Do you see the world as a prison or a playground?
If you answered prison, I have a book for you to check out. Michael Pollan just explored the history and the science and the experience of using certain chemicals found in mushrooms and ergot to reset your brain. Go read it. I’ll wait. It’s called How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.
Done? I’m excited to discuss it with you because it feels like it might be life-changing. Some people, after ingesting these compounds under the care of a trained therapist, cure their depression and anxiety. They start seeing the world as a playground.
The science of the ego
First, the science, because science is friend.
Our brains are made up of complicated systems that are constantly gathering information from the environment. The “default mode network” in the brain is the main boss, the central processing center filtering that information, and the part that lights up when you’re creating the stories you use to make sense of the world. It’s the piece that thinks about things like the future, the past, yourself, other people, that dog.
The default mode network is the ego. It’s you.
Most of us take this self as an unshakable given, as real as anything we know, and as the foundation of our life as conscious human beings.
The ego is an important tool in our arsenal. It allows us to create ourselves. Sure. But there’s more to our brains, more to consciousness, more to our selves, more to existence, than our stupid ego.
Because while our ego can be a helpful tool, it can also be an unhelpful hindrance.
This part of the brain can get stuck, mired in patterns of the past. The more you think a thought, the more ingrained it becomes. The neural pathways become well-worn and harder to deviate from.
When the grooves of self-reflective thinking deepen and harden, the ego becomes overbearing. This is perhaps most clearly evident in depression, when the ego turns on itself and uncontrollable introspection gradually shades out reality.
Yup. My depression manifests as me being too deep into my head, too concerned with my despair and less present in the usually-pleasant-enough moment. Life is stupid and pointless.
The experience of quieting the ego
But taking these compounds and then discussing the experience with a trained therapist can be life-changing for some people. After their sessions, “people feel they have been let in on a deep secret of the universe, and they cannot be shaken from that conviction.”
Mushroom found in Alaska. Not the same mushroom I’m talking about in this post.
These chemicals quiet the default mode network, allowing other areas of the brain to explain. New neural networks form. You experience the world differently.
At least for a few hours, you get the chance to tell yourself new stories.
Temporarily freed from the tyranny of the ego, with its maddeningly reflexive reactions and its pinched conception of one’s self-interest, we get to experience an extreme version of Keat’s “negative capability” — the ability to exist amid doubts and mysteries without reflexively reaching for certainty.
With the help of a therapist and effort and grit, maybe those new helpful and objective stories stay with you. Tranquility ensues. Depression recedes.
The key ingredients to a meaningful change in mindset and avoiding a “bad trip” seems to be the set and setting. You must go in with the right set of instructions. If you find something scary, walk toward it and ask it what it can teach you. Let go and float.
The right setting includes a trained therapist watching over you when you’re in this vulnerable state so you can feel safe enough to let go and, when you’re out of this state, helping you unpack the experience, to help you sustain the different and new neural networks.
Hippy dippy
The ego, the self, is just a construct we use for survival. It’s not everything. Where do “you” end and where does everything else start?
What if there is no other? With these compounds, you can be objective because there is no subject, no ego.
To cultivate this mode of consciousness, with its exceptional degree of selflessness (literally!), requires us to transcend our subjectivity or–it comes to the same thing–widen its circle so far that it takes in, besides ourselves, other people and, beyond that, all of nature.
You start to understand the Gaia view of the world, the idea that we are all one single living organism. The earth, the plants, me, you, that dog are all connected. When we temporarily disable the ego, the construct of ourselves as separate dissolves and we can feel that oneness more acutely.
This dog is the most interesting dog in the world. She also wins the award for highest pitch bark.
I know. It sounds rather hippy dippy. It’s certainly ineffable. But it’s that ineffable quality that thrills me.
The sense of a cold and arbitrary universe governed purely by chance is banished. Especially in the absence of faith, these medicines, in the right hands, may offer powerful antidotes for the existential terrors that afflict not only the dying. To believe that life has any meaning at all is of course a large presumption, requiring in some a leap of faith, but surely it is a helpful one, and never more so than at the approach of death.
I want this antidote.
Other cures
When you get a chance to tell yourself a new story, when you see everything a bit more objectively, wondrous things can happen. People report they stopped smoking and drinking after these sessions, banishing their addictions. People with fatal illnesses report feeling less fear about their looming death. These sessions can even help healthy people feel more connected and open to the world.
