psychedelic.direct is designed to quickly orient people to psychedelia, the ecosystem of people & projects working to better understand the psychedelic experience and integrate it into our society.
It's like 80,000 Hours for psychedelics, though not entirely focused on career paths.
To dive in, check out:
Psychedelia: The ecosystem of people, projects, and organizations working to understand the psychedelic experience and integrate it into life & society.
Psychedelia is often used as a catch-all term to encompass the activity of working with and thinking about the classical psychedelics, as well as drugs that aren't technically psychedelics but are powerful agents of healing and growth in their own right. For example, MDMA is categorized as an entactogen/empathogen. Ketamine is a dissociative. Both of these kinds of drugs can be worked with fruitfully by following protocols similar to the protocols developed for working with the classical psychedelics. Each has their own set of potential risks and potential benefits.
psychedelic.direct is not designed to give guidance about integrating the psychological & spiritual effects of psychedelic experiences, though we do say a bit about that below.
Integration is an important part of the psychedelic process – to learn more about integration, we recommend the following:
For more background on the potential benefit of psychedelics, check out Rethink Psychedelics and Enthea's Recommended Reading.
psychedelic.direct is somewhat US-centric, as we're most familiar with the American landscape. We also offer some information about what's going on in Canada, the UK, and continental Europe.
Psychedelic trips often produce an afterglow – a period following the trip full of good feelings, inspiration, and energy.
Afterglows can be as short as 24 hours, or as long as 6-8 weeks.
Afterglow: the period following a psychedelic trip that's full of good feelings, inspiration, and energy
If you've recently had a psychedelic trip and are feeling unusually positive, optimistic, and/or energetic, you're probably experiencing an afterglow. This isn't a problem! The afterglow is a lovely thing.
But if you're in this state of mind & thinking about making major changes to your life, consider that the afterglow will fade over time. It's probably best to take on projects that can be maintained even once the afterglow is gone.
Many experienced psychonauts end up putting a lot of energy towards internal work, finding ways to more fully weave the insights of their trips into their everyday lives.
This probably has something to do with our shadow – the unpleasant aspects of ourselves that we tend to avoid or repress.
Psychedelics are the sparkly rainbow gate over the road to confronting our shadow.
— Ismail Ali, J.D.,
counsel for [MAPS](<https://maps.org/>)
Ismail Ali of MAPS talks about psychedelics being the "sparkly rainbow gate over the road to confronting our shadow." Shadowed parts of the self can come up during the psychedelic experience. Working to better integrate these aspects of the self into one's everyday life is a substantial project that can take a long time.
We bring this up only to emphasize that much of the important work relating to psychedelics is internal work. Prioritizing this internal work above or alongside external projects is probably a good idea.
Here's the most important thing you can do to contribute to the psychedelic renaissance: talk openly and honestly about your experiences with psychedelics.
This doesn't mean working tirelessly to spread the psychedelic gospel (and it certainly doesn't mean pressuring other people to try them). It just means being open about your psychedelic use – talking about what it's like, and what (if anything) you've gotten out of it.
We believe that grassroots conversations will be a key driver for bringing psychedelics into the American mainstream. This is analogous to how being gay became more socially acceptable during the 2000s and 2010s in the US (see DellaPosta 2018).
Conversations with friends, family, and coworkers can all be helpful, but use your judgment – getting fired or ostracized won't help anything.
If you want to contribute to psychedelia in a bigger way, good news! There's plenty that needs doing.
Our "Recommended paths" page lays out the approaches that seem most promising:
For a map of organizations working on psychedelics, see our organization directory:
If you've read about our recommended paths and have questions, or are just looking for information specific to your situation, you can contact us here:
Last updated May 2023.