Ryan Chrapko ate some psilocybin half an hour ago. He鈥檚 been staring at the same tree now for 10 minutes. It wasn鈥檛 a lot of mushrooms, only about a quarter of a gram. It鈥檚 just enough to unlock a sense of childlike wonder in his psyche at this particular moment.
It鈥檚 almost like he鈥檇 never seen an evergreen before, with its infinite number of thin needles pointing up toward a clear blue sky.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny that I鈥檓 talking into this microphone right now while looking at that. It鈥檚 really the reason why I like to come out here. It鈥檚 mountains, it鈥檚 a beautiful scene,鈥� Chrapko said. 鈥淏eauty, nature 鈥� it鈥檚 a reminder of who you are.鈥�
At this moment, he鈥檚 a happy camper. Go back four years and he was miserable.
In March 2020, as a junior in high school, Chrapko鈥檚 mental health was at an all-time low. He was self-medicating with alcohol, marijuana and illicit prescription medications. They just made the problem worse. He wasn鈥檛 doing anything to address either issue. Instead, he was taking things out on others.
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