Pro Golfers Turning to Psychedelics

[iacas]

Why serious players are dosing psychedelics like mushrooms and ayahuasca | Golf News and Tour Information | GolfDigest.com

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Can taking mushrooms help your golf game?

Researchers at universities such as Johns Hopkins, UCLA, Stanford and Harvard are working on expanding the available scientific literature for psilocybin and psychedelics at large. Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, a professor at UC San Francisco, studies psychedelic drugs and how they work in the brain and mind and how they might be useful for treating mental illness. Two key misconceptions about psychedelics, he believes, are that they are addictive and a “one-way ticket to insanity.”

I've never been one to ever want to or feel the need to alter my mind. I like my mind. It's fine. Sure, sometimes at night I can't stop thinking and wouldn't mind going to sleep, but I like my mind the way it is for the most part, and don't want to alter it.

That said, for some people, I understand that they don't like how their mind works. They have demons. Fears. Worries. Hurdles. And I know more than enough to know I don't know much of anything, and I'm saying that as a guy with a degree in medicinal chemistry: I got into med chem because of how powerful I found a tiny molecule (chemistry) to be when applied to a huge biological system (medicinal). Biochemistry is incredible, and we've not gotten to the 50-yard-line of understanding it all. Heck, in this medicinal psychedelic world, the game hasn't even really started yet.

[klineka]

I find this extremely interesting that something that is an illegal substance (psilocybin) is allowed (or maybe it isn't and they're doing it anyway?) to be used by PGA tour players while they are on the course but then they have rules and testing around steroids, recreational drugs, etc. 

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I am on this topic can chime in but that just doesn't really make sense to me. Based on how the article is written it seems like psilocybin (which is fully illegal in 44 states, decriminalized in selected municipalities in 5 states, and is fully decriminalized in 1 state) should be consider a performance enhancing drug and could give someone an advantage over someone else.

If I was a PGA Tour player and I read that a former Tour winner started taking psilocybin and suddenly had a streak of top finishes, his best strokes-gained approach since 2017-2018 and best strokes gained around the green since 2016-2017 while openly admitting that the drug helped him play without fear and created for freedom for himself I'd be pretty pissed off.

[saevel25]

I find this topic fascinating. I got interested in learning the broad view of psychedelics through a few podcasts interviews I listened to years ago. Primarily through the Sam Harris Podcast, Making Sense. I am glad to see that some big-name research colleges and hospitals have been able to be granted access to using these compounds to see what their use is to help improve people's well-being. 

I am curious as to what the experience would be like to take something like psilocybin. 

10 minutes ago, klineka said:

If I was a PGA Tour player and I read that a former Tour winner started taking psilocybin and suddenly had a streak of top finishes, his best strokes-gained approach since 2017-2018 and best strokes gained around the green since 2016-2017 while openly admitting that the drug helped him play without fear and created for freedom for himself I'd be pretty pissed off.

I have mixed feelings over this one. If microdosing is not prohibited, and they found a tool that helps them, not sure. 

Like, people are hit or miss on psychologists. Should we outlaw that, just because it happens to benefit someone much more than someone else. To me it feels like the same thing. It's like saying, "Hey, going to a psychologist doesn't work for me so you can't go to one because it gives you a competitive advantage."

For me, this microdosing is in the realm of going to see a therapist and is part of being mentally stable. I am ok with any athlete taking it. 

[iacas]

26 minutes ago, klineka said:

I find this extremely interesting that something that is an illegal substance (psilocybin) is allowed (or maybe it isn't and they're doing it anyway?) to be used by PGA tour players while they are on the course but then they have rules and testing around steroids, recreational drugs, etc. 

I think it's a few things:

• It's used therapeutically. The PGA Tour still allows TUEs.
• It's not detectable after awhile. (Though I thought Tour players could still be tested even when they're not at a PGA Tour stop, at home or whatever.)

27 minutes ago, klineka said:

should be consider a performance enhancing drug

So could a protein bar. Or counseling. Or a happy spouse or romantic relationship.

I get that the difference here is the perception that it's illegal, but psychedelics are both very poorly understood, and used therapeutically (legally) as well.

27 minutes ago, klineka said:

If I was a PGA Tour player and I read that a former Tour winner started taking psilocybin and suddenly had a streak of top finishes, his best strokes-gained approach since 2017-2018 and best strokes gained around the green since 2016-2017 while openly admitting that the drug helped him play without fear and created for freedom for himself I'd be pretty pissed off.

If he didn't do anything illegal or against the rules, your anger would be misplaced.

I'm reminded of this article, too:

Pain, hope, science collide as athletes turn to magic mushrooms - ESPN

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While researchers study the effectiveness of psilocybin, a group of ailing athletes journeyed to Jamaica to see if they could find their own answers.

[GolfLug]

This is interesting. I always thought psychedelic mushrooms altered time perception, fantasy from reality  (whatever consequence that has..). How that is therapeutic to golfer or emotional state from a broader perspective is interesting. 

I don't think this is all that surprising given that a golfer who is under constant stress to make it may find support in something that gives their mind a break from the constant engagement. 

I too am not crazy about dependence drugs as a long term strategy but to each their own.

I don't think it should be outlawed.

[StuM]

I an very ignorant when it comes to this drug but I would not want to be the test subject on something that may have dire consequences on my brain.  As stated above, medical science has only scratched the surface of understanding this particular drug and its potential side effects, or lack thereof.  Without entering the confessional, I have some past experience with other things and do not feel any helped me in the long run, and they did hurt in the short run, and my advice would be to stay the heck away.  There are ways to handle stress that are not potentially brain damaging.

I understand the appeal and my view may be 100% wrong, but that is where I stand.