Saying…I am having a hard time is a change in the right direction.
When I read that Naomi Osaka was fined $15K for not talking to the Press during the French Open, I thought I don’t blame her. Like an entrepreneur, she is a singular athlete, not part of a team who probably has in their contracts that they must give the Press access. I thoroughly understand her desire to boycott the media. Then the story took another turn; she has been struggling with depression and anxiety. Being able to state that publicly is huge. As a leader in her field, who is looked up to across the globe, she just went to the top of the list as a role model.
On the other hand, I just finished listening to our friend John Heilemann’s podcast, Hell & Highwater, have a fascinating conversation with Rick Doblin. Rick Doblin has been a champion for decades to bring mind-altering drugs for medical and reactional purposes into the mainstream for over three decades. He is the founder of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Organization. This is their mission; MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC) catalyzes healing and well-being through psychedelic drug development, therapist training programs, and sales of prescription psychedelics prioritizing public benefit above profit. Founded in 2014, MAPS PBC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
I have always believed since I began using recreational drugs, that eventually they would become legal. We are almost there. Much research has been done about the benefits of drugs such as Ketamine, MMDA, and other psybicillin drugs that working with a therapist can bring significant results. I know because I have had more than a few friends who would tell you that these drugs saved their lives. Especially ones who struggle with depression.
There is certainly a disconnect between politicians understanding these drugs and the people dispensing them. If you watched Crime of the Century, you would note that most politicians follow suit without truly understanding the issues at large, but that is for another blog post.
These days, mental health is being talked about more and more. We have all just been through a crazy social experience called the pandemic, and it has touched all of us in different ways that many of us have yet to wrap our heads around. Years ago, I saw a bunch of start-ups that were creating a marketplace for therapy. Conceptually I love the idea, but I fear that helping someone get through mental pain and understanding themselves better should be highly regulated. It is not like being a physical trainer at the gym where many really aren’t qualified, but that isn’t working out your mind.
I am looking forward to a time when an athlete or any person out in the public eye can comfortably say I have been dealing with depression my whole life. I might be top of my game, but mentally I couldn’t handle my demons. I have been working with a therapist doing Ketamine every week and exploring Toad Venom to take me to another level, and I take Lexapro daily, and it has worked wonders.
We have used drugs in this country as a reason to put people in jail, not for research and helping their well-being or even kicking back and having fun. The war on drugs has never been about drugs. Perhaps as people, my age who have been getting stoned and doing mind-altering drugs since college have a better understanding of how they are positive, just like how gay marriage accelerated quickly because there we all know someone who is gay, that we will find that we don’t have to wait another few decades to legalize all drugs and bring them into a positive light.