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Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

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Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#171

Post by khafra »

morningseagulls wrote: post #166
precisioncoder wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something I'm surprised hasn't come up yet is the ability to flex... "something" in your brain and turn hallucinations on and off. I grew up in a Buddhist family and was meditating since an early age. I'm not sure if this was related at all but since I was young I could look at things when I was bored and do something in my brain that would cause the patterns to move. If I then needed to concentrate I could focus and…

>Something I'm surprised hasn't come up yet is the ability to flex... "something" in your brain and turn hallucinations on and off. >I grew up in a Buddhist family and was meditating since an early age. I'm not sure if this was related at all but since I was young I could look at things when I was bored and do something in my brain that would cause the patterns to move. If I then needed to concentrate I could focus a…

Extrapolating from the article and associated research, what you're describing as a mental "flex" may be an ability to consciously weight higher-level models over lower-level ones, and vice-versa. I'd be interested to see the fMRI results of a bunch of people who can do that "flex."

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#172

Post by aphextim »

tempsy wrote: post #44
es-hn wrote: post #24

I’ve used LSD and psilocybin, though not for many years, and have had minor, infrequent, non-disruptive hallucinations. They usually consist of momentary visual deformations of repeating patterns, e.g., tiles on a BART platform will appear to shift or move. These visual variances are a small taste of a full-on trip, in which everything can shift, move, or dance. It’s nice to see others have shared this experience. Re…

Counterpoint: The YouTube engineer who, over the summer, took LSD and went on a stabbing rampage. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/youtube-engin...

As one guru at a random festival once said regarding someone having a bad trip,

>"That is what happens when you try to put a 6 cylinder drug into a 4 cylinder brain."

Some people just aren't ready for what they are about to experience and if you are not in a good place, it isn't like alcohol which masks your feelings and makes you numb. From what I gather it forces you to confront your inner demons and come to terms with the meaning of your existence itself, which not everyone is suitable to handle.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#173

Post by aphextim »

yohsii wrote: post #161

after drinking ayahuasca a couple of times in large quantities and meditating full time (16 hours a day on average) for a year i also see things. it's not a hallucination though, i'm certain this energy is really there. it doesn't bother me and i hold down a job as a software engineer despite the funky visuals. i also find myself playing with this energy at times. for anybody else with this issue, hopefully you'll ju…

One thing that stuck with me is how when you do mushrooms or LSD, everyone experiences their own personal trip so to say.

Ayahuasca on the other hand, although I don't have any personal experience with, I have heard accounts of groups of people experiencing the same visualizations/hallucinations which to me seems pretty trippy!

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#175

Post by scottlocklin »

h43z wrote: post #61

I think it's no question that psychedelics are mind opening. But maybe a psychosis is something that happens to an open mind too. Personally I explained some mildly strange visual effects/thoughts (long after my acid trips) to the fact that I know what's possible to happen with my mind and my mind knows it too. And only for that reason that weird place is just a another new option now. If I wouldn't have experienced…

>I think it's no question that psychedelics are mind opening.

Having used more than my share: there's plenty of question that psychedelics are mind opening. Just because something feels profound doesn't mean it is. People in the 1800s used to think nitrous and ether sniffing was profound.

You'd think after all these years of people experiencing profundity there would be some great work of art or philosophy that people are able to take back to reality from their drug experiences, but as far as I can tell it's just burn out "trippin balls" stories, people losing their minds in various unedifying ways, and weirdos like Kerry Mullis talking to aliens.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#176

Post by h43z »

scottlocklin wrote: post #175
h43z wrote: post #61

I think it's no question that psychedelics are mind opening. But maybe a psychosis is something that happens to an open mind too. Personally I explained some mildly strange visual effects/thoughts (long after my acid trips) to the fact that I know what's possible to happen with my mind and my mind knows it too. And only for that reason that weird place is just a another new option now. If I wouldn't have experienced…

>I think it's no question that psychedelics are mind opening. Having used more than my share: there's plenty of question that psychedelics are mind opening. Just because something feels profound doesn't mean it is. People in the 1800s used to think nitrous and ether sniffing was profound. You'd think after all these years of people experiencing profundity there would be some great work of art or philosophy that peopl…

Isn't there some great deal of art coming from psychedelic experiences. Many bands of the sixties and seventies or art of Alex Grey. Shamans had an very important role in groups and tribes for a long time. Religious revelations could have been results of altered states of consciousness (eg moses 10 commandments).

