Random Thoughts or Whatever

[Apreggiator]

You want to hear from people with experience with MDMA, or Ayahuasca to glimpse all the possibilities. Sadly, these people's experience is meaningless to the scientific ruling class..

If you mean that the pharma industry is slow to catch on to the (potential) benefits of these compounds, I wholeheartedly agree.
However, there actually is quite a bit of research into them.

I've added a list to the supporting scientific papers of what I'm saying in this post and have added LSD to this list because, to be frank, I find it a fascinating and scary as hell.
I have been reading heavily into these compounds for personal reasons. Apologies for the over-sharing perhaps, but it's been an important topic to me for a while now.
Disclaimer: I am by no means a pharmacologist or chemist, just an interested individual.

Compound types
One important distinction to start with: MDMA is pharmacologically quite different from LSD and ayahuasca, therefore I wouldn't lump their effects together simply as "psychedelics."

MDMA mainly changes how you feel about yourself and other people. It increases feelings of empathy, emotional openness, trust and connection, while also producing stimulation and euphoria.
LSD mainly changes how you perceive reality and how your mind processes information. It can dramatically alter perception, thoughts, sense of time and sense of self.
Ayahuasca contains DMT, which produces psychedelic effects, plus other compounds that allow DMT to become active when swallowed. It can produce intense changes in perception, emotions, thoughts and sense of self.

Pharmacologically:
MDMA is primarily an entactogen/empathogen with strong serotonergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic effects.
LSD is a classic serotonergic psychedelic.
Ayahuasca combines DMT with β-carboline MAO-A inhibitors.

Current Scientific Position
MDMA appears to be a genuinely promising therapeutic tool, particularly for PTSD, when used in a controlled therapeutic setting.
But that doesn't mean recreational MDMA is equivalent to the clinical treatment. Dose, purity, frequency, and the effect of a controlled environment (and medical supervision) are factors that lead to radically different results.
LSD very reliably produces profound changes in consciousness, but its medical benefits are still being established. There is evidence that a single psychedelic experience can produce psychological changes lasting weeks or months. But exactly why this happens, and how reliably it translates into improved mental health, is still being investigated.
Ayahuasca has genuine (and fast) antidepressant potential (with persons who did not respond to conventional antidepressants), but the evidence base is still small. So there is early evidence, particularly for depression, but nowhere near as established as the MDMA-for-PTSD evidence.

Papers
This is an interesting list of papers to read if you want to learn about what the scientific community has to say about MDMA and Ayahuasca.
No. 10 is the one to read if you just want to read one paper.

