This week on The Psychedelic Integration Podcast, we are tackling the age old question… Can psychedelics help treat anxiety? The Mayo Clinic defines anxiety as “Intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations.” Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year. Through the lens of Western medicine, anxiety is seen one of many mental health disorders that are becoming more prevalent and less treatable through that same system. In short, we are becoming more and more anxious, phobic, and full of fear and panic, and there is less and less that modern medicine seems to be able to do about it.
Anxiety shows up in unique ways for every person who experiences it, and it can range from mild and annoying to completely incapacitating. Anxiety and depression often roll together like the worst downer super duo ever, because that’s exactly what we need when we are anxious, another reason to feel anxious. Psychedelics help anxiety. We share about how we personally overcame anxiety with plant medicine, and discuss what kind of integration practices are crucial to help make this shift for yourself.
There is Nothing Wrong With You
Anxiety is not weird, it’s not wrong, there’s nothing wrong with you. Honestly, how are we supposed to behave? We’re all locked in our houses indefinitely spending all day staring at screens that make us hate ourselves. No wonder we are anxious. Our society breeds mental health disorders because that’s what it’s designed to do. Unhappy people spend way more money and are easier to control than healthy, empowered, embodied badasses. Much like anger, anxiety is an alarm system demanding our attention because some need is not being met, and something needs to change. Many times we aren’t able to cope in other ways, so our fight or flight system just stays on all the time causing anxiety, panic attacks, fear, and worry that can be completely debilitating.
So what if we could change our relationship with anxiety? What if we told you anxiety is definitely curable (but it’s probably not how you think?) Why should you try this thing when nothing else has worked? How would you feel picturing yourself free from anxiety, living a full, rich life with a healthy support system and healthy coping mechanisms?
Enter plant medicines! Psychedelics have shown to be a promising, effective, rapid (and scientifically proven) treatment for anxiety disorders. On this episode of The Psychedelic Integration Podcast, we’re diving into how anxiety harms us, and how psychedelics can help treat anxiety. And we’ll talk about how they do this by actually getting to our root causes of anxiety, helping us find understanding, insight, and providing tools to help us forge a path of empowerment, relief, and self-healing. Learn about what you need to know to get prepared to work with psychedelics to heal anxiety, how to seek help, and understand why it’s important to have an integration plan to support you throughout your journey.
Opening yourself to changing your mindset around your anxiety is hard work, y’all. This is what we are talking about when we talk about shadow work. When things trigger us and cause us to want to look away, that’s when we lean in. Look closer. Get curious and explore our feelings and reactions. Find out why we respond the way we do, and decide if we like that agreement from our past, and if we want something different for ourselves in the present.
When we constantly see ourselves as victims of our addiction, our illness, our pain, and even our trauma, we ensure that our suffering will continue, because we have given all of our power away. Acceptance that we are in control of our choices, we can choose to do something different, and that we are the creators of our lives is simultaneously terrifying and empowering. Mindset shifts like this are part of what can happen for you when you open your heart and choose to work with psychedelics to heal and grow.
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