I don't think this sort of phenomenon is unique to psychedelics. Anti-anxiety drugs (Benzos) used carefully for extreme anxiety issues can help reduce anxiety to a manageable level. It gives a person the opportunity to learn to manage their anxiety that would be difficult when in an extreme state. Then reduce the dose, repeat the process, etc.<p>I'll reiterate though: This needs to be a careful, deliberate process undertaken with both a pdoc to manage meds and a therapist to assist with coping skills, along with a close eye that the process is working rather than the drugs becoming a crutch. And it certainly won't work if the dose is high enough to eliminate anxiety instead reducing it.<p>Totally masking negative emotions, be it depression, anxiety, mania, etc.... that should only rarely be an initial goal. Medication should help people reach a state where those things are manageable, and work from there. Long term medication is absolutely a necessary option, but should be an approach taken when problems have been shown to be recalcitrant to various treatment options designed to help a person overcome the root causes of their problems. I fully understand that such a goal is often not attainable though. I'm often frustrated by folks who say otherwise and espouse some cure-all like a keto diet or various supplements, or plenty of other such things. It's great if it works for a person, but they are, at their core, body-changing treatments themselves, and just like all medications for these issues, whether or not they work for a person is often hit or miss.