#	Compound	Paper	Why read it	Link
1	MDMA	Mitchell 2023, MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD	Best modern MDMA clinical evidence	MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial - Nature Medicine Results from the phase 3 placebo-controlled MAPP2 trial show that MDMA-assisted therapy reduces post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and functional impairment in a diverse population with moderate to severe PTSD. www.nature.com
2	MDMA	Mitchell 2021, MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD	Landmark Phase 3 PTSD trial	MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study - Nature Medicine Results from a phase 3, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial demonstrate that MDMA-assisted therapy is safe and effective in treating severe post-traumatic stress disorder. www.nature.com
3	MDMA	Halvorsen et al. 2021, Challenges with benchmarking of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy	Critical examination of methodology	Challenges with benchmarking of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy - Nature Medicine www.nature.com
4	Ayahuasca	Palhano-Fontes 2019, Rapid antidepressant effects of ayahuasca	Landmark antidepressant RCT	Rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial - PMC Recent open-label trials show that psychedelics, such as ayahuasca, hold promise as fast-onset antidepressants in treatment-resistant depression. To test the antidepressant effects of ayahuasca, we conducted a parallel-arm, double-blind randomized ... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
5	Ayahuasca	White et al. 2024, Ayahuasca and DMT adverse events and toxicity analysis	Best safety/toxicity review	Ayahuasca and Dimethyltryptamine Adverse Events and Toxicity Analysis: A Systematic Thematic Review - PMC The objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic thematic review of adverse events, safety, and toxicity of traditional ayahuasca plant preparations and its main psychoactive alkaloids (dimethyltryptamine [DMT], harmine, harmaline, and ... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
6	Ayahuasca	Uthaug et al. 2018, Sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca	Longer-term psychological effects	Sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca on affect and cognitive thinking style and their association with ego dissolution - PMC Ayahuasca is a psychotropic plant tea from South America used for religious purposes by indigenous people of the Amazon. Increasing evidence indicates that ayahuasca may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of mental health disorders and can ... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
7	LSD	Carhart-Harris 2016, Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging	Landmark brain-imaging study	https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27071089/
8	LSD	Atasoy 2017, Connectome-harmonic decomposition of human brain activity under LSD	Brain dynamics / consciousness	Connectome-harmonic decomposition of human brain activity reveals dynamical repertoire re-organization under LSD - Scientific Reports Recent studies have started to elucidate the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on the human brain but the underlying dynamics are not yet fully understood. Here we used ’connectome-harmonic decomposition’, a novel method to investigate the dynamical changes in brain states. We found... www.nature.com
9	LSD	Schmid & Liechti 2018, Long-lasting subjective effects of LSD in normal subjects	Long-lasting subjective effects	Long-lasting subjective effects of LSD in normal subjects - PMC Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and other serotonergic hallucinogens can induce profound alterations of consciousness and mystical-type experiences, with reportedly long-lasting effects on subjective well-being and personality. We investigated the ... pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
10	All	Hsu et al. 2024, Comparative oral monotherapy of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, ayahuasca and escitalopram	Comparative evidence	https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj-2023-078607
11	All	Adverse Events meta-analysis 2024, Adverse Events in Studies of Classic Psychedelics	Overall safety picture	https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2822968

 

[DesertRatt]

That's a really terrific aggregation of the science! Thank you! It probably won't happen in my lifetime, but I think it is inevitable that this category of drugs has a future in both medicine and social science.

I have often schemed silently about how I could obtain some DMT without ending up in a jail cell, but inevitably, it's beyond my risk taking limits. I read the DMT bible...I think it was called The God Molecule, a dozen years ago, and was convinced it would be on my bucket list. Kinda still is, but also out of reach.

Thanks again! You brought the goods, brother!

 

[geezin']

Been a long time but DMT was an interesting experience. Used LSD frequently through the 70s into the late '80s. Get excessive a few times.

 

[ibog1]

Q

A few years back someone had me convinced that when you thought of someone from long ago, it meant that THEY were thinking of you at that moment.

Considering that consciousness is now believed to be a real OUTSIDE the brain, and somewhere in the universe, it was plausible, and kinda made sense in a sciency way.

Quantum Entanglement?

 

[Quadman2]

A few years back someone had me convinced that when you thought of someone from long ago, it meant that THEY were thinking of you at that moment.

Considering that consciousness is now believed to be a real OUTSIDE the brain, and somewhere in the universe, it was plausible, and kinda made sense in a sciency way.

Random thought...'We humans are so lacking in our senses, even compared to other life forms on this planet'.

Just read that a lot of astrophysicists are pulling out their hair/freaking out due to some of the data coming back from "Voyager" indicating that there are various "forces" in outer space that till now, there was only thought to be a vacuum-like situation with really no outside influences. And this means a whole new way of looking a the Universe and how it works.

When it comes to experiencing our existence, we are still on the "bottom floor".

Q

 

[DesertRatt]

Probably ironic that SCIENCE itself walled-off it's own reach by declaring it only operates in the MATERIAL realm.

 

[old_tv_nut]

Probably ironic that SCIENCE itself walled-off it's own reach by declaring it only operates in the MATERIAL realm.

Science doesn't wall off things, it just says "show me."

 

[DesertRatt]

Science doesn't wall off things, it just says "show me."

Emphasis on "show".