I’m sold. I want to be let in on this deep secret of the universe. I want to reset my brain and form new neural pathways that aren’t as self-obsessed and negative. This state of tranquility exists inside me. I know it does because I stumble across it occasionally. And because it exists inside everything.
Science ceded to the culture wars here
Unfortunately, the compounds in these mushrooms and ergot — LSD and psilocybin — are Schedule I substances in the United States and very much illegal. We banned these compounds more because of politics and less because of science or thought.
But we’re funding more studies, so maybe the tide is turning. I don’t know.
Some experienced meditators can experience this oneness and sense of tranquility regularly, so maybe, in the meantime, the answer is to try cultivating a meditation habit. Someone in this book suggested that dancing for an hour a day would cure most mental illness. That sounds like an interesting project to try. Learn to dance is a life bucket list item.
Hey Anita-
I’ve also been casually following the re-emergence of these substances in medical settings – both the New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/trip-treatment) and the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/15/magazine/health-issue-my-adventures-with-hallucinogenic-drugs-medicine.html) have discussed it. I don’t know if I’d ever have the gumption to try myself.
As for legality, there are some places in the world where it is legal. FIRECraker and Wanderer over at Millennial Revolution discussed their experience with psychedelics in the Netherlands: https://www.millennial-revolution.com/freedom/travel-series/rotterdamandshrooms/ .
Thanks for the post!
-Sam
Yes! I read those articles and that’s why I borrowed this book from a friend. I needed to learn more.
Excellent article from Millenial Revolution. Thanks for sharing!
Hello!
Interestingly enough I just listened to a podcast which featured the author Michael Pollack; The Science of Happiness, first published on 12th July 2018.
I’m sure you won’t get too much more from the interview than the book but it’s interesting (I’m yet to read the book).
It’s a good podcast too!
The author has been on so many podcasts recently, apparently!
Disconnecting from the ego and living with uncertainty is a central theme in buddist teachings. Try the books written by Pema Chodron. I find her to be very accessible in the way she explains these concepts.
Thanks for the book recommendation. 🙂
I second the Buddhism comment – there is enough wisdom there to keep us all engaged for several life times 🙂
You may be interested in a Podcast that Tim Ferriss did with Michael Pollan
https://tim.blog/2018/05/06/michael-pollan-how-to-change-your-mind/
So many people have recommended that podcast to me. 🙂
And the author does talk about Buddhism a bit in the book. I dig it. Here’s a quote from the book:
“These journeys have shown me what the Buddhists try to tell us but I have never really understood: that there is much more to consciousness than the ego, as we would see if it would just shut up. And that its dissolution (or transcendence) is nothing to fear; in fact, it is a prerequisite for making any spiritual progress.”
Love that quote – thanks 🙂
Thriftygal, do you listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast PowerfulJRE on YouTube? He often talks about the benefits of psychodelics and invites experts to speak about this topic.
I try listening to podcasts every once in a while, but I never make it past the first few minutes. :'(
I also highly recommend Buddhist Insight (mindfulness/awareness) Meditation as a path to disconnecting from the ego and learning to touch your inner state of tranquility. Someone close to me pulled himself out of depression using the work of Tara Brach and her book Radical Acceptance (everyone’s different, so some people may need other resources and outside support, but for me watching his transformation it was amazing to see what’s possible). Buddhism is amazing in how clearly it sees the human condition and experience.
Thanks for the book recommendation! I also just picked up the book “Why Can’t I Meditate” yesterday and am excited about my next attempt.
Since you enjoy science (who doesn’t!?!), I’d recommend Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32895535-why-buddhism-is-true). I read it a few months ago and I will read it again soon. There’s a lot to digest but the idea of the selflessness and emptiness are big topics in the research. My best meditation streak was 120 days but then went into a funk 🙁 I’m back now at 50+ days with a daily session. I hope to attend a silent meditation retreat soon.
Happy Reading 🙂
Thanks for the book recommendation! Streaks are so much motivating things, aren’t they? 🙂
Until the drugs are legal a 10 day Vanapasa retreat might do the trick. Read about one woman’s experience here https://medium.com/s/story/what-really-went-down-at-a-10-day-silent-vipassasna-meditation-retreat-taught-by-s-n-goenka-7c3ad60d027e
Oh I didn’t even see this comment until after I posted my suggestion about Vipassana. Great minds!
