Live data from Hacker News

Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

slatestarcodex.com

81–90 of 190 posts

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#81

Some people have "Profound Life-changing spiritual experiences" and it would be nice if those stuck around for longer than the week or two afterward. IME they seem to fade as you get wound back up in the culture and everyday grind.

IME, this.. however, not everyone who experiments with psychedelics is fortunate enough to experience them. I know it's cliché, but integration is key. Our work is here, so you have to make use of those lessons as best you can.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Although I can also conjure some low-level hallucinations when "looking at the back of my eyelids" when falling asleep. I imagine that's pretty normal/common since low light is sort of like sensory deprivation. Me too, and it's definitely a result of taking psychedelics. I quite like it. I suspect that I could have always made those CEVs appear, but I didn't "know how" until taking psychedelics. In other words, I h…

> Me too, and it's definitely a result of taking psychedelics. I quite like it. I suspect that I could have always made those CEVs appear, but I didn't "know how" until taking psychedelics. Me too and it's probably not a result of taking psychedelics; as I've never tried them recreationally. I did, however, have vivid hallucinations as a result of Nitrous oxide at the dentist office as a child. I don't think I see fl…

Further searching the web seems to suggest that Nitrous oxide doesn't cause hallucinations, but I remember them pretty vividly. It's also pretty well documented that we can't rely on our memories. Makes me wonder.

Mine are definitely not the same as the ones you get from rubbing your eyes. Mine happen only occasionally in a very dark room and look more like a red/orange on a black background in a kaleidoscope.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#83
post #63
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You essentially did everything wrong. I'm a bit amazed actually.

I'm sorry but that is funny. Checklist for a first badtrip. 1) be alone. 2) take it too late to sleep at a reasonable hour. 3) start researching only after taking it.

Point (3) specifically is easily the worst, because you start researching after you get anxious, and what you find will make you even more anxious, because if you are looking for potential side effects and issues, that's exactly what you are going to find. The positive feedback loop with this one is pretty bad.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#84
Around the mid 1990s I hung out with a few ravers and hippies (different music, similar overall vibe), and several told me they'd done so much acid that they tripped all the time.

I had chalked it up to either exaggeration or the awakened latent schizophrenia thing until now, but maybe there was more to it. Apparently the relevant subreddit has existed for 11 years! I feel out of the loop, but I'm super glad these conversations are happening. As others have pointed out, we could have been so much further along in research on this stuff if it wasn't for the boneheaded War On Drugs.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#85
post #71

Ate a couple tabs a day for a couple months in high school. It will stick for a couple years. When I say stick. If you look at wallpaper, it would slightly swirl. Take everything said about these thing with a massive grain of salt. The entire point is exploring how you are an individual from the rest of a time churning universe.

I'm tempted to do some unpublished science with a sample size of one on that. Given the ridiculously rapid tolerance one builds to LSD, I'm a bit skeptical and taking the claim with the grain of salt you prescribed ;)

Assuming good faith, do you regret eating all that acid?

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#86
post #4

I have always steered clear of psychedelics. I know some people are super into legalization, but I wager it's a bit irresponsible considering we barely understand their long (and short, for that matter) -term effects. There's some evidence where psychedelics (particularly LSD) may have triggered schizophrenia in some patients[1]. Musician Daniel Johnston (he passed away a few months ago) is a notable case. [1] https:…

Latent schizophrenics shouldn't take psychoactive drugs of any kind. Schizophrenics (like other people suffering from mental illness) are prone to self-medicate as well though. And the evidence that someone prone to schizophrenia who develops it because of drug use but wouldn't have otherwise developed schizophrenia is scant or non-existent.

The problem with latent schizophrenia is that it's latent. You don't know that you're a latent schizophrenic until the illness is triggered.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#87
post #76
post #8

So I wonder: psychedelics make you more likely to believe woo, and more likely to have certain classes of visual hallucinations. But some people believe woo without taking psychedelics, and some people have those same visual hallucinations without taking psychedelics. Interesting, I believe it and have always wondered about this. I think people's sensory experiences vary wildly by nature, but we have no access to the…

> I can also conjure some low-level hallucinations when "looking at the back of my eyelids" when falling asleep. Sounds like a closed-eye hallucination ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-eye_hallucination ) caused by the Ganzfeld effect ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_effect ). I get these too, usually just if I concentrate. I think they've been easier to get since I tried mushrooms a couple of times, bu…

Wow, good find. I had no idea that there was a name for it.

One hop away from that page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_cinema

> Others have noted a connection between the form the lights take and neolithic cave paintings.

That's a really great way to explain it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_painting#/media/File:(1)J... is pretty accurate for me

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#88
post #4

I have always steered clear of psychedelics. I know some people are super into legalization, but I wager it's a bit irresponsible considering we barely understand their long (and short, for that matter) -term effects. There's some evidence where psychedelics (particularly LSD) may have triggered schizophrenia in some patients[1]. Musician Daniel Johnston (he passed away a few months ago) is a notable case. [1] https:…

Look up the statistics surrounding schizophrenia related illnesses and cannabis use[1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_cannabis#...

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#89

> A Reddit user helpfully illustrated what his (particularly severe) HPPD looked like (note especially the subtle square grid in left picture): I have always seen artifacts around light, even before psychedelic use. Ordinary things would have an aura. This is probably due to how visual information is processed by your optic nerve.

Astigmatism can potentially contribute significantly to that, depending on the pattern seen. Mine causes it and it's particularly noticeable at night with street lights.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#90
post #83
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but that is funny. Checklist for a first badtrip. 1) be alone. 2) take it too late to sleep at a reasonable hour. 3) start researching only after taking it.

Point (3) specifically is easily the worst, because you start researching after you get anxious, and what you find will make you even more anxious, because if you are looking for potential side effects and issues, that's exactly what you are going to find. The positive feedback loop with this one is pretty bad.

I also did point (4). I talked to my grandma on the phone. I called her an hour before I took it, but she called back an hour after I took it. The surprising thing is that I actually didn't have a bad trip. It was just pretty meh after I tried everything in the vicinity.
Post reply on HN