[move]Several associative studies have drawn vastly different conclusions about the connections between psychedelic drugs and mental health. Today (August 19) the field gets even hazier, as researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) suggest that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), “magic” mushrooms, and peyote do not increase a person’s risk of developing mental health problems—and report that psychedelic drug use was actually linked to fewer such issues, according to their recent investigation.

In a study appearing in PLOS ONE, the Norwegian team analyzed health data on more than 130,000 people chosen at random from the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2001–2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, of which 22,000 said they had used psychedelics at least once. The researchers found no links between the self-reported use of psychedelic drugs and a range of mental health problems, including general psychological distress, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and psychosis.

“After adjusting for other risk factors, lifetime use of LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, or peyote, or past-year use of LSD, was not associated with a higher rate of mental health problems or receiving mental health treatment,” NTNU psychologist Pål-Ørjan Johansen said in a statement.

In fact, Johansen and his coauthor found that lifetime use of psilocybin—the psychedelic compound in “magic” mushrooms—or mescaline—the psychedelic agent in peyote—and past-year use of LSD were instead associated with reduced rates of serious psychological distress. They also found that lifetime use of LSD was associated with reduced rates of outpatient mental health treatment and fewer prescriptions for psychiatric drugs.

Still, the study leaves unanswered questions, and the researchers caution that psychedelic drugs were tied to fewer mental health problems does not mean they are necessarily beneficial to health. “We cannot exclude the possibility that use of psychedelics might have a negative effect on mental health for some individuals or groups, perhaps counterbalanced at a population level by a positive effect on mental health in others,” the researchers wrote in their paper.

Overall, though, the researchers note that their study helps to refute previous speculations that psychedelic drugs lead to an increase in mental health problems. In a statement, study coauthor Teri Krebs pointed out that during “the past 50 years, tens of millions of people have used psychedelics and there just is not much evidence of long-term problems.”[/move]

Never done any hallucinogens besides salvia and I guess you can classify DXM and Benadryl trips in there too. .. Salvia and Benadryl trips: never again. DXM trips are fun as hell on occasion…

Countless trips on psychedelics in my younger years….and yet gainfully employed since I was fourteen (until my injury). Well-adjusted mentally, 124 on the Stanford-Binet, and married for over 28 years. From my own experience, I would surmise if one has mental issues they are nature/nurture related. That is not to say a person could not develop problems from actions taken while on psychedelics, but the substances ingested cannot bear the full weight of those results.

[move][pre]MDA, LSD, Mesc, over 100 times in the 70’s and 80’s.
:weed-sign:
Main lined Crank over about a million times in 85………………………………….. Now that’s a rush of dopamine…..
:weed-sign:
No harm done >grinz<
:weed-sign:
…. since then gotten 2 college degrees with 3.76 GPA, Engineer, live in this cool old house, 7 grand-kids,  married over 30 years.
:weed-sign:
Not to say I’m not missing some brain cells, but hey.
:weed-sign:[/pre][/move][pre][/pre]
[move]

Make reallycool handmade pipes too ! AND THEY ARE FOR SALE OR TRADE

[/move]

1954, those are some fine buttons you are displaying there… too bad over-collection and prohibition have depleted one of our greatest natural resources in the wild. Easy to grow but you need the lifespan of near immortality to get the type of harvest that renders a tribe incapacitated for 2-3 days in a cultured setting – but graft it to a fast growing cactus and look OUT.. well no longer decades but years still. By design me-thinks from the deity of your choice so that respect is given. Or for atheists its just a slow growing mo-fo no matter how you slice it  :biggrin

:weed-sign:

I think a lot of it depends on the individual.

For me, it’s been mind-expanding.  There have been moments when I swear I could answer any question in the universe with complete comprehension, peace, and understanding "Ohhhmmmm"…followed immediately by "Squirrel!", and it’s just GONE lol It’s really kinda frustrating ‘cos there’s just so much THERE…so much that humanity so desperately needs and we’re so damn close to!  But it is so transitory in nature that we never seem to make it ‘back’ with that knowledge.  From wherever the hell "there" is…

I swear, it’s like peeking through a little crack into the mind of God himself…then he walks over, looks back at you through the peephole and says "Nuh-uh, not today champ" and plugs a finger in it.  :biggrin

Sometimes I think we’re bending the rules a bit…getting a taste of things we perhaps weren’t intended to.  Heavy concepts of "the tree of knowledge" and all that.  And then again, I think we could be on the verge of a species-altering revelation if only we could grasp this.  Something akin to the first humans to master speech, or fire maybe…something so heavy as to make everything that came before it utterly obsolete.

But I’ve seen people whose minds just fuckin’ disintegrated when exposed to this sort of thing.  Total fucking Fukushima meltdown.

No permanent damage on anyone I’ve known, but when trippin’ with a group all on the same thing you can see a very wide range of reactions, and some minds simply aren’t cut out for it.

I think that’s where a lot of animosity comes from the ‘sober’ crowd, in that they can’t even begin to comprehend what we’re on to…and it scares the hell out of them.  :getstones

:goodpost

I think a lot of it depends on the individual.

For me, it’s been mind-expanding.  There have been moments when I swear I could answer any question in the universe with complete comprehension, peace, and understanding "Ohhhmmmm"…followed immediately by "Squirrel!", and it’s just GONE lol It’s really kinda frustrating ‘cos there’s just so much THERE…so much that humanity so desperately needs and we’re so damn close to!  But it is so transitory in nature that we never seem to make it ‘back’ with that knowledge.  From wherever the hell "there" is…

I swear, it’s like peeking through a little crack into the mind of God himself…then he walks over, looks back at you through the peephole and says "Nuh-uh, not today champ" and plugs a finger in it.  :biggrin

Sometimes I think we’re bending the rules a bit…getting a taste of things we perhaps weren’t intended to.  Heavy concepts of "the tree of knowledge" and all that.  And then again, I think we could be on the verge of a species-altering revelation if only we could grasp this.  Something akin to the first humans to master speech, or fire maybe…something so heavy as to make everything that came before it utterly obsolete.

But I’ve seen people whose minds just fuckin’ disintegrated when exposed to this sort of thing.  Total fucking Fukushima meltdown.

No permanent damage on anyone I’ve known, but when trippin’ with a group all on the same thing you can see a very wide range of reactions, and some minds simply aren’t cut out for it.

I think that’s where a lot of animosity comes from the ‘sober’ crowd, in that they can’t even begin to comprehend what we’re on to…and it scares the hell out of them.  :getstones

:horns up

I believe it’s knowledge we are definitely intended to absorb if we are going to progress as a species.

I don’t have any mental issues from taking psychedelics.

And neither do I.

:nannah: