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Throwaway account. Taking LSD has been one of the most powerful experiences of my life - same level of power as one of my children dying. The first time I took

by ltemp 15y ago

Throwaway account. Taking LSD has been one of the most powerful experiences of my life - same level of power as one of my children dying. The first time I took it (rather late in life), it saved my marriage. After the intense trippy part died down, I was able to introspect from other people's viewpoints in a way I was never able to before. I could actually see I was the one being the ass, not the other way around. This understanding and feeling takes a while to wear off (say, 2 or 3 months?) - long enough for me to make some substantial changes. LSD for fun, is great. Try playing an RPG while on a low dosage. You're coherent enough to play and understand it, but the realism spikes a thousand times. (I tried Fallout 3, and really felt as if I was in a nuclear wasteland.) I've tried understanding technical documentation (on low dosages), and found it to be quite understandable and was able to retain everything. Immediately you start visualising and really "feeling" the underlying technology (even if it isn't actually that profound, it'll impact your mind in that way). I haven't done tests to see if this is more effective, but it looks like a promising possibility. (There was a thread on HN a few days back that talked about this.) As far as the dangers, it might very well be. Wikipedia provides the indication that it's relatively safe, with patients that experienced psychosis (a few out of a thousand) to recover within a few days. The rate of psychosis is higher for people with existing mental illness. FWIW, I've been DX'd as bipolar I, with psychosis. As "far out" as LSD has made me feel during the experience, when it's over, I feel much more grounded than ever. LSD is something everyone should seriously consider doing at least once in their life.

araneae 15y ago
>same level of power as one of my children dying. See, that's terrifying to me. I've never taken LSD but I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. This talk of using MDMA for couples' therapy because it releases vasopressin scares me too. Vasopressin is the bonding hormone, and sure, you could probably make two people who were not in love fall in love artificially- but that's also scary. I'm not sure I would want to be married to someone I could only stand because I took drugs. I'm pretty libertarian, and I do think that drugs should be a choice- but these accounts scare me more than any crap about flashbacks and hallucinations.
- getonit 15y ago
  > I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. I would have thought he meant it the other way around.
- jonknee 15y ago
  > See, that's terrifying to me. I've never taken LSD but I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. Maybe we just read it differently (hopefully the OP will step in), but I don't think he meant LSD trivialized the death of his child in any way. I think he meant that looking back, LSD had a similarly profound impact on his life. Losing a child can make you re-evaluate some things (or so I've heard). So can LSD (that I know).
  - araneae 15y ago
    The difference is that losing a child gives you real information about your surroundings. Taking LSD doesn't allow you to take in any different input- it simply changes the way your brain interprets that same information. I can see why people would enjoy this, but not how they could take it seriously. Taking drugs breaks the way your brain is supposed to function; I mean that quite literally. I mean, if I introduced bugs into my simulation code and got results that I liked, I'd be like, "I need to fix those bugs" not "boy are these great results! Look, I can stop the HIV epidemic!" Because I'd be wrong.
    - jonknee 15y ago
      > Taking drugs breaks the way your brain is supposed to function; I mean that quite literally. I don't agree at all. Many people's brains are "broken" without drugs--depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. The default state isn't always perfect. Who's to say the drugs are the bug? Maybe they're a patch.
      - jamesbritt 15y ago
ttemp 15y ago
> LSD is something everyone should seriously consider doing at least once in their life. Yes, but no matter how great it sounds, you still have to consort with drug dealers to find it. Not sure that the risk of arrest (or worse) is really worth that reward.
- gnosis 15y ago
  Some closely related psychedelics that don't require any interaction with drug dealers: Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds: http://www.erowid.org/plants/hbw/hbw.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/hbw/hbw.shtml Morning Glory seeds: http://www.erowid.org/plants/morning_glory/morning_glory.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/morning_glory/morning_glory.sht... Both of the above should be available from ordinary gardening suppliers and/or plant nurseries. They contain LSA (Lysergic acid amide), which is closely related to LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide). And another common psychedelic you can pick from a forest or a meadow: http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml There are many, many others as well: http://www.erowid.org/plants/plants.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/plants.shtml
nico 15y ago
Thanks for sharing your personal experience here. Your comment reminded me of this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2545731/Drugs-like-LSD-and-Ecstasy-could-help-terminally-ill.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2545731/Drugs-like-LS... From the article: "When they were interviewed again 14 months later 58 per cent rated the experience among the five most personally meaningful of their lives and 64 per cent said it had increased their well-being."

by ltemp 15y ago

araneae 15y ago

>same level of power as one of my children dying. See, that's terrifying to me. I've never taken LSD but I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. This talk of using MDMA for couples' therapy because it releases vasopressin scares me too. Vasopressin is the bonding hormone, and sure, you could probably make two people who were not in love fall in love artificially- but that's also scary. I'm not sure I would want to be married to someone I could only stand because I took drugs. I'm pretty libertarian, and I do think that drugs should be a choice- but these accounts scare me more than any crap about flashbacks and hallucinations.

getonit 15y ago
> I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. I would have thought he meant it the other way around.
jonknee 15y ago
> See, that's terrifying to me. I've never taken LSD but I don't think I would ever want to put myself in the sort of situation that trivializes the death of a child by making it equivalent to downing a pill. Maybe we just read it differently (hopefully the OP will step in), but I don't think he meant LSD trivialized the death of his child in any way. I think he meant that looking back, LSD had a similarly profound impact on his life. Losing a child can make you re-evaluate some things (or so I've heard). So can LSD (that I know).
- araneae 15y ago
  The difference is that losing a child gives you real information about your surroundings. Taking LSD doesn't allow you to take in any different input- it simply changes the way your brain interprets that same information. I can see why people would enjoy this, but not how they could take it seriously. Taking drugs breaks the way your brain is supposed to function; I mean that quite literally. I mean, if I introduced bugs into my simulation code and got results that I liked, I'd be like, "I need to fix those bugs" not "boy are these great results! Look, I can stop the HIV epidemic!" Because I'd be wrong.
  - jonknee 15y ago
    > Taking drugs breaks the way your brain is supposed to function; I mean that quite literally. I don't agree at all. Many people's brains are "broken" without drugs--depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. The default state isn't always perfect. Who's to say the drugs are the bug? Maybe they're a patch.
    - jamesbritt 15y ago

ttemp 15y ago

> LSD is something everyone should seriously consider doing at least once in their life. Yes, but no matter how great it sounds, you still have to consort with drug dealers to find it. Not sure that the risk of arrest (or worse) is really worth that reward.

gnosis 15y ago
Some closely related psychedelics that don't require any interaction with drug dealers: Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds: http://www.erowid.org/plants/hbw/hbw.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/hbw/hbw.shtml Morning Glory seeds: http://www.erowid.org/plants/morning_glory/morning_glory.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/morning_glory/morning_glory.sht... Both of the above should be available from ordinary gardening suppliers and/or plant nurseries. They contain LSA (Lysergic acid amide), which is closely related to LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide). And another common psychedelic you can pick from a forest or a meadow: http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms.shtml There are many, many others as well: http://www.erowid.org/plants/plants.shtml http://www.erowid.org/plants/plants.shtml

nico 15y ago

Thanks for sharing your personal experience here. Your comment reminded me of this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2545731/Drugs-like-LSD-and-Ecstasy-could-help-terminally-ill.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2545731/Drugs-like-LS... From the article: "When they were interviewed again 14 months later 58 per cent rated the experience among the five most personally meaningful of their lives and 64 per cent said it had increased their well-being."