Dr. Ben Malcolm is unlike most pharmacists you will meet. Ben is a TRAILBLAZER! As a Psychopharmacology Consultant, Psychedelic Educator, and founder of https://www.spiritpharmacist.com, Ben’s name is popping up around the world when it comes to psychedelics and medication. Ben is a global change agent and I am honored to have him on Now and Zen! Ben envisions a society in which access to psychedelic drugs in a variety of safe and supported settings is available for purposes of psychospiritual well-being, personal development, ceremonial sacraments, and treatment of mental illness. His focus is on the intersection between psychiatric medications and psychedelic therapies. 

FRIENDS! Whether you are curious about tapering off antidepressants (with or without psychedelics or work as a therapist or psychedelic integrator, this episode is for you! In this episode we talk about the intersection of tapering off antidepressants with the aid of psychedelics, namely mushroom psilocybin. Depression, anxiety and suicide are at an epidemic rate and as a result we see antidepressant prescriptions on the rise in the U.S. Many of us take antidepressants for months, years, even a decade or more. Since psilocybin has been decriminalized here in Denver, Colorado, microdosing is becoming extremely popular, along with questions of how it intersects with tapering off of antidepressants. 

My greatest hope in sharing this episode is to help prevent any of you who may be curious about tapering off antidepressants to know there is education and AMAZING help available! You don’t have to go about it blindly and alone like I did! As someone who took the antidepressant, Lexapro, for over a decade after a traumatic event, I am coming out of the psychedelic closet  to share my personal experience tapering off Lexapro while microdosing with psilocybin.  Lexapro helped me cope, but I wanted to HEAL. It took me nearly a year & a lot of unanswered Q's to wean off Lexapro. If I had known Ben because I would have absolutely taken advantage of his consulting on tapering! 

In this episode, Ben and I chat about the following: 

• How psilocybin can help us break habitual patterns by activating change processes relating to our brain’s neuroplasticity 
• Why it is important to understand psychedelics are not a direct replacement for antidepressants
• Why psilocybin is considered one of the safest psychedelics 
• Withdrawal symptoms of antidepressants and how they can affect each of us differently
• How psilocybin can be used as an aid when tapering off antidepressant medication
• The relative physical safety of psilocybin compared to other psychedelics (ketamine, LSD, ayahuasca, MDMA, libogain.) 
• Important contraindication of psilocybin to consider
• The therapeutic potential of psychedelics in general
• The oppression of scientific inquiry stemming from prohibition of psychedelics and where we are today
• Ben’s CEU course for therapists, tapering antidepressant course, consulting services for you (and your clients) and how to gain lifelong access to his amazing resources on Spiritual Pharmacist

Dr. Malcolm’s website, consulting & courses:  https://www.spiritpharmacist.com Free guide on tapering antidepressants: https://www.spiritpharmacist.com/adtaper
Dr. Ben Malcolm's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritpharmacist/

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