/r/RationalPsychonaut
Welcome to Rational Psychonaut, a community for sensible discussion of the science of altered states of consciousness. For people interested in exploring inner realms without subscribing to the woo surrounding the topic.
Welcome to Rational Psychonaut, a community for sensible discussion of the science of altered states of consciousness. For people interested in exploring inner realms without subscribing to the woo surrounding the topic.
"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" - Douglas Adams
Relevant Links:
A Guide to Skeptical Tripping
Psychonaut Wiki
MAPS
Related Subreddits:
Cognitive Science
DMT
Drug Nerds
LSD
MDMA
Microdosing
Neurophilosophy
Neuroscience
Psychedelic Studies
Psychedelic Therapy
Psychedelic Crisis Help
Psychonaut
Psychonaut Reading Club
Psychopharmacology
Replications
Rules here
/r/RationalPsychonaut
95,510 Subscribers
How will SSRIs and mental disabilities impact a shroom trip?
I struggle with some pretty intense OCD and anxiety, as well as ADHD, and I take Prozac and Wellbutrin to treat these. I've been curious about how this would impact a potential shroom experience... I did some research here, but it left me feeling overwhelmed, confused, and even a little scared. My questions are:
Will I experience anything on shrooms if I'm on Prozac and Wellbutrin? How much of the shrooms will I feel?
Is it true that taking SSRIs and shrooms at the same time can cause serotonin syndrome? Will it cause any other harmful effects?
Would someone with anxiety, OCD, and ADHD be likely to have a good trip?
Thank you for reading, and thank you to anyone who responds!!
08:49 UTC
Had very very bad thoughts on 30mg 2cb. What do you think?
I took 30mg 2cb and after overcoming the Comeup anxiety I had a wonderful spiritual time. My mind felt expanded and I thought about many things bothering. I would have bet my whole family on that it couldn’t turn into a bad trip because it was beautiful. I thought about how I procrastinate stopping to eat meat etc.
But about 2.5 hours into the trip when I felt the effects got a little weaker, I sat down with my dog and watched him for a while. And I started getting uncomfortable and in the background the song “I don’t want to set the world on fire” was playing. I imagined myself that this would be a perfect thing to read on the news, how a young adult took some weird substance and killed his dog. And idk but it felt very weird watching my dog, normally I love animals on psychedelics but this time he seemed like dead flesh or like a robot and I had bad intrusive thoughts about killing him. (Recently I’ve read many Reddit story’s were many people have gone crazy on pschys and wanted to kill their friends so maybe in my subconscious this fear played a big role). I looked at my sister and was scared it could go in a very insane direction that I think about my sister how I thought about my dog. That they are empty shells without consciousness. Idk why but the principle of consciousness and everything was pretty weird and uncomfortable in this moment and it felt like I was loosing my mind. Like it was uncomfortable looking at my dog and my sister because I was scared that my thoughts get more insane and disconnected from empathy etc
I don’t get it, the entire time there was like zero headspace and I thought about everything in a very nice way but from 0-100 I went insane.
Can such things happen with psychs? I took a benzo for sleep and feel completely back to normal. I was very excited to trip at a Pink Floyd show next week but now I’m unsure.
02:05 UTC
10-month insomnia, MDMA neurotoxic reaction or an RC?
I’m sharing the mysterious story of what happened to me. I posted it a few weeks back in another sub, detailing life and death journey dealing with 10 months of crippling insomnia from a wild night out that involved mixing cocaine, alcohol, and what I was told was MDMA.
The combined reaction literally broke my sleep drive in a way no medication has been able to fix, and led to the total collapse of my once successful 43 year old life.
Here’s the story -
https://www.reddit.com/r/stories/s/K1IdoGbgxW
As this sub is populated by many highly knowledgeable on the pharmacology and neuroscience of drugs, I probably should have posted it here in the first place. But I’d be grateful for any who take the time to read it and share their thoughts or reactions. As a small request, please leave any thoughts on the source post itself, to keep all crowd sourced knowledge in one place, so that others suffering (it is rare but I’ve found many out there) might also use my story as a resource.
Thanks in advance. Peace and love. Mark
15:16 UTC
First "DMT" trip, stay tuned I will be updating tonight!
I have had some yopo seeds ( that contain DMT along with some other similar components ) in a little jar for about a year now. I went through the process of turning it into a snuff and I am finally ready after multiple shroom and LSD trips to try and see what all of this is about. I was always afraid where my mind would take me or what it would show me but today Im saying fuck it and going to the deep end for the first time. I'll be reporting my experience in probably 2 - 4 hours, so stay tuned!
Update: I snorted like 5 lines and nothing happened trying again tonight
02:11 UTC
What are your thoughts on Andrew Gallimore?
Listened a bit to him on the Danny Duncan podcast, and I was interested in what he was saying. Unfortunately, the podcast host was not a very good interviewer. Funny enough, I later I found out that the majority of people he brings on, are conspiracy theorists with very few of them being reliable sources of information.
From what I heard about Andrew, and the research I did on him, he seems like a very intelligent and highly educated individual. However, his his arguments for the existence of actual DMT realms and entities that exist outside of our mind, seems to be very weak. Don't get me wrong, a small part of me think they exist in reality, but I would much prefer a stronger argument and actual empirical proof.
23:13 UTC
Try my Trip Journal! Input when you take each substance and visualize the timing of your come-up, peak, come down. Powered off of dose & duration data from PsychonautWiki - (link in comments)
17:49 UTC
Talk: The Neurochemistry of DMT
12:25 UTC
Does anyone have the picture of the fish showing the different vibes of each PiHKAL compound?
It's one of my favorite replications, but is very hard to find apparently.
20:06 UTC
Has anyone had a bad trip? and then did shrooms again and had a better trip?
Has anyone had a bad trip off of 3+gs of shrooms and felt disconnected from their body, but then taken another trip of a lower dose and felt better and back in their body?
as you can probably tell, I had a bad trip a few months ago off of 3.5gs and completely disconnected at one point. Don't feel much , but im wondering if I do shrooms again, preferably 1g, would it be a better trip and ground me back in my body?
I wanna be able to feel the warm fuzzy feeling in the chest and colours to be bright and happy.
Has anyone done it before?
What are some tips?
21:53 UTC
Has anyone had a bad trip? and then did shrooms again and had a better trip?
Has anyone had a bad trip off of 3+gs of shrooms and felt disconnected from their body, but then taken another trip of a lower dose and felt better and back in their body?
as you can probably tell, I had a bad trip a few months ago off of 3.5gs and completely disconnected at one point. Don't feel much , but im wondering if I do shrooms again, preferably 1g, would it be a better trip and ground me back in my body?
I wanna be able to feel the warm fuzzy feeling in the chest and colours to be bright and happy.
Has anyone done it before?
What are some tips?
10:02 UTC
Why are psychedelics not accepted worldwide for helping treat some mental health issues?
Seems like there have been plenty of studies that show psychedelics can help treat some mental health issues. Why haven't some psychedelics been approved for that use in many countries worldwide? One example is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_psilocybin_mushrooms#/media/File:Legality_of_psilocybin_mushrooms_map.svg
This isn't even new. Some people found them useful in the 60s, for example for treating alcoholism. How did that not lead to more research and eventual approvals?
I don't think that is because they're seen as "drugs". People acqnoledge that opioids, benzos, and stimulants have abuse potential. They acqnoledge that the harm can sometimes be severe. Yet, they're all available as prescribed drugs worldwide.
I am skeptical that any one group is responsible for blocking psychedelics. Some countries are certainly independent enough that they could have researched and approved psychedelics without other countries stopping them. Why didn't that happen?
This is one reason why I am skeptical about the claim that psychedelics have healing potential. If they're that good, why aren't they being used?
00:59 UTC
Help on heartrate increase
Recently I have had a few panic attacks due to increased heart rate on THC, this has led to me having health anxiety, its slowly going away but I never really noticed my heart beating but now it feels like I notice every beat.
I was wondering if I should refrain from taking LSD as I have heard it increases heart rate, though I haven’t noticed it in the few times I’ve tripped before.
I don’t want to freak out if my heart rate increases to say 120 while tripping as I might become anxious which will be hard to control while tripping, is this something to worry about, I assume it is as psychedelics influence emotions and my health anxiety might cause a bad trip or feeling like my heart might explode. I was planning on doing 2 tabs (approx 250ug) should I completely refrain from tripping or should I consider taking one tab or less?
I am 18 and I assume I have good health so I really shouldn’t be worried about my heath though I cant help it. I am getting a check up soon and assuming I have relatively normal health would it be safe? Thanks
13:30 UTC
The Philosophical Plane: A Theory of God, Consciousness, and Life After Death
Ancient Hindu philosophy introduces us to three profound concepts: Brahman (ultimate reality), Atman (individual consciousness), and Maya (the illusion of separation). While these ideas emerged from contemplative traditions, modern physics has unveiled parallel insights that deserve our attention.
Einstein showed us that space and time aren't separate entities but form a unified spacetime fabric. We're not objects "in" spacetime - we're patterns OF spacetime itself. Think of waves in an ocean - each wave appears distinct but is ultimately made of the same water. Similarly, our consciousness could be understood as localized patterns of self-awareness within the larger fabric of reality.
This has profound implications for death. If we're patterns in spacetime rather than separate entities, death becomes more like a transformation than an ending. The wave returns to the ocean but the ocean remains. The pattern changes form but the underlying reality persists.
But consciousness poses a particular challenge. Renowned physicists like Roger Penrose have argued that purely physicalist explanations of consciousness fall short. Even Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner suggested consciousness plays a fundamental role in quantum mechanics. This points toward panpsychism - the idea that consciousness might be an intrinsic aspect of reality rather than an emergent property.
Yet even spacetime itself might not be the deepest level. As Max Tegmark argues in his Mathematical Universe Hypothesis, physical reality might be a mathematical structure. Other prominent physicists like John Wheeler ("it from bit") and Frank Wilczek have suggested similar ideas - that mathematics isn't just a description of reality but its fundamental nature.
But where do these mathematical structures exist? This is where Plato's Theory of Forms becomes relevant. These structures must exist in what I call the Philosophical Plane - an incorporeal realm of pure abstract existence that transcends physical reality.
Here's how it all fits together: Imagine reality as a vast ocean (the Philosophical Plane) of pure mathematical potential. This ocean manifests as waves (physical spacetime) following mathematical laws. Within these waves arise patterns of self-awareness (conscious beings). Each pattern appears separate but is ultimately one with both the waves (spacetime) and the deeper ocean (the Philosophical Plane).
We are thus:
- Patterns in spacetime (our individual existence)
- Spacetime itself (our fundamental physical nature)
- Expressions of necessary mathematical structures (our deepest essence)
This isn't mere poetry - it's where ancient wisdom, modern physics, and mathematical philosophy converge. Death changes the pattern but cannot destroy what we fundamentally are, because our deepest nature transcends even physical existence itself.
We're not just in the universe - we're expressions of the mathematical harmony that underlies all existence. Our individual consciousness is like a temporary camera angle through which the Philosophical Plane experiences one of its infinite possible manifestations.
Thoughts on this synthesis? I find it bridges the gap between ancient wisdom and modern understanding while pointing toward something even deeper than both.
17:02 UTC
Recommendations for books/content similar to T. McKenna
Anyone knows any good contemporary (or older) content creators (youtube videos, podcasts, talks, lectures, anything of the sort) that discuss ideas similar to McKenna’s in his earlier talks?
Also what authors/books of the sort would you recommend for someone who doesn’t have a background in philosophy or psychology?
i.e. intricacies of language, culture, ideologies, archaic revival, human psyche, psychedelic experience, ego, etc.
13:05 UTC
The Drug Tourism Series: 5. San Francisco [Photographs of Drug Related Places, Scenes & Cultures]
Certain parts of the world are associated with present or historical use of one or more psychoactive drugs. Over the 12+ years I spent writing The Drug Users Bible I sought them out, eventually visiting 33 countries, and taking thousands of drug related photographs.
I have recently started to organize these properly, and following suggestions on this platform I will be posting a selection of them here. This post presents some of those I took on my visit to San Francisco (limited to 20 due to platform constraints).
Please note that, when visiting any territory, should you choose to use any psychoactive substance it is vital that you conduct your own research with respect to legality and law enforcement. Don’t get banged up abroad. For the attention of law enforcement: none of this post constitutes a confession that I broke the law in any place or at any time.
[Note that there will be a hiatus of some weeks whilst I organise and prepare the photographs I took from the next five destinations].
SAN FRANCISCO
As the epicentre of the summer of love, the counter-culture revolution and the hippie movement, many would argue that this should have been one of my first destinations. It was, in fact, one of the last, which had its benefits, including that by the time I visited weed was legal. I stayed for a week and it was non-stop action.
For someone who was actually alive during that era, the only place to start was Haight-Ashbury.
The whole district was in fact awash with psychedelic art.
It often seemed to merge with the striking architecture.
And of course there was the House of the Grateful Dead
A short walk and I was able to enjoy the view from the legendary hippie hill in Golden Gate Park.
It's surrounded by reality, which as we all know is best avoided.
There was no shortage of weed shops in town.
Not all of them appeared to be strictly regulated.
It’s fair to say that the interiors of many of the dispensaries were somewhat grand.
My personal weed haul was too sufficient. I had to commit sacrilege and leave some behind.
I found a few interesting bits and pieces off the beaten track.
There’s ample access to the usual hard addictive drug for those inclined.
What did I miss? Well, there are kratom & kava bars in San Fran, but I was there during covid-19, so they were closed. Never mind. Have a photo of this bridge structure instead, which I walked over. It was rather windy, but like those 182 drugs, it had to be done.
Woah! Groovy, man.
Did I really smoke weed in the exercise yard of Alcatraz?
No, no, no, officer… I didn’t. Do I look like the sort of person who would do that?
I have an idea. Perhaps you should stop locking people up for using drugs, and where necessary treat them instead.
Walking around the infamous Tenderloin district (albeit in the morning) I encountered no problems at all.
Unfortunately though there was a reminder of why harm reduction is so important. Society and its barbaric war on drugs really do suck, even here. These people need to be helped, not denigrated and maligned.
Finally, I could sometimes pretend to be a normal tourist. Despite hostile media often misrepresenting it, San Francisco remains a wonderful place to visit.
.
LAST & ABSOLUTELY NOT LEAST: STAY SAFE
Whatever the circumstances of your own travel do not suspend judgement, safety or the use of a harm reduction process. Please refer to The Drug Users Bible for further information. You can download a free copy of the PDF version from any of the cloud networks links provided on the following post: https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugUsersBible/comments/134p8b1/download_the_drug_users_bible_from_here/
13:38 UTC
First Badtrip Story
I started making my own cannabis edibles from 2000mg of THCP distillate and made it into a candy. I ate it afterwards, thinking I could handle it since I was smoking 3g a day. Later that day I decided to take 150mcg of LSD, which I later regretted. The trip started as usual: I meditated and played shamanic music on my TV, excited for the effects. The first thing I noticed was that the floor was warping a lot, which was strange for me for the first 40 minutes after taking it.
A white spinning top then appeared from my stereo, getting faster and faster until it turned into beautiful red lasers dancing in elaborate patterns, similar to an ornate kaleidoscope. Suddenly these patterns formed into three red sixes that pulled me in, and I felt like it was the gates of hell. I was overcome with fear, as I had only experienced mild trips on LSD before. I felt like I was being pulled into the wall and panic overcame me. I tried to fight the effects, which resulted in an extreme panic attack. Everything I looked at seemed to pull me in extremely quickly, as if my eyes were constantly zooming in and out. I lay on the floor crying, convinced I was going to die, caught in a thought loop that kept repeating until my girlfriend finally found me and took me to bed. I saw UFOs and my life flashed before my eyes - a really bad brainfuck. When I opened my eyes, I looked at the ceiling of my bedroom, which just wasn't there. I could look directly up at the starry sky, which was extremely cool. Meanwhile, UFOs were constantly flying around the room. After that, I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror, because that's what I love to do on LSD. It was like I was looking into another parallel world, and the other me was constantly changing and laughing at me. When the trip wore off, I smoked a bong bowl, which immediately catapulted me back into that disgusting panic thought loop.
09:59 UTC
Years later still bothered by the realization thanks to psychs that humanity actually puts a huge effort in domesticating each other all the time.
I dont know how to be free from this nonstop domestication. Im tired of the self control and the rest of society not taking these things annoys me even further.
I wish I had a answer to be more peaceful with all of this. So tired of being a student and working and balancing personal health with chronic illness and a unhappy/injust society.
Therapy hasn't resolved anything. I really feel like a victim and on some level I genuinely believe we all are. Acceptance hasnt resolved it. Idk what to do.
08:17 UTC
First ever (near?) panic attack after 0.4g of APE
Just want to get this out there because I was a bit surprised to have this happen.
I swallowed one capsule of APE powder with the intention of trying to close my eyes and see CEVs. I've done up to 2g of APE and only ever see faint CEVs that get more defined if I squint. I actually intended to swallow a second capsule but I sometimes just can't get myself to swallow the capsules.
I was unsuccessful in seeing any CEVs, and didn't really feel much from the shrooms. I decided to sleep around 5:30am.
When I would start to fall asleep, I felt like the back of my brain was missing or gone, and I would suddenly feel like I'm falling out of reality itself. This happened 3 times. And ironically on the 2nd time I saw a fairly clear geometric CEV. This was about 7.5 hours after consuming the capsule so I was surprised by that. Usually my trips last 4 hours.
After the 3rd time where I felt like I was falling, I gave up and turned on the light. I checked my phone and immediately felt this overwhelming dread that something is horribly wrong.
My "internal narrator" was getting increasingly louder and in less than a second it went like "Somethings wrong with my phone-Somethingswrongwithmyphone-SOMETHINGSWRONGWITHMYPHONE". The thoughts just came at me extremely fast and "loud" like my thoughts were being yelled.
I jolted up and immediately felt exactly like when I lost my grasp on reality during a 2g APE trip. During that trip I forgot everything besides my name and was stuck in a thought loop for around 2 hours.
I felt my grasp on reality start to leave me, so I just stared at my wall and paid attention to my breathing.
Inhale... Exhale... Inhale... Exhale...
I felt like I was on the edge of a metaphorical cliff for about 30 minutes. The only thing that kept me from falling was just looking at the wall and focusing on my breathing. My adrenaline must've been pumping because for a few minutes the entire left side of my body was shaking uncontrollably.
After about an hour I felt OK enough to interact with my surroundings again. I didn't dare try to sleep for about 2 hours. I was fearful of the whole thing happening again.
Y'know how you get a bit loopy and thinking weird thoughts while starting to fall asleep? Anytime that happened I would jolt awake. I specifically remember when I had a random thought that wasn't grammatically correct. I was woken up instantly. It took me about 4 hours to successfully fall asleep because my brain kept "reality checking" and would automatically open my eyes and jolt me awake if anything failed the test.
Eventually I was able to sleep for about 5 hours (I had to get up around 1pm for something). Then I came back home and intermittently slept for around 20 hours in total. I haven't really been up for more than 2-3 hours until today. I'm still having some trouble falling asleep, but it's manageable. I actually heard another thought "yelled" as I tried to fall asleep today, which woke me up.
I don't think the mushrooms were the direct cause of the panic attack. In retrospect I think I've just been under too much stress without even realizing it. My sleep schedule has also been a mess and I had gone from drinking 0 caffeine to around 250mg / day. But I do think the mushrooms were what pushed me over the edge.
Also, maybe I have some sort of PTSD from my 2g APE trip a few months ago where I forgot about reality and was stuck in a thought loop. I had written a trip report for that on my other account but I deleted that account and apparently the post too.
2x Also - I have trouble swallowing the capsules sometimes, and it's only gotten worse. I swallowed 8 capsules for my past 2g trip and right now can barely force down 1. Perhaps it's reflective of my stress levels and I never realized.
08:25 UTC
What is the most potent and intense naturally occurring psychoactive substance that surpasses 5-MeO-DMT in obliterating perception, dissolving reality, and inducing an incomprehensible otherworldly state?
What is the most potent and intense naturally occurring psychoactive substance that surpasses 5-MeO-DMT in obliterating perception, dissolving reality, and inducing an incomprehensible otherworldly state? Could there be a natural substance, known or undiscovered, that exceeds the potency and intensity of hallucinogens like 5-MeO-DMT, Salvinorin A, or DMT? Are there rare species of toads, plants, fungi, or marine organisms producing unexplored or underexamined psychoactive compounds? Could forgotten or mythical substances like Soma or Kykeon hold the key? Is it possible to trigger the brain’s own endogenous compounds, such as DMT or unknown neuropeptides, to achieve this? Might such substances be derived from organisms in extreme environments like caves, volcanic regions, or deep oceans? What could be the strongest natural hallucinogen, and where might it exist?
02:54 UTC
Scattered thoughts on shrooms?
Hey everyone
Just wanted to check in to see if anybody else experiences this.
My last couple of trips (approx 3 grams cubes) I experienced a lot of very scattered thoughts; thoughts flying at me, too many to think at the same time. Just a highly busy mind. I know so many people seem to experience feelings of oneness, deep introspection on a particular theme etc. There is no smoothness. I don’t end up coming out feeling positive or negative. Just my head a little rocked around, mentally speaking.
Anybody experience this before? Any thoughts?
13:28 UTC
It's harmful bullshit that badtrips are beneficial and have to be accepted or something, you should have benzos with you to trip.
I keep hearing tho spiritual psychonaut bullshit idea that badtrips aren't actually bad trips but just difficult trips, it's a very harmful and risky narrative that downplays the reality of psychedelics' risks, people can develop serious mental health conditions after a badtrip even if they have a sitter, (especially with lsd that fucks up the memory even more during the trip imo) so yes, you should have a trip killer so you don't end up with long term damage, a lot of people trip and don't know they have traumas and other problems that can be brought up by the drug in the wrong environment and they didn't expect it.
So yes please stop downplaying the risks of badtrips and if you can't trust yourself with benzos then you might also take big risks tripping without it, or just use small doses if you don't have benzos
08:53 UTC
Why do some people have very trivial and easy trips on fairly high doses?
I'm a bartender and was talking to this guy about shrooms. He was laughing telling me this story about him taking over an eighth of shrooms. He was talking about riding in his golf kart thinking he was in mario kart, and he was picking up coins lol. Funny story, but got me thinking.
Why do some people have such light, playful trips on these high doses? If I take any more than a gram, there's no way that I'm not going to be in a very meditative headspace. I always have very strong realizations and can often get emotional about life, reality, etc. I have fun on them too, but that's usually on the come up and come down.
Is that just a product of a guy like that's personality? Is he just not an anxious person? Not in touch with his emotions? What is that lol
23:11 UTC
Are here people who regret taking the acid untested and maybe suffering under it?
I am still suffering up to day under my hypochondriac fear/OCD of having taken "LSD" or what is has supposed to be, untested YEARS ago.
My brain overfocuses on that uncertainty as I am in a bad mental state and life circumstances as always.
It has eaten up my whole confidence and self-trust in myself.
I am not sure where I can talk about it the best, because it seems to me like a pretty special experience. It's kind of linked to OCD but was traumatizing too. (I've discovered the my OCD has almost always been linked to trauma).
I am not against real LSD at all, but rather bothered by the uncertainty of what I have took back then and what it might have done to my brain.
Yesterday I've again spoken to a therapist and she also said that it doesn't sound like LSD, probably nBOME or shit.
I hate dealing with that kind of uncertainty. My brain can't deal with this rationally.
Sorry for posting it here, I have difficulties finding someone who can relate. I am a deeply unsure person mainly bc of that experience. I' ve searched a lot for therapists and help in my country, have been to clinics but nothing helped so far. The main thing I do is distracting myself passively and not living up to my previous potential. It's actually the hell.
Maybe there are some people, who have experienced something similar. How to live with this big uncertainty? I am stuck in rumination atm again.
Thanks for reading and sorry to annoy. And sorry for my mistakes, I am not a Native speaker.
Please be nice, thanks.
Edit: I actually didn't search for advice, just wanted to VENT and search for people who experienced the same shit (and know how they cope with uncertainty about their brain.)
08:03 UTC
Dose equivalence between Syrian Rue seeds and extract (for DMT and psilohuasca)
19:47 UTC
Has anyone watched the show Undone on Amazon prime??
Hello fellow Reddit friends I was wondering if anyone has ever watched the show Undone on Amazon Prime? The show was recommended to me by my therapist as he said “it has a wonderful visual aesthetic, presented in a sort of animated realistic look, and is a pretty trippy show. It talks about concepts you’re interested in like indigenous cultures, shamanism, dreams, reality, and quantum physics.”
Dude it’s amazing lol. I highly recommend it. It has a lot of high level concepts and is real af. And I agree with everything my therapist said about it! Let me know what goes through your minds if you check it out! Let’s chat:) dm me or respond in here as I love these concepts. It even gets into family trauma and other juicy human ideas lol. Peace.
♾️👁️♾️
07:06 UTC
Why does cannabis help alleviate my brain fog?
My brain fog normally presents itself as my mind going blank in so many situations. For example I might be trying to answer a simple question, but when trying to think of an answer, my mind just puts up these roadblocks. It can be in moments where I'm by myself trying to think straight without any external pressure and I will still struggle. However I notice when I consume cannabis and even the next day my mind just feels more opened up. I'm literally studying for my math exam and I'm having an easier time understanding these concepts having smoked weed last night.
I'm not posting this saying that weed has "cured" my brain fog, but more so trying to get an answer as to why this is happening and how I can recreate it without relying on a substance. Yes I'm sure the alleviation of anxiety that cannabis brings is related to it, but it feels like something more is going on.
21:42 UTC
The Drug Tourism Series: 4. Bangkok [Photographs of Drug Related Places, Scenes & Cultures]
Certain parts of the world are associated with present or historical use of one or more psychoactive drugs. Over the 12+ years I spent writing The Drug Users Bible I sought them out, eventually visiting 33 countries, and taking thousands of drug related photographs.
I have recently started to organize these properly, and following suggestions on this platform I will be posting a selection of them here. This post presents some of those I took on my visit to Bangkok, Thailand (limited to 20 due to platform constraints).
Please note that, when visiting any territory, should you choose to use any psychoactive substance it is vital that you conduct your own research with respect to legality and law enforcement. Don’t get banged up abroad. For the attention of law enforcement: none of this post constitutes a confession that I broke the law in any place or at any time.
BANGKOK
Bangkok, as a vibrant cosmopolitan city, probably needs no introduction, but let’s take a look around.
A good place to start is Khaosan Road. This has legendary status as a backpacker destination, particularly so during the hippie era. It comes alive at night.
I can’t imagine why this (near Patpong) caught my eye.
This place is perhaps best known for the imprisonment of foreigners on drug related offences. In a previous epoch I once visited on a humanitarian mission. Inside, it’s an enormous campus.
Bangkok now has more than its fair share of cannabis dispensaries. This shopping mall contains only cannabis related shops and stores.
I met her on Sukhumvit, and fell in love.
Sukhumvit is in fact particularly well provisioned with cannabis stores. This one is on the corner of Soi 5.
They come in all shapes and sizes. To illustrate this I have uploaded a couple of dozen photographs to a Flickr album here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157786281@N07/albums/72177720304491523/
At the other end of the spectrum there are posh stores in posh malls.
Can I help you sir?
What’s on the menu today?
I try to.
If edibles are your preference Bangkok has you covered.
On a recent visit I noticed this headline. I approve: get the heat on them!
I spy with my little eye… fly agaric!
If psychedelics have taken you down the path of enlightenment, transcendence and meditation, there are a significant number of Buddhist temples for you to visit.
Yes, kratom is legal too… and available. Here it’s processed to help consumers get over that appalling taste.
Or perhaps authentic snus is your thing?
