Feeling discomfort can serve as a vital compass for identifying your most meaningful intentions in the preparation process for a psychedelic experience. Rather than avoiding it, leaning into this discomfort helps you pinpoint the root of what needs to be healed.
Key Takeaways
- You can use discomfort as a navigational tool for healing. By paying attention to what causes discomfort, you can identify the root of your issues and use this awareness to guide your psychospiritual healing journey and set meaningful intentions.
- Rather than seeing discomfort as a sign of dysfunction, it should be viewed as your body’s way of signaling that something needs attention, which is a crucial first step toward healing.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. You aren’t broken, you’re just trying to survive living in a modern society that doesn’t cater to individual well-being.
- Psychedelic Passage: Your Psychedelic Concierge — The easy, legal way to find trustworthy psilocybin guides, facilitators and psychedelic-assisted therapy near you in the United States
In this counterintuitive article, we explore how discomfort can actually be a key aspect of one’s healing journey. We’ll discuss the different forms of discomfort, and differentiate when discomfort aids in one’s healing journey and when it may not be beneficial.
We will also learn about how to use discomfort as a way to measure your progress, and how it relates to intention-setting and navigating psychedelic experiences. Join us for a fruitful and stimulating conversation on a topic that we may want to shy away from at first glance, but that may surprise us.
This article is inspired by our insightful podcast episode hosted by Psychedelic Passage co-founder, Jimmy Nguyen, which you can listen to on all streaming platforms.
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Discomfort: A Forgotten Pillar of Psychedelic Healing
We’re talking about a very specific form of discomfort when we discuss it as a tool in your healing toolbox.
We aren’t talking about pain and suffering that is out of our control like physical disabilities, chronic pain or exacerbated mental health conditions.
There are many folks that aren’t able to find relief from their discomfort, and we want to acknowledge that as we explore discomfort in the context of psychedelic healing.
However, it’s many people’s goal to rid themselves of discomfort via psychedelic healing, which is why we want to break down the illusion that all discomfort is bad, and show you why there may be more to the story.
A prime example is the way antidepressants are commonly used to relieve discomfort. While we believe in sovereignty and autonomy in all things, especially what we put in our bodies, we’ve noticed a pattern when it comes to antidepressants and healing.
At Psychedelic Passage, we hear a common story of people being on antidepressants for decades, and although they feel like their discomfort is lessened, they still feel something deeper that it’s neglecting to resolve within them.
In this case, people can manage their discomfort and in turn feel some benefit, but aren’t actively healing the parts of themselves that that discomfort may come from.
A Side Note About PTSD
It’s important to note that PTSD is an extreme form of discomfort, and yet there is no drug specifically approved for PTSD-specific pathology, and the antidepressants commonly prescribed have been minimally more effective than a placebo (Cipriani et al, 2017).
Psychedelics show promise as a treatment for PTSD because it allows people to engage in intense emotional processing and introspection (Zaretsky et al, 2024). In a way, it’s the perfect combination of drugs and psychotherapy.
The most successful approaches are always multifaceted, which may be why the combination of intense internal processing, the substance itself, and external support is a powerhouse when it comes to healing.
Discomfort in Everyday Life
“At least here in America, folks who have tried so many different things and yet feel this level of discomfort, when they feel like there shouldn’t be any reason for them to be in discomfort, I think that that is an important key here.”
Avoiding pain and discomfort is built into our biology as a means to survive, but there’s those who have their basic needs met and still feel like there’s something wrong with them.
“Why do I feel this way? Why can’t I shake this? There shouldn’t be any reason why I’m feeling like this,” may echo in their head as they fail to find a cause for their anxiety, depression, or the like.
Then comes the goal of trying to rid themselves of their discomfort, which sometimes can get conflated with the actual healing process. This is what leads people to feeling broken, helpless, or lost in their healing journey.
For example, imagine you are a fish in a pond. You’ve started feeling different lately. You’re run down, disinterested, and so you do everything in your power to try to feel better.
