Welcome to Back from the Abyss. I'm Dr. Craig Hecock.

Chris and I have now produced 42 episodes. It's been such a meaningful and amazing adventure. And I've been thinking about how to get

more feedback from our listeners, how to connect with you guys on a deeper level. Initially, I thought I

would do some sort of, I don't know, survey monkey thing, but that seems so COVID-y and distant and

not that much fun.

So, I've decided to do a little experiment in connection and podcast feedback.

I invite you to email me on my website, craighecockmd.com.

If you're interested in having a phone or video chat with me about Back from the Abyss,

I'd love to know who you are, how you found the podcast, what you like, what moves you,

what you'd like to see more of, what you'd like to see less of, all constructive criticism

is welcome.

I'm thinking that I'll pick some number of responses. I'm not

sure how many yet, and I'll give each person a call. I'm actually really excited to reach out to you,

so just let me know if you're interested. This episode is not like anything we've had on Back

from the Abyss before. Late last year, I got an email from Ian Jaded, a Colorado-based author, artist, and

video producer, who said that he had some stories that might be interesting for the show. So,

I reached out to him and found, holy cow, Ian has so many stories, many of them with themes we've

never explored on the podcast.

So after a few phone calls, we distilled the magical mystery tour of his fascinating life

into two major abyss stories. First, Ian's descent into eventual breakdown and brief psychosis

after his psychonaut plunge into the realm of lucid dreaming.

Then later, Ian used the African psychedelic Iboga, or Ibogaine, to pull himself out of the hell of opiate addiction.

...