The studied linked months ago in this thread was just published http://jop.sagepub.com/c...269881114565144.abstract



Very important point ^

Alpha as some great advice. The tough part about addiction, is that it manipulates the brain in such a way to rationalize cravings and the entire lifestyle that goes along with addiction. A deep experience would likely show your friend the error in his ways, but after the horror show is over, it might (through alcoholisms devious mechanics) give him more incentive to drown out his problems. With a lot of addiction, methinks, there is a massive component/driving force that is unable to deal with life problems, and being more aware of said problems could exacerbate the issue.

As others have said.... truly.... it is the addict himself who decides when he is done. Wanting to do it for others can no doubt be a guiding force, but ultimately it needs to be a personal force and drive to want to quit and change things. Have you given your friend a serious talk?

Often times alcoholics cannot manage their own feelings. Hang out with them when they are super drunk and work out their true feelings (it is much easier after they are greased up with booze), take some mental notes, and drill them on what they reveal when they are sober. You might find an incredibly haunting sort of denial/resistance.

I think it might be best to get a vague sort of gameplan first, a confirmation of will towards change, before trying any sort of psychedelic intervention. Your friend needs to want to quit 100% before mushrooms are going to help him in any sort of way.

best wishes,

sunshine

I have had first hand experience as well.
When you really want it for yourself and no one else, it is a gift given so freely.
Sunshine nailed it, sounds to me this stuff hits close to his heart as well. The hardest thing i ever had to do was ask for help. But the only thing standing in my way was me!

In a state of hopelessness and despair, when i had nothing left in me to turn to, i don't know what else could ever bring me to that point other than the pure insanity of the addicted mind, in that manner it seems to be a blessing. Psychedelics brought about an experience that gave me the willingness to accept the possibility that there could be another way. But that was it. By no means a cure all! Within days I was back to my same thought processess and thrusted even deeper into that suffering, it truly is baffling... Insidious. A combination of these things including regular attendance to AA meetings, (because i wanted to, not because I had to) and adopting a spiritual program to nuture my concious contact with a higher power of my understanding (which i believe is what i was always searching for in the first place, the irony) that lifestyle for me has been effectively ruined, i can never go back to enjoying drinking and using drugs again, but that wont stop the alcoholic mind from trying, either.

I didnt mean to ramble on but thats my experience strength and hope , also coming from a mobile it may have some sentence structure errors, but this thread really spoke to me.

I have been considering myself whether or not i should take a psychedelic like mushrooms again. My addiction included the misuse of psychedelics (in combination with dissociative) so its ground that i would rather not tread. I suppose the answer would be in why I want to take them, for myself or for something greater.. I had an experience with mescaline recently, but i don't believe my intentions were pure, so I picked up a white chip, i lost control of my decision making, my brain treated it like an MDMA binge rather then a spiritual experience. i was trying to play god, i do not have the power to bring about that kind of experience. Some of the greatest things I've learned, is it is possible to live within that kind of experience each and every day... now I am certainly not perfect, nobody is. But who wouldn't want to be sober but feel like they are on LSD all the time? That feeling of connection is awesome . Count me in.

I can say for sure, loss of the desire to drink or use drugs has been merely a side effect of what i have been given.