If alcohol is your hard drug of choice you won’t be disappointed either.
Cocktails or cannabis sir?
Make no mistake about it; Bangkok has a great deal to offer in the form of regular tourism too. You certainly won’t run out of things to see and do.
.
LAST & ABSOLUTELY NOT LEAST: STAY SAFE
Whatever the circumstances of your own travel do not suspend judgement, safety or the use of a harm reduction process. Please refer to The Drug Users Bible for further information. You can download a free copy of the PDF version from any of the cloud networks links provided on the following post: https://www.reddit.com/r/DrugUsersBible/comments/134p8b1/download_the_drug_users_bible_from_here/
13:35 UTC
Psilocybin visuals and trips have become "messy" and I am worried about a neurological problem
When I was younger, I used to do mushrooms and when I closed my eyes I would see beautiful fractal type patterns sort of folding one into the other. I am now 44 and when I take mushrooms I see no symmetry or geometry, but rather a kind of chaotic and discontinuous slew of shapes and textures, often times fleshy or insect like, sometimes rotten. The feeling is rushed and I can't focus my mind on anything. My pupils also don't dilate. I feel like there is something not just mentally, but perhaps physiologically not right with my brain. Has anyone experienced something similar or have insights into this? To be clear, it's not just a one off.
20:23 UTC
Participate in Psychedelic Research!
This study is investigating how psychedelic use affects people’s cognition, emotions, and behaviors. This study is being conducted by Dr. Candace Lewis in the School of Life Sciences and Department of Psychology at Arizona State University.
Participation in this study will include completion of a survey that will ask you questions about your past psychedelic use, different negative childhood experiences that people can have, different types of mood and anxiety symptoms that people can experience, your relationships, and your thoughts and behaviors. Participation in this study will take you about 60-90 minutes to complete.
Participation in this study is optional, and you can refuse to answer any questions, or withdraw from the study at any time. All of your responses will be kept confidential, and will not be linked to your name or identifying information.
After you are done with the survey, you will be given a chance to be randomly selected in a drawing to win one of five $100 Visa gift cards, one of ten $50 Visa gift cards, or one of 50 free t-shirts (valued at $30 each).
If you are interested in participating, go check out our website at www.thebearlab.org, access the study directly through this link: https://redcap.link/BEARLab-PsychedelicUseSurvey, or scan the QR code below with your phone camera.
18:44 UTC
Absolutely tripping my nuts off with THC/CBD/CBN edibles: A Trip Report
Yesterday I took 17.5mg of THC edibles. I took one 10mg THC 10mg CBD gummy and three fourths of a 10mg THC 10mg CBD 10mg CBN gummy together at around 9 PM. I spent the come up chilling and drawing, and then around 30-40 mins in I started to watch this anime DanDaDan (I had never seen it, starting at episode 1). At this time I was feeling the effects very subtly, the warmth and general “fuzziness” starting to become noticeable.
I was able to get through four 20 minute episodes of this show before the effects really started to become stronger. So at this point, about two hours have passed. At this time I was starting to see faint dim-black geometries in my peripheral vision. This type of geometry is consistent with other times I had taken higher doses of THC, and I had noticed it on both 10mg doses and 15mg doses (15mg is the highest I had gone before this).
Towards the end of the 5th episode, I got hit with the first “rush”. I use this term to describe the sudden and extremely disorienting onset of “mindfuckery” coinciding with a sharp heart rate increase. I have experienced “rushes” before and I find it interesting how consistent they appear to feel at high doses, always coming in at the peak of each wave.
The first time I experienced the “rush” was a few years ago, and it was extremely terrifying. But as time has passed, I have been able to measure it, label it, and largely gain confidence that I can “get through it”. I was shaking/shivering, my heart rate was extremely high, and amazingly, I had some of the most insane geometry I have ever had (even more than shrooms!!) in my peripheral vision.
I will attempt to describe the scenario as clearly as I can:
In my head, I am speaking reassurances to myself. “Breathe”, “You’re okay”, “It will pass”, “You’re safe”, etc. I am trying to direct my focus at the show I was watching, as I have an immense fear of “losing myself” or complete disconnection. I am afraid of “full on tripping”, if you know what I mean. Holding onto my ego tightly. Not sure what would have happened if I took the plunge and let go, to be honest.
With my ears, the sensation of sound is largely what you would expect after using THC. It feels slightly more “defined” or “textured”, but not at all trippy.
Around my body, I have SEVERELY increased tactile sensitivity, to the point that I would say I had some tactile hallucinations. Moving is extremely disorienting, even slight hand, arm, or leg movements feel like my body was made of sand and I could feel each grain fully. Also notably this sensation seems to lag behind the movement I am seeing, i.e. my sense of touch feels delayed, probably about .5 seconds (very noticeable!).
