Under the influence of ketamine, by Sabrina Haake
In the first sentence of her article she refers to this NY Times article from a few days ago:
Her article begins:
Psychedelic drugs hit the news last week just as America’s unelected oligarch started blowing up the government, because, chaos.
She writes the following about Elon Musk:
Musk, whose life is not ending anytime soon, uses ketamine to reduce his “negative chemical states like depression,” and says he uses the drug once every other week “or something like that.”
She goes on further about Musk:
Elon Musk’s judgment is… impaired
Although a budget finally passed yesterday, Musk created deliberate and unnecessary chaos to get there. Musk posted 100+ feverish tweets with misleading or outright false claims to kill the first deal. Among other juvenile rants, he posted, “Just close down the govt until January 20th. Defund everything. We will be fine for 33 days.” He posted in a separate tweet that a federal government shutdown “doesn’t actually shut down critical functions.”
He’s a complete governance idiot, but all Trump the intellectual midget sees is shiny rocket. Trump assumes that since Musk works with technology, Musk is all wise; it's a dangerous assumption any teenage boy might make.
Ketamine, according to doctors who prescribe it, is wildly effective at suppressing fear of death, which is great for patients facing imminent death. But for people like Musk who aren’t facing death, I’m not so sure losing fear of death is a good thing. I’m not sure a giant national defense contractor should have an “alternative perspective” of what death means, because for the rest of us who aren’t on ketamine, death means we’re dead and it’s not a temporary condition.
As a therapist retired after over 40 years in practice, I was pleased when my state of Oregon legalized the use of psilocybin, which is similar to ketamine, for treatment of certain emotional disorders. This is the psychedelic chemical obtained in certain mushrooms. These mushrooms have been used by native tribes where they are called "sacred mushrooms" and used in certain ceremonies. In Oregon there is a protocol for treatment with psilocybin which always includes a trained facilitator. The following is from the State of Oregon Heath website:
Will someone be there to help me during the administration session?
Yes, a licensed facilitator will support you in your journey. The Oregon Psilocybin Services Act ensures that psilocybin services will be non-directive, which means that licensed facilitators will not direct you or psychoanalyze you while you are in an altered state. They will help calm you, make you comfortable, and be present with you through the entire session but will not interfere with your experience unless you need additional support. For example, facilitators are allowed to engage in appropriate touch, such as on the hand or shoulder, and perhaps a hug, but only if that is agreed up on before the administration session. If you have toileting, mobility, assistive device support or interpretation needs, a client-support person may be allowed to be present with you for an administration session, but they would have to be prepared for the administration session by a licensed facilitator to learn about informed consent, the Client Bill of Rights, and how not to interfere with a session while supporting a client with specific accessibility needs.
Musk is taking katamine on his own. This is no surprise given his egotism. However, it also shows to me that he doesn't want anyone privy to his innermost thoughts and feelings.
As a therapist I can say that one runs a huge risk when they take a psychedelic drug like ketamine, LSD, or psilocybin on their own.
Those, like myself, who were in college in the 1960s, knew people who did. I didn't use these substances myself but had friends who did. They sometimes told about their so-called "bad trips." A few ended up in hospital psychiatric units sometimes being treated with major anti-psychotic drugs. When I was doing my clincial internship I saw someone in a psychiatric hosptial who I was barely acquainted with. He hung out at the student grill and knew some people I knew. He was on Thorazine which was used in those days for such reactions. He had experienced a severe reaction on LSD and was like a zombie because of the medication.
Musk has revealed his that he is neurodivergent and has Asperger’s syndrome. This is part of the autism spectrum disorder. WebMd tells us that There aren't any drugs approved by the FDA to specifically treat Asperger's or autism spectrum disorders. WebMD tells us that "some medications, though, can help with related symptoms like depression and anxiety." Another website (The Mood Center) says:
"People with Asperger’s have benefited from ketamine treatments to help with various issues that may have been caused by the difficulty of living with autism. Additionally, there have been reports that ketamine therapy may also improve the primary symptoms of autism."
Note the word "treatments" which is used in the section on ketamine assisted psychotherapy.
Musk isn't, as far as we know, engaged in any kind of psychotherapy. We don't know if he ever had been. I doubt Trump understands that Musk, while apparently not an alcoholic, is using a substance that effects his brain functioning as much as alcohol does, albeit in a very different way.
Addendum:
Here's an article about the differences between katamine and philocybin.
The founder of the Duty to Warn movement, Dr. John D. Gartner, in addition to being one of the top mental health professionals who have warned about the dangerous psychopathology of Donald Trump (since 2017), has taken an interest in psilocybin therapy calling it the enlightenment cure (read article).
Yesterday's blog was also about Elon Musk.
..........................................
I post my blogs on Stressline.org where you can subscribe (for free everywhere) and on Substack where, if you want to submit your email, you can be notified of all new blog posts. I also post them on Medium because this enables them to be easily found on internet searches.
The halbrown.org platform includes a Disquis comment section. To use it you have to register on Disquis. Go to bottom of blogs and click sign up with Disquis.
This is the fully featured comment feature used on RawStory.
Previous list of all blogs here.
Primary Hal Brown's Blog website is halbrown.org (if you are reading this anywhere else any additions or corrections will be at this address)