 

[Mystic]

 

[usedto]

I wonder how many "lost" dogs left for a reason.

 

[DesertRatt]

I wonder how many "lost" dogs left for a reason.

I shudder at the thought of how some dogs are treated. Arghhh!

 

[geezin']

Abuse is one thing. Neglect is even more insidious.

 

[spicer]

Abuse is one thing. Neglect is even more insidious.

Kind of one and the same.

 

[highvoltage_]

Kind of one and the same.

I agree, neglect is abuse.

 

[geezin']

OK I was wrong. Happy? Jeebus...

 

[spicer]

OK I was wrong. Happy? Jeebus...

I wouldn't say wrong. The word insidious introduces a factor not often used for abuse, abuse is quite obvious but neglect can go unnoticed till a crisis develops. Neglect can indeed be worse than straight out abuse. Both are abusive.

 

[SolderIron]

35K views · 334 reactions | The vintage receiver most Americans actually owned is the Pioneer SX-780, not one of the monsters, and one of those monsters runs on output parts nobody makes anymore. Thirteen classic receivers, each with what it is worth

The vintage receiver most Americans actually owned is the Pioneer SX-780, not one of the monsters, and one of those monsters runs on output parts nobody makes anymore. Thirteen classic receivers,...

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Memory lane?

 

[Bill Ferris]

Ok folks, FWIW, I`m at a genuinely curious loss here..
Can somebody explain/define/describe what the sonic perception is of what " tube bloom" is, as conveyed on some vacuum tube equipment`s amplifications effect on the sound presentation, as I came across that sonic descriptive term in a tube preamp thread this morning !
Desirable/undesirable ?
I can`t for all my many decades of servicing, & listening to all manner of vacuum tube based audio amplification, understand what "tube bloom" is, however tube rectification in tube amplifiers power/voltage drop under high dynamic digital music played at realistic SPLs compression effects, that I understand, & am sensitive to, but "tube bloom", what the hell is that, is it another sonic descriptive phrase for "warmth" as applied to "some vacuum tube amplification equipment`s effect" on the sonic presentation.

Maybe I missed not reading any HiFi magazines, or decades later online, since 1974~75, and "tube bloom" became a sonic descriptive catch word since !
Mercy Sakes Alive, please pardon my ignorance !

 

[spicer]

Ok folks, FWIW, I`m at a genuinely curious loss here..
Can somebody explain/define/describe what the sonic perception is of what " tube bloom" is, as conveyed on some vacuum tube equipment`s amplifications effect on the sound presentation, as I came across that sonic descriptive term in a tube preamp thread this morning !
Desirable/undesirable ?
I can`t for all my many decades of servicing, & listening to all manner of vacuum tube based audio amplification, understand what "tube bloom" is, however tube rectification in tube amplifiers power/voltage drop under high dynamic digital music played at realistic SPLs compression effects, that I understand, & am sensitive to, but "tube bloom", what the hell is that, is it another sonic descriptive phrase for "warmth" as applied to "some vacuum tube amplification equipment`s effect" on the sonic presentation.

Maybe I missed not reading any HiFi magazines, or decades later online, since 1974~75, and "tube bloom" became a sonic descriptive catch word since !
Mercy Sakes Alive, please pardon my ignorance !

Have you ever had the pleasure of putting your face up to a beautiful delicate flower in full bloom delighting every sense of the moment. It a moment much more than the mere sum of its parts, it's an experience so personal it requires analogy. Bloom. Everybody knows the fullness of the word. It's hi fi, ya know.

 

[Bill Ferris]

Have you ever had the pleasure of putting your face up to a beautiful delicate flower in full bloom delighting every sense of the moment. It a moment much more than the mere sum of its parts, it's an experience so personal it requires analogy. Bloom. Everybody knows the fullness of the word. It's hi fi, ya know.

I tend to think of & define that/those experience(s) as "immersive", you know, like for example, when a audio systems speakers sonic presence totally disappear.

Thanks for attempting to help clarify/define, spicer, Sir.