By Catherine Elton — 2019
The world’s leading advocate for the medicinal use of psychedelics on the ghost of Timothy Leary, why Ecstasy could cure PTSD, and the best place to trip in Boston.
Read on www.bostonmagazine.com
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Demand from patients seeking help for their mental illnesses has led to underground use in a way that parallels black markets in the AIDS pandemic. This underground use has been most perilous for people of color, who face greater stigma and legal risks due to the War on Drugs.
A recent study found that even a single positive psychedelic experience may ease mental health symptoms associated with racial trauma experienced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
Amazonian healing traditions collide with Western medical sensibilities.
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Traumatic experiences don’t always have to result in long-term negative consequences. Research proves that exponential growth can actually result from traumatic events instead.
The iconic scene when George C. Scott slaps the soldier with PTSD in Patton and calls him a “yellow-bellied coward” mirrors the historic and continued ambivalence of the military toward the psychological wounds of war.
Look more closely and you’ll see.
People of color are dealing with racism all the time, in large and small ways, and even dealing with racism in healthcare, even dealing with racism in therapy.
Most genetic studies completely ignore the science of epigenetics, which is how the environment actually turns certain genes on or off.
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There is an emerging push within the scientific community to study these known recreational drugs as treatments for psychiatric conditions that could potentially be more effective with fewer side effects than traditional psychiatric medications.