Sensitivity alert: This post contains personal experiences of trauma, suicidality, and substance use.
Modern psychedelic research is currently one of the most interdisciplinary, controversial, and fastest growing areas of interest. In the last 20 years alone, there has been a 1,300% increase in yearly publications related to psychedelics, from 50 per year to 700 per year today. Despite this wealth of information, real-world stories of psychedelic use are still rare, as the majority of research has taken place under controlled settings in clinical research laboratories. Stigmatization of psychedelics still plays a large role in negative societal views of psychedelics use, and perhaps continued academic research and media exposure will “change the mind” of nay-sayers. Until then, real-world stories can bridge this gap and provided first-hand accounts of psychedelic experiences. Here, we’d like to share just one of these countless stories.
The blog below is written unedited by Leigh Wyatt, artist and donor to Unlimited Sciences. Psychedelics have changed her life, and she wants to give back.
We acknowledge that psychedelics are not for everyone and that not everyone has perceived results as dramatic as Leigh’s. We honor her experience as told by her and will continue to contribute to science to understand more about how these substances can have such a profound effect as well as investigate mitigating harm.
Leigh has launched a Compassion Campaign to support psychedelic research. “We all need a little help sometimes. Let us take responsibility for our mental health and allow nature to do its thing. Proceeds from Mushies’ sales go to Unlimited Sciences toward research for psychedelic therapies.” You can contribute to US by purchasing her glass-blown mushrooms by clicking here.
My name is Leigh Taylor Wyatt and I am many things– glassblower, survivor of trauma and cancer, Human Being, Warrior.
Over 5 years ago in April of 2018, I broke my neck with my thoughts about myself and the world around me. Western “medicine” told me I had 2 months to live unless I did what they said and then I might have 2 years after that if I obeyed their orders. They removed my C7 and most of my C6 vertebrae, put a cage in my neck and a bar up the back of it, and sent me home the next day with a bunch of toxic pharmaceuticals to kill the pain and all of my spirit along with it. I stopped the pharmaceuticals on day 3 as I started crying and couldn’t stop. I knew instinctively it was the pharmaceuticals affecting my mood. I began working with Cannabis for my pain–cannabis I had grown in my laundry room. Cannabis took my pain away, allowed me to be myself and set me on a course of healing. True healing.
Here I am over 5 years later, still, thriving more than ever. My chiropractor says my neck feels like a 20 year olds’ when she adjusts it every 2 weeks.
I spent over 25 years in sobriety from alcohol before I began digging my childhood trauma out of my body with the help and support of Psychedelics. During those 25 years I still had suicidal ideology, emotional stress, PTSD, and general trauma related feelings. No one was mentioning trauma to me in the meetings I sat in day after day. 26+ years of sobriety later I know that King Alcohol is the most dangerous drug… available to everyone.
When I began working with Psychedelics I was concerned about the use of these substances in fear that my sobriety from alcohol was in danger. This couldn’t be further from the truth! These therapies have only brought me closer to the person I was always meant to be. I feel more like myself than I ever have.
I have worked with Ketamine, Psilocybin, MDMA and most recently Ayahuasca. My journey into and through this process has been methodical and driven as I have felt the relief from each medicine building upon the other. I have found microdosing Mushrooms has been very helpful behind the scenes of my psyche.
After working with Ayahuasca, I realized that I was born with PTSD, that it didn’t just develop in me as I grew up. The root medicine completely healed the PTSD within me over 1 weekend. I saw my DNA release itself from the knotted ball it had become, and relax into the beautiful helix that it is. The Ayahuasca brought me into being my own best friend. It showed me love for myself and humanity like I have never known in my mind, body, and spirit. It brought forgiveness into my heart and replaced the darkness with light. It showed me that fear is an illusion.
Thank you Ayahuasca🤍.
A friend of mine committed suicide in 2022 and I needed to alchemize my grief around losing him. Having lost my mother at 29, grief is no stranger to me. Hot glass has been the “Constant” in my life for 30 years and I know the power it has to keep me in the present moment so I began making glass mushrooms to help me work through the grief around losing my friend. I couldn’t stop making the glass mushrooms, then boom…The Compassion Campaign was born! I realized I am still here breathing on this earth to bring awareness to mental health and the abilities of our bodies’ to heal themselves naturally with the help of our earthly and herbal allies. I connected with Unlimited Sciences to donate the proceeds of the glass mushroom sales to their profound mission that aligns so strongly with my mission. Unlimited Sciences is moving forward in the research of these therapies and helping people to understand how they can be utilized for the mental health of the planet.
We can heal together. We can bring these therapies to ALL that need it. When we open up to the potential our human organisms hold for healing in a natural way, we can open up to our POWERS! These therapies are meant for us. These psychedelic therapies are the true healing future for our species and our planet! We owe them, ourselves, and each other this healing.