72 years after the Nakba, the psychedelic community must stand up for human rights

Israel has recently been featured in the news, heralded as a leader for its investment in psychedelic clinical trials for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Israel is the first national government to approve MDMA as part of a “Compassionate Use” program, which allows people to use clinically unproven treatments because their suffering is so severe and unresponsive to available medical interventions. The clinical trials enlist Israelis suffering from PTSD, including Israeli soldiers who have served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). …

I have struggled with OCD and anxiety for about 25 years. My OCD has shapeshifted over time, camouflaging into each phase of my life, but the themes have remained pretty consistent through the years. At this point in my life, my OCD could perhaps best be described as primarily obsessional meaning that while I have compulsions, obsessive and intrusive thought loops are the most debilitating aspects of my condition. …

By Amanda Gelender

While the impact of music on psychedelic sessions is currently an ongoing topic of research, music has been a powerful component of psychedelic journeying for centuries, rooted in indigenous, ceremonial practice with plant medicine.

In the context of psychedelic mushroom journeying outside of a shamanistic practice, musical considerations are personal as well as cultural. Not everyone responds well to the most common types of music played in retreat and clinical settings — for instance, clients grappling with the impact of white supremacy on their psyches may be less likely to resonate with classical music that harkens back…

This piece is my contribution to the #ThankYouPlantMedicine campaign to de-stigmatize and decriminalize psychedelic plant medicine. From microdosing to full dose experiences, psilocybin “magic” mushrooms have supported me tremendously me over the years. I also work intentionally with cannabis, which continues to bring me healing and positive transformation.

For context, I have struggled for many years with several mental health challenges including OCD, depression, and anxiety. I’ve been on many prescription medications over the years and am currently on an SSRI antidepressant. I’m from the Bay Area and live in the Netherlands where psilocybin is legal for purchase in the…

My relationship with medication is ever-changing. I have been on dozens of psychiatric medications in different combinations. I have also spent time in recent years completely off of medication. Currently, I’m on an anti-depressant and an anxiety medication in addition to a host of other non-pharmaceutical ways I work to maintain wellness as best I can. As I grow, my mental health needs change. Medication can be a valuable part of our mental wellness support toolkits — or not — and that is a personal choice that each person must make for themselves.

But when it comes to mental health…

I don’t know anyone who is doing “well” right now. Have we entered an era of perpetual anxiety and deep uncertainty? Is this the beginnings of what some historians are calling the rise of an authoritarian regime in the US?

Having been in power for only one week, Trump has already reinstated the Global Gag Rule, pledged to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines, banned federal agencies and scientists from publicly reporting their findings, halted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, pledged to build a wall on the Mexico border and much more.

Like many of you, my…

I identify as neurodivergent. I choose to identify this way because I consider my mental health challenges “dangerous gifts” meaning that they are both sources of extreme challenge and of tremendous power and capability. Neurodivergence is also a political identity which recognizes the ways in which systems of oppression intersect with mental health challenges.

When I think about the gifts of my atypical brain functioning, it’s easy for me to connect with the benefits of my hypomanic states. These times often come with a waterfall of energy, creativity, and cinematic euphoria. It’s harder to find the value in my depressive…