With my eyes, I am in literal awe. The visual effects seemed “of a different class” from shrooms (for reference, it was 3g of dried mushrooms). The geometry I had seen while using shrooms was very typical or what you’d expect. “Towers” rising from surfaces, waving and undulating, repeating patterns, just that “psychedelic” vibe, etc.
This was different. My center cone of vision was largely without geometry of any kind, but seemed very blurry. Almost as if there were geometry, but it was EXTREMELY fine. Everything seemed sort of fuzzy, but if I tried to look closer at a detail, it seemed normal. Light was also very odd here, each little light of my keyboard making “diffraction spikes” or subtle starbursts.
But that is only a small part. It was almost like the entire trip was happening in my peripheral vision. I had a warm desk light illuminating my room in a yellowish light. In this light, the objects in my peripheral would simplify into basic shapes or blobs of color (objects like a short glass, small 10 inch mannequin for drawing, notebook, laptop charger, pencils and pens) and then diversify into hyper-detailed spiraling fractals that seemed to have depth as they spun off into the infinite distance.
At times the insane spirals would almost envelop my mind's eye, hijacking my actual vision and pulling me into a hypnagogic scenario. I have always struggled with explaining them, but these hypnagogic scenarios are very consistent with THC use for me. It's almost as if the relationship you’ve got between your actual vision and “mind’s eye vision” swap, like your world becomes this odd trippy thing for a moment and your actual vision stream is just an afterthought.
The emotional content of these hypnagogic scenes is very strange. For both when I used shrooms and high dose THC edibles, there are specific instances where I am convinced the experience I am having is somehow descriptive of the inner processes of my consciousness/brain. It's like the geometries I am seeing somehow correspond to a deeper pattern that could be used to describe the processes of my brain. During this trip, I felt that deep emotional pull that what I was experiencing was “important”, “primordial”, or “fundamental”. Not necessary like a revelation about the universe or anything like that, but more at a personal level.
I will attempt to describe one such scenario that I still remember very vividly now. A diagonal staircase pattern appears abruptly, accompanied by an odd sound, telescoping from higher to lower pitch. I honestly do not know how to describe the sound. Corresponding to the pitch, that staircase pattern would show two “blocks” of fractal shifting color moving up and down the stairs, revolving around each other. The color is green and pink, pale. Black squares rest at the center of each of these blocks. The movement is strange and jittery, like seeing molecules move under a microscope. After a brief moment of total immersion, I become aware of that feeling of “immense importance” or “fundamental-ness”.
After overcoming the insanely heightened heartbeat and anxiety of the rush, the geometries lessened but did not go away. I attempted to focus on the show again, but eventually turned it off to try and experience the trip with more intention (I did not plan for it to be this strong!). I put on some music (Chasing A Bee by Mercury Rev, one of my favorite tracks for tripping, and Power Approaches by Cities Aviv). I attempted to explore the CEVs at this point, listening closely to the music.
The CEVs were strange and colorful but not very vivid. This was likely because I was on a trough between waves, coming down from that first one. With THC, I find the CEVs kind of scary and too intense. But not even in a visual way or something like that – they feel too dissociative and disorienting, and it's just not something I am ready to explore at this point in my life. The second wave came, and it was another rush. Heartbeat spiked, high anxiety, pushing through, the works.
More strange hypnagogic scenarios, reignited geometries on my peripheral vision. Lots of “context hopping”, a sensation I felt VERY strongly on shrooms. I’m reading the description I had put down during the trip, and it is honestly nonsense: “the frame your brainspace takes up would zoom out, like 'reality shifting' up a level”. If you know, you know I guess. It’s very hard to describe, and it kind of irks me. Like, during this trip and when using shrooms, this felt like such an integral and amazing part of the trip, but now I have no way to describe it or really even recall in memory what it was like. So fucking strange, haha.
There was one more ebb and another rush, but after that the most intense part of the trip was through. I’d say this was 3.5 hours in overall. There was one other severely trippy experience, however; I went to lie in my bed, listening to music still. It was late, and I was mentally burnt out from what I just experienced. I enjoyed the more subdued and strange hypnagogic scenarios, like dreaming while awake. The vividness and immersiveness of the scenarios began to grow and grow, and at one point I fell asleep for a single half-second (at least this is what I think happened). I was in a vision where the colors and shapes coalesced into me driving a car. This caused me to jolt awake, like I was falling (you may have felt this when falling asleep before, tripping or not). This jolt exploded my vision with shapes, colors, and geometry. I shot upward to sit, blinking away the strangeness. I saw eyes, circles, stars, and fractal imagery. Bright and sharp reds, blues, blacks, whites.
This tripped me out so I stayed awake until I felt the effects mostly subsiding. 5.5 hours in, I went to sleep. Woke up just fine the next day (today). Don't do drugs!
23:12 UTC