SSRIs vs Psychedelics - not even close

 "But experts have warned that using them recreationally risks doing more harm than good."

What the...? Where did the author conjure this up from the data? Did they read the study they used for this article? I did. The study states that 78.6% of participants were glad to take psychedelics, 91.1% had only at most a day of discomfort, and only 2.6% of participants sought any assistance for their 'impaired' experience where the vast majority of symptoms of this 'impairment' were feeling anxious or some disassociation.

And this study was meant to highlight the adverse effects of these psychedelics. And if 15.7% of participants have a negative mindset before the study, then of course, you will get some people who have negative experiences.

This is what is so infuriating about the war on drugs. Right now as I speak, 7% of all Aussies are suffering withdrawal symptoms from SSRIs and the like... from a pool of 17% of Australian women, and 10% of men being prescribed SSRIs like candies. 10% of which are also experiencing sexual dysfunction issues. So SSRIs are a real problem in society, and yet prescribed by the tens of thousands every day.

I mean look at the difference in symptoms:

1) SSRIs: in this study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666915324000519), the symptoms were: There were 1148 respondents, who were mostly white, female and educated. For 40 % of respondents, withdrawal symptoms had lasted more than 2 years and 80 % were moderately or severely impacted by them. One in four were unable to stop their antidepressant. Reported consequences of withdrawal included impaired work function (56 %), losing jobs (20 %), taking sick leave (27 %), and relationship breakdown (25 %).

2) Psychedelics: In the study I linked here, symptoms were: 

Feeling anxious 36.1% 

Difficulty sleeping 27.9% 

Difficulty thinking or making decisions 24.0%

Feeling disconnected from everything 23.7%

Feeling distant or cut off from other people 20.1%

Bothered by little things 18.4%

Headaches and/or body pain 16.3%

Re-experience of stressful event in the past 15.7%

Trouble enjoying things 14.4%

Sensitive hearing 14.4%

In other words, the symptoms for psychedelics were quite benign compared to the SSRIs. It's not even close. The current system is an unconstitutional mental health nightmare.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/25/experts-warn-of-mental-health-risks-after-rise-in-magic-mushroom-use

Could Australia Elect a Trump? Of course.

 We all smugly laugh at the US electing this clown for a 2nd time, yet this begs the question: if Trump was here in AU, would we elect him? Now we probably have a hearty guffaw pondering this, but are you sure? We elect sports heroes (Sam Groth, David Pocock), crazy Pauline Hansen, even a rock/roller Peter Garrett. Even Ukraine elected a comedian (which ultimately was not a bad decision).

Society is nothing but cults of personalities. We idolise the rich, the sports heroes, the movie stars (not scientists though... far too geeky).

What these personalities understand, which the common person doesn't, is that there are no rules in society, and that the only currency in society is notoriety. What's the saying: any PR is good as long as they spell your name right.

And, to me, this fealty to personalities will only get worse, because now that we have access to all the world's information in our hands, someone needs to be even more radical in order to gain that notoriety. A personality who wants to be elected and is just a good solid human being will be left in the dust... how boring of them.

Each society believes that 'our' society has a underlying structure which somehow stops the bad apples, and it is simply not true. The only thing that saves us is that society is a bell-curve, and most people have similar needs to each other. But the bell-curve is fragile and can easily be swayed depending on the personality. Australia is no different.