Get High When Your Down

[Praxis]

This may seem like a stupid question, but with drugs, namely psychedelics, whose main effects include feelings of well being, euporia, bliss, etc... dose the rule of not taking them when SWIM feels less than ok, still apply?

On a related issue, would taking MDMA be a bad idea when SWIM feels like shit?

[Praxis]

This question is mainly aimed at people with seasonal depression and the like....

Reputation Comments on this post:

good question. Wish I knew tho...

[iamanass420]

It all depends on the reason that SWIY is taking the drugs. Is SWIY is usuing to mask problems and numb out, it is never good and is usually an early start of an addiction. That being said, SWIM has taken substances just for those reasons and has found the results to be less than desireable as many psychedelics tend to reflect the mood that you were in before ingestion.

MDMA on the other hand can make all of your problems go away for the time that the drug is active in your lab rat's system, but tends to make things worse during the comedown and for a few days after.

Hope this helps

[Trebor]

Swim was asked by a friend of his about a pyschedelic he could use to escape from his problems, he thought LSD would be suitable but Swim managed to talk him out of it. Pyschedelics should not be used to escape probloms, it is an insult to the drug and to the brain.

[Nicaine]

Some drugs are good for the down times, some aren't. SWIM recommends strenuous avoidance of alcohol when a person's down, but cocaine can be pretty cheery stuff. So is kratom, and (in moderation) opiates. Benzos are iffy... they can increase depression, but improve anxiety.

There's probably a higher risk of addiction when using a substance to feel better, but still... SWIM thinks this is a more-than-legitimate use of chemical substances. Nothing wrong with using just for pleasure, but using to improve one's mood is a solidly valid reason... doctors prescribe antidepressants for just this purpose. Just try not to go too far and use constantly as a crutch for not facing emotions... that's asking for addiction (SWIM should know better ).

[Money]

Originally Posted by Nicaine

Some drugs are good for the down times, some aren't. SWIM recommends strenuous avoidance of alcohol when a person's down, but cocaine can be pretty cheery stuff. So is kratom, and (in moderation) opiates. Benzos are iffy... they can increase depression, but improve anxiety.

There's probably a higher risk of addiction when using a substance to feel better, but still... SWIM thinks this is a more-than-legitimate use of chemical substances. Nothing wrong with using just for pleasure, but using to improve one's mood is a solidly valid reason... doctors prescribe antidepressants for just this purpose. Just try not to go too far and use constantly as a crutch for not facing emotions... that's asking for addiction (SWIM should know better ).

I personally do not reccomend coke to cheer up because the crash down is hell. Valium and xanex are the best to just put you atleast back in a nuetral state of mind depending on how much you take.

[Nagognog2]

Depression is often associated with unresolved material from the subconscious that is attempting to break through to the conscious mind of a person. Often times this breakthrough comes in the form of a dream - which are painted in archaic symbolism. Once the message from down below has entered the dreamscape, the feeling of depression will vanish. Often the person isn't even aware of the dream and it's symbolic meaning. It will just pass on it's message and be forgotten. Happens all the time without awareness of the event.

Anything that can block this will lead to depression. Depression being a hard knocking at one's door to allow the transfer of information to occur without restraint. One drug that is infamous for interfering with normal sleep/dream patterns is alcohol. I know one person who came to me for help with what was a growing depression. I asked him about his drug usage, and he told me he had been drinking more than usual. I asked him why and he told me the alcohol was helping with his depressive state of mind. I almost laughed out loud! It certainly was helping his depressive state, but it wasn't doing him any good at all. I told him to quit the drinking for at least a week and try to remember his dreams. After some complaining about withdrawl symptoms and my explaining he was a big boy and could ride the tiger for awhile, he did. His depression lifted three days later after he had a powerful series of dreams.

He still drinks, but never when he's feeling depressed.

[Forthesevenlakes]

Interesting point, Nagog. Being a bit versed in Jungian analysis I always am telling SWIMmers to pay attention to dream content and possible messages. Oftentimes their dreams have a lot to say.

Keep in mind, to all those depressed, that the most common chemical tools that relieve one's depression also decrease REM sleep, which is the part of one's sleep where dreams occur. Less of a chance of dreaming equates with less chance to catch the message. So, while certain drugs (cocaine and opiates come to mind, sometimes alcohol and marijuana) can be fun even while depressed, keep in mind that if you continually self-medicate, your SWIY might not learn anything from the experience, or possibly even be stuck in a rebound depression every time the drugs wear off.

[AntiAimer]

For Smurf, seems Marijuana can always cure a depressed\down state. But other drugs such as Mushrooms dont go together when someones down, at all. Alcohol for Smurf also helps but, not like Marijuana does. Alcohol, just makes smurf drunk and not even care what happen\has happen. While Marijuana can make one forget and be happy and even make Smurf solve and think about the problem. While not makeing things worse, but in any case everyones different. If your down and depressed, drugs should be the last thing on your mind.

[Money]

Originally Posted by AntiAimer

For Smurf, seems Marijuana can always cure a depressed\down state. But other drugs such as Mushrooms dont go together when someones down, at all. Alcohol for Smurf also helps but, not like Marijuana does. Alcohol, just makes smurf drunk and not even care what happen\has happen. While Marijuana can make one forget and be happy and even make Smurf solve and think about the problem. While not makeing things worse, but in any case everyones different. If your down and depressed, drugs should be the last thing on your mind.

dont agree with your last statement. If you take a mature calculated aproach to using a drug for depression you will be fine. If you just go on a drug binge then you will have problems. Being deppressed is way harder on your body then a small amount of any drug. I usually take a valium or two if im feeling down. Valium also makes me dream my ass off when i sleep.

[psyche]

GHB would propably be good for depression with its ability to produce natural sleep(sleep patterns aren't disturbed). In addition, ofcourse, it alleviates depression effectively. But it's especially easy to slip to the pattern of abuse in the case of depression.

[Pinkavvy]

Psychodelics when once is feeling down is usually not a good idea as the reasons you are down will stew and ferment in your mind while triping on many psychodelics.

However there is a lot of evidence that points to low doses of MDA and/or MDMA (5-20mg per day of mdma) combined with 5-htp and plenty of water can make for a great anti-depresant and combined with theropy can help one overcome many of the issues that cause their depression.

[psyche]

As I've been reading posts regarding depression and psychedelics, it seems no one recommends ayahuasca as a healing psychedelic. As far as SWIM's personal experience is concerned, it makes you go trough a lot of things about your life and has only positive afterglow. I'm sure this is what most of you swimmers get too. SWIM's never tried it especially depressed, though.

Also the only research I've bumbed into about it is (the famous) Grob's study. It suggests that long-term ayahuasca users have significantly improved attention-span measured by some tests and also have more serotonin receptors. But this study was, to my understanding, conducted on long-term UDV members so there might be many more factors involved than just the yage. What's your opinion about this?