In this episode of the Tommy T Podcast, Dr. Natanya Wachtel explores the potential of psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms to treat mental health issues more effectively than traditional medications. The discussion delves into the mind-body connection and the placebo effect, examining how belief and mindset can contribute to healing and self-actualization.
Wachtel also shares insights into the Evermore app, which aims to foster empathy, community, and mental health support for youth, particularly marginalized groups. The conversation touches on the impacts of AI and technology on mental health, both positive and negative, and the importance of human connections in promoting well-being.
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Natanya Wachtel discussed the potential of psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms to treat mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and PTSD more effectively than traditional medications. She highlighted how psychedelics may work at the cellular level, enabling beneficial changes in brain pathways and neuron connectivity. The conversation covered the importance of proper clinical evaluation, setting, and guidance like trip sitters for safe psychedelic use, as well as challenges around accessibility and affordability.
The panel explored how AI and technology negatively impact mental health through filters creating unrealistic standards, distortion of reality, and manipulation of information. However, Wachtel mentioned using empathy-based AI like the Evermore app to improve communication, cultivate empathy, and support mental health in youth through mentorship and community.
Wachtel is involved with the Evermore app, providing mentorship, community, and mental health support specifically for youth of color. The app aims to inspire positive futures through anonymous sharing in a supportive environment. The importance of community, empathy and human connections across groups was emphasized by Wachtel and others as crucial for improving mental health.
Drawing from Dr. Joe Dispenza's book, Wachtel explored the placebo effect - how belief and mindset alone can contribute to healing through the mind-body connection. She posited that techniques like self-suggestion and "downloading" intentions to the brain could activate the placebo effect and self-healing through the power of belief.
1-Page Summary
In discussions about the complexities of mental health, the conversation pivoted towards the evolving acceptance and interest in using psychedelics, such as psilocybin, to treat conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other issues. The conversation covered the impacts of mental health, which cuts across all demographic lines, and how social media and societal stressors play a role in mental health challenges.
Natanya Wachtel spoke about her shift in focus towards psychedelics after noting the limited effectiveness of traditional medicines like Cymbalta. She was struck by stories of those with PTSD undergoing life-changing experiences under clinical supervision with psychedelics, resulting in the cessation of their PTSD symptoms. Psychedelics like mushrooms are suggested to work on mental health issues more effectively than traditional medications, possibly through changes in brain cells and neuron activity, which can produce a variety of benefits including a therapeutic gut-brain connection.
Discussions included experiences with Turkey Tail mushrooms, which an individual found healing, and topics covered the need for the right guide during psychedelic healing processes. The uniqueness of MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin compounds and their varying workings were also discussed. Natanya Wachtel emphasized the importance of clinical evaluation, especially if considering psychedelics while on other medications.
Personal experiences highlighted the significance of setting and intent in psychedelic use. The conversation pointed to places in Brooklyn and retreats like those in Costa Rica as spaces where psychedelics are used under guidance, emphasizing the role of ...
Mental Health and PTSD
A group of speakers delve into the complex relationship between AI, technology, society, and mental health, weighing both the detrimental and beneficial influences tech can have on our lives.
The speakers voice concerns about online platforms exacerbating mental health issues through filters and idealized portrayals of life that don't reflect reality. Such portrayals create unrealistic standards, fuel dissatisfaction in personal relationships, and contribute to a distorted sense of reality. There is a consensus that the evolution of AI technology is likely to have severe negative ramifications for society and individual mental well-being, particularly as it becomes increasingly difficult to discern real from manufactured content, which could mislead the public and stir unnecessary panic, as with AI-generated images depicting false catastrophic events.
Participants express being overwhelmed by the manipulative potential of such technology, fearing that the direction of technological progress might not only lead to a societal reset but could also signify a return to more oppressive times. It is argued that the advance of technology could disconnect people from simple, soothing activities like star-gazing, increasing stress and dependence on technology. With a plan that seems to stupefy the population through passive entertainment like TV and video games, technology is suggested to be reducing societal engagement and mental well-being.
Natanya Wachtel touches on the possibility of technology reaching a point where it could control the mind, while Jay Savino worries that reliance on AI and social media platforms like TikTok could erode genuine human connections. Further despair is voiced over Elon Musk's technological advancements, such as brain chips, and the social divide with some rejecting technology altogether. Disturbing references to the elite's pursuit of an "artificial God intelligence" evokes unease regarding the control and direction of technology’s societal impact.
AI, Technology, and the Future
Natanya Wachtel and others are advocating for increased support for the mental health of youth, emphasizing the power of community, mentorship, and empathy.
Natanya Wachtel is actively discussing the Evermore app, designed to provide mentorship, mental health support, and a sense of community specifically for youth of color. Although not a licensed therapist, Wachtel is passionate about mental health and has surrounded herself with knowledgeable individuals to develop the app, which includes features to detect self-harm and harmful intentions towards others. The app is aimed at Gen Z but is also suitable for adults, using game theory components to engage users and a Buzzfeed-style quiz to help them imagine positive futures.
The Evermore app functions as a closed-loop system where users can anonymously share experiences, such as bad breakups, without the pressure of competition or performance, in a supportive environment. Its goal is to inspire young people to envision future possibilities, offering a form of hope to escape from negative spirals. The framework used in the app, unlocking the "superhero within," can be adapted for adults, though presented differently.
Wachtel found inspiration in Ivy's initial project and decided to become more involved in the Evermore app due to its impact and potential. Committed to the app's mission over financial return, she is determined to make health and education appealing to prevent suicide, starting with raising awareness. Furthermore, Wachtel underscores the significance of individuals feeling seen and acknowledged, drawing attention to resources like the national suicide hotline.
The importance of community and empathy is a recurring theme, which Wachtel champions by advocating for the impact of personal energy and care through actions such as sending handwritten cards. Tommy T and Jay Savino also reflect on the profound effect of empathy and human connection, with S ...
Helping Youth and Marginalized Groups
Natanya Wachtel delves into the fascinating intersection of belief, mindset, and the mind-body connection to explore the placebo effect and its role in self-healing.
Wachtel’s own experiences have led her to embrace the potential that the mind possesses in contributing to physical healing, an idea she argues modern society may have distanced itself from.
Drawing inspiration from Dr. Joe Dispenza’s book "You Are The Placebo," Wachtel investigates how beliefs and mindset can promote healing — a probing into the mind-body connection and the placebo effect. She explains the placebo effect as the phenomenon where a patient's condition improves using an inert substance or a sham intervention, purely because of their belief in the treatment.
Wachtel finds it intriguing how someone could get better without the actual medicine or surgery and explores what mechanisms might be operating beneath the surface. She raises examples of the placebo effect in action, such as with cancer treatments and mental health medications, where proving effectiveness against a placebo in controlled trials is a significant challenge.
To support the credibility of self-healing, Wachtel underlines the necessity of substantial research and meta-analyses using large population sizes.
In discussing psychedelics, Wachtel posits that the intention and belief in their efficacy can trigger the brain to produce the necessary chemicals for the desired effect. This concept parallels her idea of "downloading" instructions to the brain to actualize improvements in life, epitomizing the utilization of the mind to induce physical changes.
While Wachtel doesn’t explicitly list specific tech ...
Placebo Effect and Self-Healing
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