Demian Gitnacht, MD, MPH, FAAFP

There is a particular kind of morning that many people know intimately. The alarm sounds, but the body does not move. Limbs feel heavy, as if gravity has thickened overnight. The room is quiet, yet the mind already feels tired. The day ahead does not appear as possibility. It appears as something to get through. Even small tasks, brushing teeth, answering a message, standing up, can feel strangely distant, like objects across a fogged window. For people living with depression, trauma, or long...

For many people, the phrase bad trip  lands like a warning label. It conjures images of panic, loss of control, psychological damage, or a mind that does not quite come back the same. Sometimes it is heard in a hushed tone, sometimes as a cautionary tale shared online, sometimes as the reason someone decides never to explore psychedelic therapy at all. The fear is understandable. Few experiences are more unsettling than the idea of being trapped inside one’s own mind with no escape. Yet this...

Psychedelic Medicine and the Unlearning of Western Expectations Most people approach healing with a map already drawn. They expect progress to look like improvement. They expect relief to move in a straight line. They expect that if something works, it should keep working in the same direction, at the same pace, without interruption. They expect fewer symptoms each week, better sleep that never regresses, mood scores that steadily climb, and a clear sense that they are “getting better” rather...