Susie and David Stadnick were never drug addicts, but when they turned 59 last August, the couple decided it was time to give it a try.
“We wanted to be more spiritual,” Suzy said.
So, the couple, who are venture capitalists and split their time between Central Park South and Vancouver, began indulging in anesthetic. Head to luxury Costa Rica to retreat Rhytmia for a week of organic food and massage, plus a “liberation dance” and four nights of ayahuasca under medical supervision.
On the first night, David dropped three glasses of ayahuasca thick molasses and went into a meltdown.
“I was trying to avoid the angular visions coming at me, which wasn’t much fun,” he told The Post. The next night he took a smaller dose and had a very good trip.
“That was the best night of my life,” he said. “I met the lost soul when I was a kid and we had a conversation, and I really don’t like it. There were two dogs shaman there and one of them came in, stuck out his very long tongue and said, ‘You’re fine, you know’…It was such a wonderful and beautiful experience. I was floating and I thought “If I needed to die, it had to be now because I don’t think I would feel better.”
The Stadnyks have returned to Rhythmia several times over the past year; Suzy even went once with their 25-year-old daughter.
“It’s the best environment you can experience [ayahuasca]Suzy gushed. “It’s like a five-star resort and forces you to trust them. You go in there so you don’t do it on your friend’s couch and freak out. “
Traditionally in the field of Timothy Leary’s assistants, and more recently, Burning Man and Coachella, psychedelic drugs are now mainstream and upscale. Wealthy New Yorkers travel to South and Central America to enjoy luxurious ayahuasca experiences, toss in the Caribbean or on dates in the Hamptons, and see psychiatrists using ketamine, the only drug allowed in New York. (Psilocybin mushrooms are legal under medical supervision in California and Oregon and decriminalized in several other places in the United States.)
Last month in St. Tropez, the mental health nonprofit Aurora Foundation, co-founded by German billionaire Christian Angermayer, hosted a star-studded “Evening of Discovery” researching the science behind the psychedelic with Queen Latifah, Cameron Winklevoss and Robbie Williams in attendance. Actress and comedian Ali Wong has written publicly about doing regular vines and ayahuasca with her husband, while the Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers Recently attributed to “magic mushrooms” and ayahuasca To provide him with the mental clarity it required a $200 million contract extension. The rich and the powerful It just goes off.
“I’m at Gucci buying clothes now. I wear Chanel and I’m not an editorial dance hippie,” Suzy said. “Friends find it surprising that I do this, but I fell in love with it.”
The 42-year-old tech man, who requested anonymity due to legal concerns, spoke of being turned into mushrooms by a woman he met at an entrepreneur retreat. “We started dating and she said ‘I think we can have a good time doing this together,’” said the man who lives in Flatiron. At first he resisted it, but now he feels the hallucinogenic drugs were too expansive.
“I’ve always been very anti-drugs and my brain makes my money, so I didn’t want to mess with it,” he said. “I’m an engineer – until now I haven’t been a great person – but things became clear when I took it and the dots just connected.” He also abandoned traditional treatment, replacing it with mushroom trips with the help of a healer.
“This has become one of the biggest underground movements,” he said. “I know therapists now who won’t see you if you don’t take psychedelics.”
At the end of July, Dr. Leah Lees, a psychiatrist, opened the Hamptons Insight Center, where she treats patients with ketamine.
“Traditional psychotropics such as Prozac or Zoloft weren’t curing patients; they could have served as first aid, but hallucinogens offered new frontiers in mental health.” “A lot of people do it illegally for entertainment, but it’s all legal.”
Its luxurious new clinic has soundproofed rooms, so patients – a mix of Hamptons locals and a summery mix of finance, professionals, and entertainment types – can cry and scream without causing discomfort. “I walk them through the beautiful experience of unraveling the trauma they have had for years,” Lis said. “Dope hit the zeitgeist and this is their cultural moment.”
Not all contractions are completely compatible with the new wave. Phoenix-based psychiatrist Dr. Jane Kaplan, whose staff is trained to use ketamine, have reservations. “They have potential for abuse. We’re rewiring the brain, and I hope we can use it to solve problems, but my concern is that people will abuse another drug, and this class of drugs is the most powerful psychoactive class in existence. We’ve seen people who have become increasingly traumatized. Worse, and when people take them in a festive situation — especially under the age of 25 when the frontal lobe isn’t connected to the rest of the brain — you’re likely to rewire the essential aspects of the brain.What is referred to as a “k hole” is a very dark place you can fall into and you can’t necessarily Climb to get out of it. People can hit a place where their defenses are down and it’s a place to protect themselves from.”
“I’m an engineer – until now I haven’t been a great person – but things became clear when I took it and the dots just connected.”
Unknown tech worker, 42, Manhattan
But many are not worried about possible side effects. A New York City publicist told Lifestyle World, “A lot of women I know take the drug because alcohol has so many calories.”
An attractive 44-year-old editor recently went on the Fourth of July in Montauk with a finance manager in his fifties who owns a gorgeous ocean house. She was surprised, but not alarmed, when he turned to her, stared into her eyes and asked, “Have you ever eaten mushrooms?”
She was excited about the idea. “It was an adventure,” said the Upper East Sider. “It’s something he does regularly and I’ve never done. Everyone seems to care. It felt different than if I were drinking; kind of like a bowl without the paranoia.”
Watching the fireworks on the beach has become a heightened experience. It was fun; it’s just mushrooms, and it’s something a designer has to do these days.”