 What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, my channel is all about mental health, addiction, recovery, and all of that. So if you're into that stuff, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And yes, as you saw from the title, Vice wants you to do psychedelics so, so bad. Like, you would think that they have like a mushroom farm somewhere and they're just like, yes, we need people to buy this up. But that's not the case. I'm going to dive into one of the recent articles they did on it, share a little bit about, you know, my experience, my thoughts, the research I've done and all that. But before we jump into that, those of you who don't know, I have a second channel where I do more of like, kind of commentary where we try to see what we can learn from things going on in the YouTube community and pop culture and see what we can do in our own lives. So if you want to check that out, that'll be linked up in the info card and it's always linked in the end screen at the end of all my videos. All right, so let's get started. So yeah, like I said, like, it, it's astonishing. Like, Vice has so many articles about doing psychedelics, right, for mental health reasons. And some of you have seen like I've done some other videos breaking down some of like the many documentaries I've done about like drug addiction and you know, all these other things. So we're going to be talking about one of their articles specifically when it comes to psychedelics and mental health, anxiety, depression, trauma and all that stuff. Now, before we get started, I want to make it very clear. I want to make it very clear. Listen to me. Listen to me right now. Okay, I'm going to be playing a little bit of devil's advocate, but where I stand, I'm a recovering drug addict, seven and a half years clean. But where I stand, yes, I do think psychedelics should be used for mental health purposes. Okay, I am 100% for that. I do think psychedelics should be legalized and administered by mental health professionals and doctors. Okay, but like I said, I'm going to play a little bit of devil's advocate. All right, I just don't want you guys freaking out in the comments. Okay, so anyways, this article is titled therapists are unprepared to talk to people about taking psychedelics. Okay, so the story is about a man named Michael and he was in therapy for a long time. And he wasn't making any progress with anxiety or depression. What they call that is, you know, being treatment resistant. Okay. And those of you who don't know, by the way, I'm not a licensed therapist or a psychologist. I'm just a nerd about this stuff. And I'm always trying to improve my mental health and trying to help others. So I do a bunch of research or read a lot of stuff about this. All right. So anyways, it goes on to say that he read Michael Poland's 2018 book, how to change your mind, what the new science of psychedelics teaches us about consciousness dying, addiction, depression and transcendence. And then it says the guy excitedly turned to his therapist for advice. What did she think about him trying psychedelics? So I think I've heard of this book, but I'm actually going to get a copy of it. I might read it next, because I've read other books about psychedelics and how helpful they can be, like not specifically about psychedelics, but they had chapters or sections on it. One of it was Waking Up by Sam Harris, which I just read again for the second time about around last week. I'm going to talk a little bit about what that book says in a minute. But another great book is Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright. Excellent book. So those of you who don't know, like I'm really into mindfulness, meditation and all that, I'm not trying to like transcend or find enlightenment, but there are a lot of mental health benefits that have been scientifically proven that you receive from a regular meditation practice. But anyways, I might check out this book that is like diving deeper into psychedelics. Okay, so it says, and she told me, look, I'm starting to hear a lot about the subject myself. But that is not something that I would be able to work with you on because of the sensitivities around legal issues. And it said he felt even more loss. He knew that recreational use of psychedelics was illegal in New York where he lived. But there were places in the world he can go to where they weren't. He hadn't wanted his therapist to give him drugs, just answer his questions. So listen, again, I am for psychedelics for mental health purposes. But devil's advocate a little bit. Like I don't like, I don't like how this entire article was framed. All right, how therapists are not equipped, right, to help people like learn about psychedelics and everything like that. Like, from a legal standpoint, not a scientific standpoint, but from a legal standpoint, okay, a therapist cannot encourage somebody to use illegal substances. Okay, like if they got reported, they would get in trouble. Okay, they would get a lot of trouble, like, and potentially even lose their license. From a legal standpoint, not a scientific standpoint, that would be like somebody coming in and saying like, Hey, I heard, you know, abusing prescription opioids can help you with mental health issues, right? And like, if a therapist will you know, like just from a legal aspect, which I completely disagree with, they say, you know, these are these are the same substances, they're both illegal, right? That's one of the reasons why I hope, you know, soon we decriminalize marijuana, like right now, like you get caught with marijuana, you might as well be getting caught with like meth or cocaine. Okay, but since it is illegal, that is a really good reason why therapists aren't trained in this. Okay, so this next section right here says meanwhile, FDA approval of MDMA for post traumatic stress disorder PTSD could arrive by 2021. In 2018, psilocybin got breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA and the clinical trials for psilocybin depression treatment are in phase two of three. As we stand on the precipice of psychedelic treatments, there's now a growing recognition that the therapist part has been neglected. There are not many clinicians who are able to guide people not only during the trip, but before and after. Okay, so in a bright, beautiful new future, like, hopefully it gets legalized and then mental health professionals are trained in this. This is typically how it works. Like, for example, schools who train therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, they're not going to dedicate time in the curriculum to training people on a substance that isn't even legal yet. You know what I mean? Like they might, they might talk about it, they might say, hey, this might get approved later on, you know, somebody might do a research paper on it. Cool, very cool stuff. But there is also something called CEUs, right? Continuing education units. So a lot of people in order to maintain their license, they have to get CEUs, this ongoing training. So if it does become legalized, I feel that