Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The life-changing effects of hallucinations

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 123 posts

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#81

Post by akeck »

blamazon wrote: post #72

On one July 4 years ago I walked alone to a beach on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. I lied down on the sand and put a hat over my face. I listened to the waves. The beach was busy - I could also hear the ambient sound of many people chattering in different languages. So many languages. It was profound to me that those people came from so far around the world to that place, bringing with them an unimaginable depth of exp…

This sounds very similar to the experience Henry Shukman had in his teens on a beach in South America. It started his journey to becoming a Zen teacher. He writes about it in the early chapters of "One Blade of Grass" (which I'm currently reading).

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#82

Post by nope96 »

dimgl wrote: post #79
LeonTheremin wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

This is a joke, right?

One friend's mom, who was a "natural medicine healer", noticed we were all into computers (early 1990's), and thought we had "Electric Fungus". I always thought that would make a good band name.

Or maybe the X-rays from CRT monitors fried our brains.

I suspect doing random amounts of acid or mushrooms as a teen = some increased % of developing anxiety disorders.

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#83

Post by giantg2 »

minsc_and_boo wrote: post #47
sys32768 wrote: post #30

How come these articles never mention the profound effects and aftereffects of bad trips?

As someone who came down with visual snow syndrome (permanent HPPD) after an anxiety attack, why anyone would roll the dice on joining this hell is beyond me. Also LSD has been linked to speeding up early onset schizophrenia in individuals who are susceptible: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4813425/

All depends on perceived risk. Many people don't even know about those risks, or think it's scare tactics. Even people who do know them might still take it because the risks are relatively rare. Even very common medications, like Tylenol and hormonal birth control, have serious rare side effects and/or strict usage guidelines. Many people taking these don't know about the risks.

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#84

Post by standardUser »

nope96 wrote: post #54

I've never taken hallucinogens, but I had many friends that did: Best friend and his girlfriend did LSD, the girlfriend had an immediate mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in the following months, has been a life long schizophrenic ever since. The best friend developed "schizoid personality disorder" over the next year and was never the same. Both were normal, happy go lucky teens tha…

I find the idea that you personally know 8 people who have suffered significant mental health issues after using hallucinogens to be absolutely shocking. I can't think of even a single person I have known where mushroom or LSD use resulted in any acute problems. And I do a lot of drugs! I frequent drug-friendly events and hang with drug-friendly people and I even used to sell hallucinogens a lifetime ago. It's not that certain drugs can't trigger or exacerbate mental illnesses - I believe that is actually very well-documented - but by most accounts those types of reactions are incredibly rare.

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#85

Post by giantg2 »

cetahfh14615 wrote: post #61

Of the people I've known who did hallucinogens, I knew them all before and after. NONE of them were better off afterward You can read all the "life changing experiences" that people have online, but when you take these you roll a dice. Keep this in mind. There's a lot of people who shill them super hard, and they might've had a positive experience, but consider the risk vs the reward and tread lightly edit: And even…

Just curious, were they already fairly normal? I'm wondering if the benefits are only in a narrow group, setting, condition, etc.

For example, I could see these being useful for an alcoholic who has already decided that they need to get sober, but need help beating the dependence. On the flip side, I have a feeling that people who just take it recreationally (not for a conditions nor in a controlled/guided setting) probably aren't getting any benefit. These are all just guesses though.

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#86

Post by paulryanrogers »

standardUser wrote: post #84
nope96 wrote: post #54

I've never taken hallucinogens, but I had many friends that did: Best friend and his girlfriend did LSD, the girlfriend had an immediate mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in the following months, has been a life long schizophrenic ever since. The best friend developed "schizoid personality disorder" over the next year and was never the same. Both were normal, happy go lucky teens tha…

I find the idea that you personally know 8 people who have suffered significant mental health issues after using hallucinogens to be absolutely shocking . I can't think of even a single person I have known where mushroom or LSD use resulted in any acute problems. And I do a lot of drugs! I frequent drug-friendly events and hang with drug-friendly people and I even used to sell hallucinogens a lifetime ago. It's not t…

Sometimes I wonder if it's also a matter of dose, impurities, or other ingredients. There's already so much variance among people before introducing exotic compounds.

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#87

Post by drcongo »

AnthonBerg wrote: post #23
drcongo wrote: post #12

The life-changing effect of LSD for me was a profound shift in the clarity of my thinking, like gaining a new superpower (compared to my prior, foggy brain) overnight. I'll always be thankful for that first trip.

As far as I understand the science, that clarity is in part the perceived experience of reduced inflammation in the central nervous system. Psychedelics are anti-inflammatory. (Profoundly so. The anti-inflammatory effect is orders of magnitude stronger than the effects on the mind, i.e. a dose orders of magnitude smaller than we can directly perceive has a strong anti-inflammatory effect. Which is fascinating as thes…

That's very interesting. As someone who has to take a fair amount of ibuprofen etc. for inflammatory arthritis, is it worth just tripping out from time to time?

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#88

Post by giantg2 »

TinyRick wrote: post #38
meroes wrote: post #31

I’ve had two hallucinagenic experiences (acid and 2c-I) and I never got any life changing experiences. Is it like hypnosis where you have to believe in it to have it work? I know someone cured of an addiction from her hypnosis so I know these things happen. I would say I absolutely had hallucinations and the experiences were powerful and long lasting, but I’m still aware it’s a trip.

Dosage matters a lot. 100-200μg of LSD doesn't do much for me, but 400-500μg is just right for a profound experience. YMMV.

Didn't the scientist discoving it take a "small" amount which is like 10x that much? I always find that story funny for some reason. In this day no scientist is just like "let me try a few mgs of this thing I created" lol

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#89

Post by nope96 »

standardUser wrote: post #84
nope96 wrote: post #54

I've never taken hallucinogens, but I had many friends that did: Best friend and his girlfriend did LSD, the girlfriend had an immediate mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in the following months, has been a life long schizophrenic ever since. The best friend developed "schizoid personality disorder" over the next year and was never the same. Both were normal, happy go lucky teens tha…

I find the idea that you personally know 8 people who have suffered significant mental health issues after using hallucinogens to be absolutely shocking . I can't think of even a single person I have known where mushroom or LSD use resulted in any acute problems. And I do a lot of drugs! I frequent drug-friendly events and hang with drug-friendly people and I even used to sell hallucinogens a lifetime ago. It's not t…

> "I frequent drug-friendly events and hang with drug-friendly people"

Adults or Children?

My friends were all "gifted kids" who hung out in the same social circle, and did lots (and lots) of drugs (acid, DMT, mushrooms, coke, weed) from age 15-18.

In all cases it was great until one time it was suddenly NOT great. Yes, I actually witnessed at least 3 "meltdowns" where someone started acting really, really scary-strange, "We should call his mom!" strange.

All of them have negative feelings towards drugs as adults. There was no internet then to look up correct dosage, "safe" usage. No reviewed darknet dealers selling "real stuff" vs. random shit you'd buy from a stranger at Lollapalooza. I don't know what to say, but it's true, I saw people get messed up (long-term) from hallucinogens and swear them off forever.

Re: The life-changing effects of hallucinations

#90

Post by ornornor »

LeonTheremin wrote: post #69
nope96 wrote: post #54

I've never taken hallucinogens, but I had many friends that did: Best friend and his girlfriend did LSD, the girlfriend had an immediate mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in the following months, has been a life long schizophrenic ever since. The best friend developed "schizoid personality disorder" over the next year and was never the same. Both were normal, happy go lucky teens tha…

Quoted post unavailable.

That’s oddly specific.
Post reply on HN