Matthias Diesch, MSc

My own “hero's journey” confronted me in my childhood and youth with severe skin irritations and allergies, but also with the iron curtain of the Cold War, which was felt both in a transgenerationally traumatized parental home and through a neighbouring US nuclear missile station in Southern Germany. In my "Sturm und Drang" phase, I broke through my emotional walls in the electronic music and rave scene of the 1990s, during which time I undertook my first experiments with psychedelic substances. My resulting interest in the adventure of self-discovery led me to different shamans and their traditional healing rituals. By emigrating to Switzerland I had the opportunity to get trained in psychedelics and their therapeutic use. There were a few medical Psychiatrists who had the official OK from the government to treat patients with MDMA and LSD. In this surrounding I felt in love with my wife. We now (in 2025) celebrate our 20th anniversary of our first kiss on LSD. In 2012 for writing my master thesis for my degree Master of Science I did some research to the first LSD-psychotherapy study in Switzerland which was done by Peter Gasser MD and financed by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) In 2015 out of that research my book "LSD: back into clinical research" (in German language) was published in the Swiss Nachtschatten-Verlag. Therefore the founder of MAPS, Rick Doblin honored me by writing the foreword to my book.