Truly excellent article. Thank you for sharing and definitely something interesting to try!
It is so frustrating when decisions are made for political reasons rather than scientific ones! Fascinating book review.
On the topic of learning to dance. I currently have a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. One of the items on my list is learn to rumba. When I added this item, I figured my spouse and I could take dance lessons. Then, through the wonder of the internet, I realized that we could teach ourselves the dance. Free and fun! And apparently good for one’s mental health.
Oh my! I love the 101 things to do in 1001 days. Can I ask what’s on your list? What a fun list to make!
The list idea came from The Day Zero Project (the website now appears commercialized in a weird way). But it was all the rage about 10 years ago. I revive it whenever I feel in need of some life direction / motivation. My list is broken into categories and here are some of the kinds of things that I’m working on: financial (spending, saving, net worth types of goals, charitable donation targets); relationship building (dates with my spouse, ways to celebrate milestones, learning to rumba); travel/experiences (visit one new continent, US state, and country, ); health / fitness (practice yoga for 30 consecutive days, see a dr for an annual check up, run a half marathon in less than 2 hrs, journal regularly); and leveling up my day job (write blogs for the firm’s website, take certain continuing education, write articles, and production targets).
I won’t complete everything, but I usually make some progress in each area.
Thanks for the thorough reply! Love it.
Hi,
Have you ever tried attending a 10 day Vipassana retreat? They are free and and all over the world, including multiple states in the US. It’s the meditation technique that Siddharta used before becoming Buddha. A lot of folks report tackling depression effectively after completing the meditation retreat.
This is definitely on my list of things I want to try! Thanks for confirming the suggestion. 🙂
If you find something scary, walk toward it and ask it what it can teach you. Let go and float.
I like that phrase. I find that as scary as it can be that’s where the magic happens.
I think this is why the setting with a trained therapist matters. You have to be comfortable and feel safe enough to let go and not at a party with a bunch of people who are also intoxicated. 🙂
Yay drugs. I have the book, I haven’t read it yet, but I have done the drugs on a few occasions. Leading to both good and “bad” trips but always ending in some kind of learning experience.
Warning if you do drugs you will change. (maybe just into more of a hippy)
Heres some advice.
Don’t mix other drugs with psychedelics. Even your prescription meds, I would detox from before taking shrooms or lsd. It might sound like a good time to take a tab of acid, drink moonshine, and smoke a blunt in the woods of Arkansas but it ends up quite frightening.
Its more fun to take drugs in a group, but have at least one person that is less messed up to be the guardian. Sometimes on the heavy waves its good to have a peaceful voice to break up the chaos in your brain and bring you back to normal. Although my favorite mushroom trip was in my bedroom in the dark, your brain makes enough entertainment you won’t need outside stimulus. Unless you are into the dark side of the moon by Pink Floyd, the album cover and lyrics will make so much more sense after. If you trust a therapist I guess they can be your guardian, but mind you, drugs last like 8-12 hours, i’d rather be around a trusted friend for that long.
Don’t give a baby a high 5 on drugs lol.
Also if your brain is like mine, it will go into hyper-speed and you will think of things in ways you never have before.
I’d do a lot of research beforehand, erowid is a good resource.
If you really want to shut off the voice in your head I was able to do it with DMT. The voice stopped for 3 days and I just went through the motions of everyday life, like working and chores. I thought i borked my brain though, the entire time I had a feeling something was wrong but I was unable to reason what it was since the voice was gone. It was kind of a fake enlightenment because its probably more powerful to have the ability to control the voice instead of just muting it.
One funny thing about psychedelics is that they tend to find you only when you are ready. So good luck in your journey.
I’m reading The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, its all about the ego, you might like it.
I’ve also heard good things about ketamine. Lots to research.
Hmm I passed on ketamine the only time i was offered it, never put anything up my nose. But I have heard comedian Neal Brennan talk about how ketamine and therapy helped with his crippling depression.
I also heard MDMA is being used to treat soldiers and people with PTSD.
My favorite drug is still weed. You can smoke it and eat it and trip both ways, but if you aren’t careful the paranoia can give you a bad time. Its probably easier to eat it and trip because the high is alot stronger and intense. You can combine edibles and yoga to ramp up the experiences.
You can also trip in an isolation tank, ive never tried that but ive read of people using them in combination with both k and edibles and having success.
Let us know what you find.