The Power of Community
How to Access Free Peer-Support
At the beginning of my journey with psilocybin, I did my research, actively seeking information and educating myself on the topic. I’d never experimented with psychedelics before I was diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD.
I was curious about how they worked. What would it feel like? How much should I take? What were the actual risks?
Divorced and unemployed at the time, my battle with mental health didn’t make it easy on my bank account, and a guided retreat was out of reach when I needed it the most.
I would have to DIY my healing. It was time to give my psyche a fresh coat of paint, just like the old furniture, that I couldn’t stand looking at anymore.
As the months went by, I started getting better. I started writing and nourishing my soul - I cried, I felt my emotions, and I let the mushrooms do their work, uninterrupted. All in all, my DIY project was going well.
It wasn’t until I set an intention to work through deeper traumas, that I realized I needed help and support through the process. This was different, it was deeper. It was something like emotional childbirth, or psyche surgery.
The mushrooms started whispering to me that I couldn’t go any further alone, because my real medicine was connection and support. They wrote me a prescription -to connect and seek wisdom from other women who had been in my shoes.
But how can I connect, and where?
Dysphoric Project Peer-Support Network
Over the past several months, I’ve been interviewing other women with PMDD who also work with psychedelics. What started out as research, turned out to be my medicine, as prescribed by the mushroom.
I could connect in these interviews in a way I hadn’t been able to before.
The interviews often went over, because we would get lost in deep, engaging conversations. I realized that I was experiencing something new, that was bringing joy to my life, and even though many of the conversations involved suicidal ideation, we could talk about it openly and honestly, and without judgement.
For many women with PMDD, suicidal ideation is just another Tuesday. However, these conversations can make other people feel very uncomfortable, which makes the situation worse.
During the interviews, I realized every woman I talked to was a healer, even if they didn’t call themselves healers. They were helping me heal through connection, and I was in awe of them - deeply inspired by their stories of pain and transmutation. If they could keep going, and chase their dreams, despite their struggles, so could I.
These experiences showed me that a PMDD connection can be deeply sacred and healing in itself.
Being able to relate to others in this way is what inspired my vision of a community, centered around getting better, and learning how to live our best lives with PMDD.
While I had the vision, I didn’t have the resources to create an online community. Running a psychedelic nonprofit really does rely on magic.
Then……I Met This Guy
Usually, when I start a story with ‘I met a guy’, it doesn’t end well. Thankfully, I’m much better at business partnerships than I am at romance.
During a serendipitous encounter at a psychedelic integration circle, that I almost didn’t go to, I met a new friend. A former ship captain, and entrepreneur, he was working through the loss of a close friend.
Just like all of us sitting in the room that day, Jake was trying to connect and search for a deeper calling within himself. He was healing too. He was soul-searching.
Unsure of what the next chapter of his life would look like, he was digging deep to find meaning amidst the emotional chaos.
We chatted for awhile, and after telling a whole room of strangers about my period problems, he asked for a link to my latest book, Channel Twelve.
Like a divinely orchestrated plan, several other women in Jake’s life started opening up about their own struggles with PMDD, and other menstrual problems like endometriosis and PCOS.
After a few months, it was as if he was surrounded by us on all sides. A spiritual intervention of sorts.
Confused about the results of his soul-searching quest, somehow he kept ending up in random conversations about periods.
Needless to say, when Jake decided to launch a global psychedelic community to help people connect and heal, he reserved a seat at the table, just for us.
What started as a random conversation with a stranger, ended up being the exact partnership I needed to bring my vision into reality.
The Dysphoric Project now has a free, private, peer-support community, rooted in suicide prevention, and harm reduction.
Thanks Jake - We see you.
RSVPs
We are excited to announce we already have RSVPs from several countries outside of the US, and we are looking forward to connecting women around the world, who are interested in psychedelic healing for premenstrual conditions.
If you’ve already sent your RSVP for the launch, you will be receiving an email from tina@dysphoricproject.org with further details in the coming week.
The theme for our first wave is party planning. We’re getting organized, gathering the tribe, and actively seeking the required resources and partnerships.
If you haven’t sent your RSVP yet, there is still time to join us for the first wave.
I’m not sure if I’m happier about connecting with others, or helping other people connect. Either way, after 20 years of PMDD hell, I plan on spending the next 20 years partying and connecting with my new friends from around the world.
BIG HUGS - Tina