any therapist or mental health professional who is interested in that aspect of mental health treatment will go get those CEUs, right? So when it says there are not many clinicians who are able to guide people not only during the trip, but before and after. So I'm going to defer a little bit of this over to another channel on YouTube called Sight Substance. Okay, like YouTube was cracking down hard for a while on channels that promoted illegal substance abuse. But I think he's been in the clear for a while. But anyways, Sight Substance, his whole channel is about like, safely using psychedelics. And you know, he knows a lot, a lot of the subject, science and research and everything like that. But he does talk about bad trips. So anyways, it would like, when they do this, when this eventually hopefully becomes legal, they're going to have to regulate, you know, the dosages, right? It's almost like a prescription benzodiazepine, like Xanax or value, or even prescription opioids, like you don't just say here, take as much as you want, right? Like I've heard of micro dosing, psychedelics and things like that. But anyways, when they talk about the guidance part, so going back to Sam Harris's book Waking Up, he relates, he relates it to like being strapped to a missile without a guidance system, right? Like, there's a chance that you might end up at your destination, but there's also a chance that you might end up somewhere that you should not be, right? Like, and that is one of the reasons why I'm kind of on the fence about psychedelics, because there's certain ways that you can prepare for your trip that, you know, I've heard people talk about, but there is always a chance that you will just go into this awful place. So the last thing I kind of want to talk about is this. So I'm a recovering addict. No matter if it becomes legalized or whatever, like I might do a video on ketamine for depression, I put a poll up on my Instagram the other day, but whether or not it becomes legalized ketamine treatment for depression has been legalized. And by the way, if any of you have tried it, let me know down in the comments. But as a recovering addict, I'm just not going to mess with it. So Sam Harris is also a neuroscientist and he goes into how psilocybin actually works in the brain. Okay. Like, most drugs create these kind of chemical reactions in the brain. Meanwhile, the way psilocybin and some of these psychedelics work is that they activate different parts of your brain that are already there. These parts of your brain and these neurotransmitters are already there. Okay. So it's, it's getting you to this place of openness that you're not normally accessing. But, but here's the thing, like something Sam Harris discusses, based on the research, is that longtime meditators are also able to get that same effect. Okay. So for somebody like me who struggles with anxiety and depression or whatever, like, I'm not going to risk it with these substances. And like, I'm just gonna keep on meditating. You know what I mean? Like although psychedelics are non addictive, I'm the type of drug addict where I get a little bit of something and I will, I will just go back to my original substances of choice. Like I've tried it like marijuana is not nearly as addictive, right as other substances. But part of my story is I smoke some weed and I'll go back to opioids. Like that's just how I roll. But anyways, I do hope to see that this this becomes legalized and they start doing more testing and everything like that. I think it can be very beneficial. The reason why I've heard it so beneficial is because for the most part, it gives people like this sense of hope and relief like by using these substances. And by the way, I'm not encouraging it like wait for it to be legalized. Okay. But but from what I've heard, like with the with the trial, the clinical trials and everything like that and the tests they've done is that it shows people what is possible, right? This this sense of connectedness, the sense of, you know, relief, the sense that things can be all right. In that book, Why Buddhism is True, they discuss how, you know, one of the safest ways to do this one of the best ways to do this is like to do it once and then continue therapy to see how that keeps going. That's kind of my opinion on my things like ayahuasca. I've known a lot of people who have tried ayahuasca to get clean. 100% of the people I personally know who did ayahuasca relapsed. Okay. And in my opinion, it's because they they got that they got that relief, they saw what was possible, but then they thought it was this one time cure. And that's not how anything with our mental health works. Alright. But I would love to know your thoughts about psychedelics being legalized and you know, if you struggle with anxiety and depression treatment or you know, even if you have PTSD, like what are your thoughts about like psychedelics or even ketamine and things like that. So anyways, as you all know, I read a comment from the last video and then I try to get you to leave a comment on this video to answer in the next video. So the last video I was talking about my first experience with cocaine and how I became addicted to cocaine and somebody, I really like this comment and I might do a whole video on it, but Marine said really enjoy this video just wanted to ask your opinion on CBD oil. Have you taken it? I know people say it's good for depression and anxiety. So I was just wondering your stance on it. Alright, so I love I love CBD oil. I've never taken it. I don't plan on taking it. Alright, but I've heard of the benefits. Right now, even though hemp is legalized, CBD oil is pretty much legalized. You can get it just about anywhere. The FDA still won't allow anybody to say that it has medicinal purposes. Like it is currently still illegal to make that claim. Okay, so there's been a ton of research around it and there's a ton of like personal anecdotes that people have about, you know, it helped me or it helped a friend or whatever whether or not that is a placebo effect. I don't know, but yeah, like when it comes to CBD oil, I haven't really heard people having a bad reaction to it and my stance on stuff like that, like if unless I hear of like this massive amount of people having a bad reaction, my stance is give it a try. What's it going to hurt? If you're depressed or anxious already, might as well give it a try like you're already down here. The only way to go is up. So give it a try. Alright, so thank you for that comment, Maureen. I might make a whole video on that and my why I'm not trying it. Alright, but anyways, leave a comment down below your thoughts about psychedelics and everything like that. Okay, thanks so so much for watching. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell and a huge thank you to everybody who supports the channel over on Patreon as well as everybody who supports the channel by buying my mental health books at the rewiredsoul.com and the rewiredsoul merch from the merch store. You are all amazing. Alright, thanks again for watching. I'll see you next time.