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Personal Breakthrough From Addiction After Psychedelic Integration
Living with addiction from a young age, Christian Rasmussen made a personal breakthrough with addiction after integrating his psychedelic experiences. He speaks to States of Mind about how the real work begins with integration.
Christian Rasmussen struggled with addiction to opioids and benzodiazepines, reaching a turning point in 2019 when he began working with psychedelic mushrooms.
After attempting numerous times to break his addiction, Rasmussen began microdosing, which he says led to significant relief and long-term benefits. But what really led to his breakthrough was integrating the insights gained from microdosing.
While traditional approaches such as talk therapy often focus on supporting people using one type of therapy, integration incorporates various elements such as mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, and body movement to create a personalized and holistic approach to physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
Now, Rasmussen, CEO of Amentara, hopes more people can benefit from integrating their therapeutic experiences.
My Experience With Addiction
Growing up in Minnesota and attending a private school, Rasmussen was a high-achieving student but experienced bullying and isolation from his peers. This culminated in what he described as his first “dark night of the soul” as a teenager, when he experienced depression, anorexia, and self-harm.
“I got extraordinarily depressed and was suicidal,” says Rasmussen.
“Fortunately, I ended up getting into treatment at 13. That’s where I found substances, and in one sense, it saved my life. It gave me something to hold on to that had at least some stability, it seemed.”
Rasmussen says this narrative continued through his teen years, and his addiction progressed as he went through college.
“I decided that I was going to get into real estate, which I did, but all the while, my addiction was getting more progressed and volatile,” says Rasmussen.
“I was able to manage everything very well. I was a functional addict, as they say, but then I got into opioids and benzodiazepines in my early 20s. It seemed like I was doing really well, but there was a lot of internal chaos. I was trying to figure out how to manage, but I was utilizing substances for it.”
When Rasmussen tried to overcome his addiction in 2019, he faced tough physical, mental, and emotional withdrawal challenges.
“I kicked opiates first, which was difficult, but then it was time to kick benzodiazepines,” says Rasmussen.
“They are known as the worst drugs to get off, which is really sad, in my opinion, because they’re prescribed and doctors often don’t understand the real ramifications and pain that withdrawal can bring.”
Rasmussen described the withdrawal as living in a “constant panic attack state.”
“I was a year into this withdrawal, living in terror and fear constantly — my life was falling apart. I was getting ready to end it all.”
This is when Rasmussen discovered microdosing.
While there is currently limited research on the clinical benefits of microdosing, many anecdotal reports and observational studies1 suggest that the practice may hold benefits for wellbeing such as reduced anxiety and depression symptoms.
However, for Rasmussen, real transformational work took place later, during integration.
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How Integration Broke My Addiction
Already practicing meditation, Rasmussen says that microdosing at a very low dose facilitated a relief of his panic, enabling him to shift into a state of mind where he was able to work on his struggles.
“It was as if I was drowning for the past year and I could finally breathe again,” says Rasmussen.
“After two weeks, I stopped using them. It was as if they rewired my brain and provided a relaxation of the nervous system.”
This was when Rasmussen began his integration journey, working with mentors and practicing breathwork, yoga, meditation, and journaling.
Rasmussen explains that the psychedelics allowed him to see more clearly where his destructive thoughts and behaviours were coming from, and make adjustments in real time.
“If someone is doing a psychedelic journey, you may be confronting these issues symbolically,” says Rasmussen.
“Afterwards, you have to integrate all of that, which can be very hard. Integration is really the most important aspect of these substances, because without integration, nothing has changed.”
Rasmussen emphasises that integration takes place in real time, where certain triggers would elicit a certain negative behavioral response, he was now able to make different, healthier choices.
“This time, my nervous system was relaxed, and there’s a little bit more space being gently nudged to choose this response,” he says.
“Once that response is chosen, it seems to rewire the brain very effectively and quickly, and allow for that new pathway to be established so that I can continuously make that change.”
Rasmussen says the psychedelics create space to make different choices and maintain a regulated nervous system throughout the integration practices.
“It has all contributed to my progress. The progress really comes down to diligence in continuously watching how I’m thinking and reacting to things, and making adjustments wherever I can. It’s definitely a never-ending process.”
Taking Control of Our Wellbeing
While research is showing that psychedelics hold potential as innovative therapeutics for mental health, researchers have warned that they are not a “silver bullet2.”
Furthermore, research suggests that integrating the psychedelic experience is vital for any long-term benefits.
Rasmussen echoes this sentiment and emphasises that integration helps people to take stock of their thoughts and reactions, and is where a real transformation can take place.
“You get stuck in these ruts of expression and reaction, and I think oftentimes that’s probably what makes it last so long,” says Rasmussen.
“The ruts get so deep that they are really hard to get out of. We all have things that we could do a little bit better for ourselves or for the people around us. Integration seems to be a really wonderful tool to help us change our personality structure and change the way that we interact with the world.”
Expert Board Member
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is becoming popular for the treatment of addiction and other mental health conditions. However, the benefit may not only be from the substance itself but from the process of integration that psychedelics encourage. Some people have found microdosing psychedelics helpful for creating insight and new thought pathways.
