructively, test them, and know with certainty the dose you are taking, and take them only with experienced people you like and trust.
James Fadiman's Psychedelics Explorers Guide*[1] is a great resource for this.
Would you mind explaining what you mean by intrusive thoughts please? What type of things and when? Specific triggers? How do you know they are LSD based?
I'm not sure how many of my thoughts are not intrusive!
Based on my experiences I think MDMA likely has much more therapeutic value. To me regular psychedelics merely give the illusion of profoundness rather than actual profoundness, though I’ve heard they are the best treatment for cluster headaches and I’m not against people with treatment resistant depression giving it a shot