We might be only a year or two away from legalizing psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, for therapeutic use in the United States. Let’s talk about what that might look like for future trauma treatment.

We’re in our shrooms era. That’s right. I said it. Psilocybin is having a glow-up in the psychotherapeutic community, and we are excited about what that means for future trauma treatments.

Have you ever found yourself scrolling on your phone for hours and then not being able to remember what you watched? Or maybe you feel overwhelmed all the time. Or numb. Does this sound familiar? Let’s talk about the freeze response and dissociation 101.

You know how to read other people and assess for danger (read: rejection) better than you know yourself. That’s where that whole confusing-their-needs-for-yours thing gets so hard to tease apart: fawning can feel like knowing exactly what someone wants and being in alignment with that and that alone. But fawning is actually knowing how to protect yourself (most of the time) from being ignored, unaccepted, or pushed to the side by catering to the potential abandonment-risk-of-a-person in front of you.

Most people try to please others at some point. It’s a pretty human thing to do. But they’re usually doing it from a place of being in touch with their own needs, emotions, and sense of self-worth that transcends whatever they can do for another person. So what happens when someone isn’t?

When someone is in an abusive relationship, they might stay and try to “fawn” their abuser, making sure their meal is cooked by the time they get home, their favorite beer is fully stocked in the fridge, and their kids are put to sleep. They “fawn” so that their abuser doesn’t explode. It’s a protective mechanism to prevent their abuser from causing more damage.

Let’s say you’ve got a good handle on a couple of triggers you have. You thought you knew what put you in “The Bad Place,” but now you’ve got a couple more things that you’re aware of. Now you can recognize when you’re feeling terrible, and maybe even how you’re feeling, in general, a good amount of the time. That’s great! Let’s talk about actually *doing* all those things on that list.

You know most people think of productivity as doing the most at the flip of a switch. You also know that doesn’t describe you outside of the rare day you finish some things, but also go into that fuzzy space where fingernails magically get chewed off and you forget to feed yourself, let alone blink. And you know productivity should be attainable. It should account for people like you with PTSD.

Your brain is very good at scanning your environment, both internally and externally, for threats to your survival. In fact, it’s probably reacting to perceived threats most of the time you can’t seem to take that next step in your day. And that doesn’t make you “unproductive” or “lazy.” It just means your brain frequently has different goals than you want it to. But why is it so hard to be productive after trauma? Read more to learn why.