On a more personal and emotional note I always had the feeling when tripping of great profundity but being unable to take the wisdom to the other side. I guess I would make be a bad shaman.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#177

Post by tfha »

ytwySXpMbS wrote: post #100
tfha wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I have several permanent overhangs from my experiences with psychedelics as well. At one point I did 500+ug of LSD in a single trip and I am still working through PTSD from some of my delusions. That said, the net effect on my life has been massively positive and has directly contributed to me being comfortable with myself, my body, my mind, my friends, and my place in this world. Despite the overhangs, I highly…

When you say PTSD, would you mind expanding on how that manifests? Is it a low level constant anxiety, or more akin to sudden anxiety due to a certain trigger, or something else? I understand if it's too personal a topic. I'm very interested in psychedelics, but am worried about the potential negative side effects. Someone I know said LSD caused them anxiety once, and it lasted for a few months but eventually sorted…

Trigger oriented, usually related to existential feelings of emptiness. Asking the question "does my existence have meaning" for a long time would spike my pulse to 150+ and cause me to freeze up. Took maybe 18 months to wear off fully. I can still psyche myself out if I try today.

Other triggers were anything that seemed too unlikely to be reality. Waking up with 11111 karma on Reddit, strangers winking at my like they could read my thoughts, things of that nature.

It honestly wasn't that bad to live with.

After my 4th trip I had really sharp HPPD. That burn in effect you get when you stare at something for a minute plus, that took about 0.5 seconds for me. And then it took about 60 seconds to wear off. For about 2 weeks I had a constant triple or quadrupole or more image burned into my eyes. Eventually I learned to cope by shifting my eyes every 0.5 seconds like a crazy person, but it did stop the after images from accumulating.

That went away after maybe 3 months, hasn't been a problem since.

My advice would be to space out trips 12 weeks or more to avoid hppd, and stay under 400ug to avoid PTSD and crazy delusions. And if you are inexperienced with LSD really you should start at a dose of 150ug or so.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#178

Post by proverbialbunny »

kaybe wrote: post #148
proverbialbunny wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that simple. All of perception comes from noticing patterns. Labeling a thing, eg an apple, initially happens because you've seen multiple apples, or you've had it explained to you, which is using previous patterns (turned into words) you've already learned to manufacture a new pattern. Without pattern matching we wouldn't be able to identify or perceive things. The mind pattern matches things. It's how we l…

How does language play into this? Is it a skill you have or is it part of the self too? Do you use language while you deliberate on these things?

Language, or more words, is like pointers to concepts.

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#179

Post by [deleted] »

doboyy wrote: post #169
proverbialbunny wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it have a survival / performative advantage? You can, eg, protect the body from harm, without having a sense of self, which ties into survival.

Basically allowing societies to function (people assuming roles, shame, and whatever). It should be of no surprise that a damaged sense of self often correlates with poor integration into a society.

[deleted]

Re: Some people who take psychedelics continue hallucinating indefinitely

#180

Post by proverbialbunny »

doboyy wrote: post #169
proverbialbunny wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it have a survival / performative advantage? You can, eg, protect the body from harm, without having a sense of self, which ties into survival.

Basically allowing societies to function (people assuming roles, shame, and whatever). It should be of no surprise that a damaged sense of self often correlates with poor integration into a society.

Roles, shame, and whatever doesn't sound like self. It sounds like cultural taboos and status within society. Neither of those are a sense of self.

Also, countries that are more Buddhist (ones that have less sense of self) tend to be more community based cultures, so that doesn't correlate.

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