You start eating all the best food, getting extra exercise, and even more sleep, but for some reason you can’t shake this negative feeling. You start to question yourself, wondering what’s wrong with you and if the whole thing’s hopeless, but then you meet another fish.
This fish says, “Terrible water lately, are you doing okay?”
You stop for a second, “The water?” you ask, genuinely curious.
“Yes, the water! Haven’t you noticed? Look around!”
Suddenly you look a little closer at your surroundings and you realize there’s a cloudy film on the water, and what looks to be an oil spill and trash floating past you.
That is when you have an epiphany, it wasn’t you, it was the water all along!
This is what it’s like to live in modern society. It doesn’t cater to the individual, it caters to the machine that the individual is dragged into by capitalism and corporations.
On a smaller level, it’s easy for modern humans to get caught up in a lifestyle that doesn’t feed their soul, or aid in their healing.
This is a long way to say that discomfort doesn’t mean dysfunction, unfortunately we live in a world that can easily lead to discomfort on many different levels, and that means that if you are feeling some discomfort in this moment, maybe that just means your system is working properly.
Just maybe it’s trying to alert you to the fact that there are some environmental changes that could greatly improve your quality of life.
“If your system can at least identify discomfort then it means that there’s something in there, your radar, your scanning tools, your awareness tools, something’s working.”
Using Discomfort as a Compass
Feeling discomfort can be akin to feeling a cold coming on. Sometimes you can identify it right away as a cold or flu, but sometimes it’s a lot harder to identify.
This is true for thousands of Americans going through the healthcare system trying to find answers to physical ailments that might not be so easy to identify.
The same is true for discomfort. Sometimes you can hunt down its source, but sometimes it needs some real investigating.
In cases when the root of your discomfort is hard to identify, you can actually use your discomfort as a compass. Akin to a physical or sports injury, discomfort points to what’s sensitive and needs protection and rehabilitation.
With a sports injury, it’s easy to rush the healing process and get reinjured, or even reinjure it out of necessity, resulting in a longer healing process.
If you can hone in on the moments that you feel your discomfort the most, and in what context it arises, you’ll have much more information on how to avoid “reinjury” through the psychospiritual healing process.
Even so, it can be hard to identify the culprits of our discomfort, they aren’t always overt and can be quite small. And maybe you did therapy 20 years ago and it didn’t work, but you’re a different person now, so sometimes circling back to things can be helpful.
Some of our favorite clients are the ones who are retired and in their golden years, likely having reinjured and reinforced so many things that they are the ones who have the most mental content to unpack.
While age comes with life experiences, it also comes with wisdom and tools to unpack it and deal with the discomfort of that. Being able to deal with the discomfort is what allows the healing process to truly unfold.
Recommended Reading: Are Psychedelics for the Elderly?
Discomfort and Intention Setting
In the preparation process of intentional psychedelic use, your facilitator and you will discuss your intentions, sometimes it’s a few things, sometimes it’s a long list.
When you ask yourself questions in an honest, compassionate self-inquiry, you can distill your intentions into a higher order. Imagine one to three of the most meaningful intentions at the top, with sub-intentions cascading down like an umbrella.
Discomfort can play a key role in this process by helping in identifying the things that are the most painful to us and that need the most attention.
Do certain intentions stir up emotions or reignite your discomfort when you talk about them? If so, that can mean that those intentions are closer to the root of the discomfort that you want to work on.
Navigating the Psychedelic Experience
If you can increase your capacity and capability during preparation, it will carry over to your psychedelic experience in a way that allows you to better support you.
We’ve discussed “bad trips” in depth, but part of what can cause bad trips is being unprepared, unsupported, and leaving your content unprocessed afterwards, which is different from challenging and difficult content that may arise during the experience.
