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***See below for a complete topic breakdown.***

Join us on Reddit at r/ATTMindPodcast to discuss this episode.

Psychedelic medicine, presently, has a great PR campaign for their legitimation and eventual integration into clinical medicine.

With millions of dollars being funded into clinical research and event the recent opening of two psychedelic-focuses research centers — in Baltimore, Maryland and London, England — and the soon to launch a campaign to legislative Psilocybin Services in Oregon it seems clear that the future for psychedelic medicine is looking very bright.

The science and clinical research has played an indispensable role in this process, yet there is another realm of support that has played an important role as well: anecdotal reports. We, as reasonable thinkers on any subject, would do well not to take anecdote as fact and in the era of ‘search engine medicine,’ it is all too easy to fall prey to sloppy thinking and covert advertising that use anecdote as evidence for the absolute efficacy of this “cure” or the next. That said, the stories of people whose lives have been transformed by psychedelics come in such vast quantities that reasons dictate we take those stories seriously and I don’t doubt it was those droves of anecdotes that helped support the early science to start taking a serious look at this medicines again.

Now, let’s slide a bit from there because if you are a family participant in Adventures Through The Mind, you are likely well familiar with the current reporting trend on psychedelic medicine and perhaps, like myself, a bit tired of re-reading the same overview of the so-called renaissance over and over again. Where I want to slide is specifically into obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD, and the potentials of psychedelics to treat it.

Some science refers to it, but we don’t hear much talk about it as the research simply isn’t being done on psychedelics for that specific illness, just yet. However, discussion of treating OCD with psychedelic medicines is getting some serious traction over the last couple of years because of the many anecdotal reports coming out of the underground. That said, there is one report that has gone way above ground and has gotten some severe mainstream press. That report is from Adam Strauss, and it’s a highly-regarded, one-man called The Mushroom Cure, starring Strauss himself.

The Mushroom Cure is the true story of how Adam Strauss treated his debilitating OCD with psychedelics. The New York Times said it “mines a great deal of laughter from disabling pain,” Time Out New York called it “riveting; a true-life tour de force” and named it a Critics‘ Pick, and the Chicago Tribune gave it 3.5/4 stars and called it “arrestingly honest and howlingly funny.” The show won the New York Fringe Festival’s Overall Excellence Award and the Eddy Award for Best Solo Performance in the San Francisco Bay Area and has enjoyed extended, sold-out runs in NYC, San Francisco, and Chicago, as well as shorter engagements throughout the US. The Mushroom Cure is sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Adam Strauss is on the show for this episode to dive into the painful lived experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and what it was, exactly, that psychedelics did for him that helped him regain agency over his life.

SEE ADAM STRAUSS’ THE MUSHROOM CURE AND/ATTEND MAPPING THE MIND, BOTH IN TORONTO

The Mushroom Cure (show)

Thursday, September 19 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

The Grand Gerrard, 1035 Gerrard St E,

Toronto, ON M4M 1Z6 Canada + Google Map

https://mappingthemind.ca/event/mushroom-cure-adam-strauss/?tickets_process=#buy-tickets

Mapping The Mind (conference)

Saturday, September 21 @ 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Earth Sciences Center, 5 Bancroft Ave

Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B3 Canada

https://mappingthemind.ca/event/mapping-the-mind-2019/?tickets_process=#buy-tickets

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Episode Breakdown

a general overview of what inspired The Mushroom Cure

the patient-shaming tone of the term “treatment-resistant”

the structural biases that prevent the growth of psychiatry as a field of medicine

the common failings of psychiatric drugs to treat mental illness

SPOILER ALERT: Ender’s Game / Xenocide Novel Series

an intimate look of living with OCD

how psychedelic surrender/humility helped Strauss overcome his OCD

psychedelic lessons vs. the learning (referring to my talk from Breaking Convention)

feelings vs stories in our heads – the profound value of feeling as a skill

how psychedelics helped Strauss track the origins of his OCD

the challenge of our nervous system’s ancient defense system living in the modern world

do psychiatric pharmaceuticals fundamentally change how we experience psychedelics?

how psychedelics taught Strauss how to face profound fears of feelings

the context that gave rise to the psychedelic experiences that made his OCD worse

Relevant Links

here is where you can learn more about Adam Strauss, his solo shows and his comedy. He also has a bunch of links to various other media, interviews, and videos. If you are looking especially for The Mushroom Cure, click here.

SEE ADAM STRAUSS’ THE MUSHROOM CURE AND/ATTEND MAPPING THE MIND, BOTH IN TORONTO

The Mushroom Cure (show)

Thursday, September 19 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

The Grand Gerrard, 1035 Gerrard St E,

Toronto, ON M4M 1Z6 Canada + Google Map

https://mappingthemind.ca/event/mushroom-cure-adam-strauss/?tickets_process=#buy-tickets

Mapping The Mind (conference)

Saturday, September 21 @ 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Earth Sciences Center, 5 Bancroft Ave

Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B3 Canada

https://mappingthemind.ca/event/mapping-the-mind-2019/?tickets_process=#buy-tickets