[https://smoothbrains.net/posts/2023-08-01-ketamine.html]

The Bayesian brain is constantly working to update its priors in order to make better predictions, thus minimising prediction errors – but sometimes priors get stuck. For instance, someone who was raised in a high-conflict environment might remain paralysed by social anxiety in adult life, even if their life is now conflict-free. So, how does ketamine help with this kind of thing? Ketamine may be regarded as an all-purpose lubricant for stuck priors.

When I first began experimenting with ketamine, I did not intend use it for therapeutic purposes – it just sort of happened spontaneously. During recreational use, I found myself able to step out of a wide array of reflexive, maladaptive behavioural patterns. I also found that uncomfortable or emotional topics were much easier to think about and openly discuss – because I wasn’t reflexively cringing at myself, or clenching upon fixations – and I eventually carried this over into more deliberately constructed but still fairly informal one-on-one counseling sessions with a trusted friend.