Facilitators will oftentimes see specific content arise in their clients that seem to tug on some tether within the soul, and likely encourage them to explore that in preparation, the client can then make a judgement call during the psychedelic experience to determine if it’s within their window of tolerance to explore.
Recommended Reading: The Psychedelic Therapy Process: a Step-by-Step Guide
Instead of shying away from discomfort, it’s no surprise we believe in leaning into it. We believe in sitting with it, embodying it, and breathing into it. Focusing your awareness and your attention there, and see where it leads.
So as you think of discomfort, I hope you see it in a new light, and as an invitation to explore the most raw parts of yourself and a future bursting with possibility.
From Discomfort to Disillusion
Okay, so it’s okay to be uncomfortable, now what?
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- Understanding the Psychedelic Transformation: From recreational exploration to therapeutic healing, examine the evolving nature of psychedelic experiences and their impact on internal narratives about personal growth.
- Find The Value in Anecdotes: Still not sure what you’re getting yourself into? Check out other’s stories to get a better idea on how magic mushrooms make you feel.
- Psychedelics & Parenting: Being mindful of yourself isn’t the only thing that comes with expanded awareness, learn how it can affect your family dynamics and motherhood as well.
- Fight, Flight or Fawn: Our nervous system plays a big role in intentional psychedelic use, discover how it works so you can use it to your advantage.
- Awaken Your Inner Child: Growing up doesn’t mean shutting down. The things we leave behind as we grow might be the key to true healing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. How is “discomfort” defined in the context of psychedelic healing, and why is it considered a “forgotten pillar”?
In this context, discomfort is defined not as chronic, uncontrollable pain, but as a subtle, persistent feeling of being “off” or “run down.” It’s considered a “forgotten pillar” because people often try to eliminate this feeling, but it is a crucial tool for healing, acting as a signal that something needs to be addressed.
2. What is the significance of the “fish in the pond” analogy?
The analogy illustrates that the source of one’s discomfort may not be an individual failing, but rather the external environment. Just as a fish cannot thrive in polluted water regardless of its personal efforts to stay healthy, a person can feel chronic discomfort due to the unhealthy “water” of modern society, its systems and pressures, and traumas, rather than a personal flaw.
3. How can discomfort be used as a “compass” during the healing process?
Discomfort can be used as a guide, pointing to sensitive areas that need attention and “rehabilitation.” This is likened to a physical injury that guides a person to what is sensitive. In the context of psychedelics, focusing on which intentions or topics stir up discomfort can help identify the root of the problem that needs to be addressed.
4. What is the perspective on the difference between a “bad trip” and a “challenging experience” in psychedelic use?
A “bad trip” is distinguished from a “challenging experience” by its cause. A bad trip is often a result of being unprepared or unsupported. A “challenging experience,” on the other hand, is when difficult content arises during the psychedelic journey. In the right context, it may be beneficial to lean into this challenging content, sitting with and breathing into the discomfort, as a necessary part of the healing process.
5. Why might older individuals have a unique advantage in psychospiritual healing?
Older clients, who may have spent a lifetime accumulating experiences and reinforcing certain patterns, are often the ones with the most content to unpack. However, they also possess the wisdom and tools to sit with and deal with the discomfort of that process, which allows for a deeper and more profound healing journey.
References
Cipriani, A., Williams, T., Nikolakopoulou, A., Salanti, G., Chaimani, A., Ipser, J., Cowen, P. J., Geddes, J. R., & Stein, D. J. (2017). Comparative efficacy and acceptability of pharmacological treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: a network meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 48(12), 1975–1984. https://doi.org/10.1017/s003329171700349x
Zaretsky, T. G., Jagodnik, K. M., Barsic, R., Antonio, J. H., Bonanno, P. A., MacLeod, C., Pierce, C., Carney, H., Morrison, M. T., Saylor, C., Danias, G., Lepow, L., & Yehuda, R. (2024).
The Psychedelic Future of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment. Current Neuropharmacology, 22(4), 636–735. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159×22666231027111147
