Spare | Harry’s drugs connection: Why it is unsafe to use psychedelic to deal with trauma

Spare | Harry’s drugs connection: Why it is unsafe to use psychedelic to deal with trauma

Lachmi Deb Roy January 18, 2023, 12:36:12 IST

Prince Harry mentioned in his memoir Spare that he resorted to psychedelic drugs to deal with the trauma of his mother Princess Diana’s death. A look at how psychedelic drugs can be dangerous.

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Prince Harry admitted in his book Spare mentioned that he used psychedelic drugs to deal with him mother Lady Diana’s death. Ever since that psychedelic drugs have become a hot topic of discussion. During  Harry’s interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, he touches upon a topic from his book about how he used psychedelic drugs to deal with the death of his mother several years later. He mentioned that he had a lot of trouble coping with the loss, even having a hard time believing she was truly dead. Psychedelic drugs come with their own share of effects and adverse effects. Further studies are definitely required to know the long term side effects due to regular and prolonged use of these drugs. Though many studies have shown that addiction and abuse of psychedelic drugs is not a problem, it is the tolerance part that is a worrying attribute. Dr. Sonal Anand, psychiatrist, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai says “Although most psychedelics have not been directly responsible for causing death, the judgment of users is certainly impaired and can pose a greater risk in an unsupervised setting. The safety concerns with psychedelics are predominantly psychological but studies have shown that pre-existing physical conditions might show exacerbations because of tachycardia, increased blood pressure and heart rate. One major concern of hallucinogen use is that hallucinogen persisting perception disorder. It is characterised by re-experiencing of the perceptual distortions induced by a hallucinogen at some later time. HPPD is composed of afterimages, and perceived distortions of movements. These can cause more anxiety, can lead to re- experiencing the same trauma and worsen depression and PTSD or acute stress. Due to tolerance increased doses of the psychedelics might have to be taken to relieve trauma and these increased doses might not have the same pleasurable effect.” Why Harry used psychedelics drugs In his book _Spare_ Harry mentioned, “For a long time, I just refused to accept that she was— she was gone," Harry said. “Part of, you know, she would never do this to us, but also part of, maybe this is all part of a plan.” He even thought maybe she had purposely disappeared and “she would call” him and his brother, William, to “go and join her. He claimed that psychedelics worked as a medicine to deal with the misery of his loss.

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Drugs used by Harry In his memoir, SpareHarry also reflects on sharing a ‘spliff’ with friends in his Eton days in a tiny washroom. He writes in the memoir, “I knew this was bad behaviour. I knew it was wrong. My mates knew too. We talked about it often, while stoned, how stupid we were to be wasting an Eton education.” Harry also confessed to taking cocaine, ketamine and magic mushrooms, and described how he hallucinated that a bin was talking to him. He felt that the use of psychedelic drugs helped him deal with the grief and trauma he felt after the death of his mother, Lady Diana. He said using psychedelics when he got older ‘cleared away the idea’ that he needed be sad to prove he ‘missed’ his mother. He has also mentioned about his drug connection is the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  FacebookTwitter and Instagram

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Lachmi Deb Roy is the entertainment editor of Firtspost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes huge interest in world cinema. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until its a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too. see more

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