shepherd

Hi! I've taken psilocybin on 5 different occasions over about 8 years. Each time was in a safe environment, with at least one sober, trusted friend. I never treated it like a party drug, I always had a goal in mind.

I found it immensely helpful in managing my depression. I try to spend some time with my own thoughts, reflecting on where I've been, and what I'd like to do a little bit differently. After the first time, I did feel a little bit better, and that feeling persisted for several months. That was enough nudge that I had the energy to get myself into the doctors, and therapy, and I've been slowly moving towards... wherever it is that I'm aiming lol.

Each time, I wait and see how long it takes for me to think about it again, and it's been 2 years now and I don't have any interest in it still. I know I have work to do. My depression is... still there, I think, but it's not as scary as it used to be.

I'm not willing to recommend psilocybin to anyone at this point, and especially not strangers on the internet. I had some incredibly supportive people help me with a difficult time. Psilocybin is like a rocket ship for your brain: When you hop in, you are going somewhere else very quickly, but you're probably not an astronaut so it's not you choosing where you end up. Not everyone has a good time.

Some people have a very bad time. My friend had a negative enough experience to never ever want to try it, or any psychedelics again.

Please make sure you fully understand the risks here. Your brain is an incredibly important part of you. Despite my positive experiences, I strongly recommend looking for safer alternatives first.

WITH REGARDS TO ADHD:

Eh. So I describe my ADHD as having 6-8 trains of thought in my head. I take my prescribed methylphenidate, and that helps me by making it easier to conduct the trains (ideally they're directed towards something I need rather than just... flying off lol).

On shrooms (and for several weeks after), it's like there's only 1 or maybe 2 trains of thought. I like to imagine that might be how neurotypical people think, less jumping around to different tracks. It's not uncomfortable, but it is much quieter? (This was before I was medicated for ADHD btw.)

I don't mind that version of me, but I did find that I didn't feel as naturally creative as usual. Less free form brainstorming. I was doing my usual activities feeling more calm, so that was nice I guess, but it's not who I'm interested in being. I like having creative fire, I just need a bit of ADHD meds to help me actually harness it.

I don't think psilocybin is a very effective tool for managing ADHD, even regular microdosing. It might be a subjective quality of life improvement, but it doesn't really help you adult better lol. It helps you be a little kinder to yourself, but it's not helping you with executive function.

If stimulants are working for you, I'd say work towards securing those over experimenting this. Work with your doctor, or someone else you trust, 'cause ADHD people having trouble with bureaucracy should be a clear friction point for anyone paying attention lol.

I've played it a lot, and I'd recommend it!

I'm a huge fan of using it as an ice breaker if you're meeting new people. It's a fairly social game, with "low-stakes" negotiations on the table, so I think it's a great way to see how's people think, interact, and cooperate (or not haha).

I love how different it can be depending on the audience. My partner's family is... almost too wholesome? They help each other out a lot lol. My tech & numbers friends are fiercely competitive in their trading lmao.

Let me know if you have any questions about it!

Edit: If you have a set that includes "3rd Bean Field" cards, just ignore 'em. Later editions removed them because statistically they're almost always a bad idea, so they're really just a trap lol.

Wait so when am I supposed to boost? Upvotes sort now, so I should usually upvote and boost when I think something should be at the top?

If you're open to a dexterity games, I'd highly recommend Animal Upon Animal, Rhino Hero, or Click Clack Lumberjack for that age group. Even left to their own devices, I've seen a group of highly concentrated 6 year olds stack animals surprisingly high lmao.

Considering he's already into boardgames, King of Tokyo is probably in scope, or will be soon! If not, the mood of Shadows in the Woods (Waldschattenspiel) can be just so good for young kids!

I'm having some trouble thinking of collaborative kids games, but maybe Dixit? That might be an 8 year olds game tbh, I don't think most 5 year olds are subtle enough yet lol.

Good luck!

@da_g Yeah, I actually basically do slap everything in one folder on Obsidian lol. I love that I don't need to spend time organizing folders, but I still find things easily by taking "paths" through my vault!

Ah, no [[links]]? Well. I'm a couple thousand notes deep on that format hahah.

I don't think this is for me, but I've given your post a boost and an upvote! Good luck!

Has anyone used both Obsidian and Trillium? I use Obsidian, so that's my reference point here.

1. How does using Trillium feel compared to Obsidian? Rich text is nice, but I actually like how much Obsidian gets out of your way.

Edit: Hmm, so hierarchy trees means things need to be in one place on the tree, but it can be "cloned" so it can have multiple locations on the tree. That seems like a very complicated way to day "in obsidian, you can link any note to any other note." Am I misunderstanding anything here?

1. How's the conversion process? I have a lot of notes lol, and I find the [[Link]] format very convenient. It looks like this only wants to use text, which is fine but it very slightly breaks my train of writing thought as I prepare the link properly.