Posted on May 14, 2023
He helped cancer patients find peace through psychedelics. Then came his diagnosis
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https://www.npr.org/2023/05/14/ [login to see] /cancer-patients-psychedelics-medical-spirituality
"Imagine for a moment that everything you built your professional life around – things that motivated you and inspired you and defined you – started to feel irrelevant? Like it no longer fit with who you wanted to be in the world.
Maybe you don't have to imagine it. I don't have to. After 20 years covering news with a capital "N", I found myself craving a different kind of internal exploration: about the human condition, which is what this series is all about.
The same thing happened to Dr. Roland Griffiths. Today he is known as the scientist who helped prove that psychedelics, specifically a drug called psilocybin, can alleviate depression and mental anguish in cancer patients and others facing terminal diseases. Before that, his professional focus was the risks of mood-altering drugs, including various sleep medications.
But after beginning a personal meditation practice, Griffiths started asking different questions – inquiries that felt out of place in the world of science. Questions like, is there a god? Do we have a soul? And, can we use our minds to somehow alleviate our physical suffering?"
"Imagine for a moment that everything you built your professional life around – things that motivated you and inspired you and defined you – started to feel irrelevant? Like it no longer fit with who you wanted to be in the world.
Maybe you don't have to imagine it. I don't have to. After 20 years covering news with a capital "N", I found myself craving a different kind of internal exploration: about the human condition, which is what this series is all about.
The same thing happened to Dr. Roland Griffiths. Today he is known as the scientist who helped prove that psychedelics, specifically a drug called psilocybin, can alleviate depression and mental anguish in cancer patients and others facing terminal diseases. Before that, his professional focus was the risks of mood-altering drugs, including various sleep medications.
But after beginning a personal meditation practice, Griffiths started asking different questions – inquiries that felt out of place in the world of science. Questions like, is there a god? Do we have a soul? And, can we use our minds to somehow alleviate our physical suffering?"
He helped cancer patients find peace through psychedelics. Then came his diagnosis
Posted from npr.org
Cancer
Drugs
Mental Health
Depression
Posted 12 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel interesting...
..."Griffiths: Yeah. Right. And so there came a point where I thought, I wonder if I'm defending against something here, I wonder if my reason for refusing to take a psychedelic is that I'm masking something. That there's a skeleton in my closet and I'm just saying I'm joyful and everything is beautiful.
So I decided, OK, so I'll take a dose of psychedelic. I took LSD.
Martin: How did it go?
Griffiths: Fantastic. I addressed the cancer as other, and in general I don't think it's wise to reify anything in mind as anything other than an object of mind. But in this case, I addressed the cancer itself and said, "OK, what's going on here?"
Cancer didn't answer. Then I got into a dialogue and said, "You know, I've considered you a blessing. I actually really respect everything that's occurred to me since this diagnosis. I'm truly grateful for the diagnosis, but do you have to kill me?"
Martin: Whoa. Was there an answer to that one?
Griffiths: Yeah, the answer was, "Yeah, you're going to die but this is as it should be. There's a deeper meaning. There's a deeper purpose. And you should continue to do what you're doing."
I felt implied in that was that I should speak out more broadly about what I was going through, because I've been reluctant to do so. So, I have something to say here. And so I asked, "How about giving me more time?"
Martin: I like that you went for the follow up.
Griffiths: I went for the follow up. But I got radio silence. It didn't answer. Was I dialoguing with cancer? No, that doesn't fit within my worldview. Some people would say I was, but it was deeply affirming to what I was doing and it felt like an empowerment to speak up.
My parting invitation is to celebrate. I'm inviting you to celebrate what I'm celebrating and that is this experience of the miracle of where we find ourselves. You need not have a terminal diagnosis to lean in more fully, and I promise you it's worth it."
..."Griffiths: Yeah. Right. And so there came a point where I thought, I wonder if I'm defending against something here, I wonder if my reason for refusing to take a psychedelic is that I'm masking something. That there's a skeleton in my closet and I'm just saying I'm joyful and everything is beautiful.
So I decided, OK, so I'll take a dose of psychedelic. I took LSD.
Martin: How did it go?
Griffiths: Fantastic. I addressed the cancer as other, and in general I don't think it's wise to reify anything in mind as anything other than an object of mind. But in this case, I addressed the cancer itself and said, "OK, what's going on here?"
Cancer didn't answer. Then I got into a dialogue and said, "You know, I've considered you a blessing. I actually really respect everything that's occurred to me since this diagnosis. I'm truly grateful for the diagnosis, but do you have to kill me?"
Martin: Whoa. Was there an answer to that one?
Griffiths: Yeah, the answer was, "Yeah, you're going to die but this is as it should be. There's a deeper meaning. There's a deeper purpose. And you should continue to do what you're doing."
I felt implied in that was that I should speak out more broadly about what I was going through, because I've been reluctant to do so. So, I have something to say here. And so I asked, "How about giving me more time?"
Martin: I like that you went for the follow up.
Griffiths: I went for the follow up. But I got radio silence. It didn't answer. Was I dialoguing with cancer? No, that doesn't fit within my worldview. Some people would say I was, but it was deeply affirming to what I was doing and it felt like an empowerment to speak up.
My parting invitation is to celebrate. I'm inviting you to celebrate what I'm celebrating and that is this experience of the miracle of where we find ourselves. You need not have a terminal diagnosis to lean in more fully, and I promise you it's worth it."
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