3 ms·

Maybe it's part of the "actual experience" that you don't feel depressed any more. The hallucinations, who needs those. Therapeutically what matters is the inc

Maybe it's part of the "actual experience" that you don't feel depressed any more. The hallucinations, who needs those. Therapeutically what matters is the increased feeling of well-being that lasts for weeks if not longer.

Out_of_Characte 4y ago
The hallucinations do really help. Its very difficult to be depressed when all the trees are dancing and shining. LSD and the likes also avoids congnitive hallucinations in most people so you're perfectly aware that it's just the wind.
- peanut_worm 4y ago
  What is a “cognitive hallucination”? LSD can absolutely change your thought patterns
- sterlind 4y ago
  set and setting. 2C-E showed me how I was a tiny spec, on a tiny speck of a planet, in an infinitely large universe, cold and unfeeling and uncaring, loved only in a tiny way by only a couple of other tiny specs, all of whom would die in a brief instant, cosmically speaking. it was like Carl Sagan showed up to tell me how meaningless my existence was. also, unbearable sensory overload as the panic attack worsened, seconds took minutes to pass, and my kidneys felt like they were failing (they were fine though.) the ego death was more or less permanent. my "self" never recovered, I had to build a new one. uncanny experiences of feeling like I wasn't my parents' real daughter, that my phone was a dead person's. I wasn't the same person. but this person is better than she was. so.. worth it in the (years-)long run, but hardly sunshine and roses! bad trips are scary. 2C-E is known for being cold and analytical, but I'm sure you can have similar experiences on acid.
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  Unless the thing that makes the trees dance and shine rather than loom and glow ominously is the same thing that has the anti depressant effect. I personally think pearl clutching about the idea someone might have fun whilst benefiting from medicine is stupid and there's no reason psychedelics should not be available to anyone who is screened for potential contraindications, but there's no reason to assert that all of the different effects are inexorably linked.
  - galaxyLogic 4y ago
    I'm thinking that "having fun" is what cures us from depression. Fun and "goodness". Love and happiness. Spirituality. Hallucinations can be fun, which is a good thing. But I think these scientists are onto something trying to extract the "good thing" that is good even without hallucinations.
Nursie 4y ago
> Therapeutically what matters is the increased feeling of well-being that lasts for weeks if not longer. But what if that is a consequence of the 'hallucinations' changing your perspective on things? What if the psychedelic break with baseline reality for a few hours is the trigger that changes things? It's definitely interesting to try and understand. I also just react poorly to people trying to create 'useful' versions of a drug without the 'fun' parts. I don't dabble any more but the experience of compounds like these was well worth the time invested. (I put hallucinations in quotes above because I think there's a difference between the psychedelic experience and something all-out hallucinatory, read erowid reports on belladonna, datura and brugmansia for the latter)
- galaxyLogic 4y ago
  It is "fun" to get out of depression. Things start feeling fun again. But depression is a mind-set, how you see things. I'm not saying hallucinations couldn't change your mindset, for the better.
puchatek 4y ago
A trip is more than a series of visual disturbances. It's an emotional rollercoaster. Your perception of yourself and your surroundings changes drastically and you have many insights that you perceive as very significant. This can help take your attention away from irrelevant things and direct it to more meaningful things in your normal life. And even the hallucinations can show you that we construct our realities in every instant of our lives. You know this already of course but knowing and experiencing are two different things.

Out_of_Characte 4y ago

The hallucinations do really help. Its very difficult to be depressed when all the trees are dancing and shining. LSD and the likes also avoids congnitive hallucinations in most people so you're perfectly aware that it's just the wind.

peanut_worm 4y ago
What is a “cognitive hallucination”? LSD can absolutely change your thought patterns
sterlind 4y ago
set and setting. 2C-E showed me how I was a tiny spec, on a tiny speck of a planet, in an infinitely large universe, cold and unfeeling and uncaring, loved only in a tiny way by only a couple of other tiny specs, all of whom would die in a brief instant, cosmically speaking. it was like Carl Sagan showed up to tell me how meaningless my existence was. also, unbearable sensory overload as the panic attack worsened, seconds took minutes to pass, and my kidneys felt like they were failing (they were fine though.) the ego death was more or less permanent. my "self" never recovered, I had to build a new one. uncanny experiences of feeling like I wasn't my parents' real daughter, that my phone was a dead person's. I wasn't the same person. but this person is better than she was. so.. worth it in the (years-)long run, but hardly sunshine and roses! bad trips are scary. 2C-E is known for being cold and analytical, but I'm sure you can have similar experiences on acid.
Schroedingersat 4y ago
Unless the thing that makes the trees dance and shine rather than loom and glow ominously is the same thing that has the anti depressant effect. I personally think pearl clutching about the idea someone might have fun whilst benefiting from medicine is stupid and there's no reason psychedelics should not be available to anyone who is screened for potential contraindications, but there's no reason to assert that all of the different effects are inexorably linked.
- galaxyLogic 4y ago
  I'm thinking that "having fun" is what cures us from depression. Fun and "goodness". Love and happiness. Spirituality. Hallucinations can be fun, which is a good thing. But I think these scientists are onto something trying to extract the "good thing" that is good even without hallucinations.

Nursie 4y ago

> Therapeutically what matters is the increased feeling of well-being that lasts for weeks if not longer. But what if that is a consequence of the 'hallucinations' changing your perspective on things? What if the psychedelic break with baseline reality for a few hours is the trigger that changes things? It's definitely interesting to try and understand. I also just react poorly to people trying to create 'useful' versions of a drug without the 'fun' parts. I don't dabble any more but the experience of compounds like these was well worth the time invested. (I put hallucinations in quotes above because I think there's a difference between the psychedelic experience and something all-out hallucinatory, read erowid reports on belladonna, datura and brugmansia for the latter)

galaxyLogic 4y ago
It is "fun" to get out of depression. Things start feeling fun again. But depression is a mind-set, how you see things. I'm not saying hallucinations couldn't change your mindset, for the better.

puchatek 4y ago

A trip is more than a series of visual disturbances. It's an emotional rollercoaster. Your perception of yourself and your surroundings changes drastically and you have many insights that you perceive as very significant. This can help take your attention away from irrelevant things and direct it to more meaningful things in your normal life. And even the hallucinations can show you that we construct our realities in every instant of our lives. You know this already of course but knowing and experiencing are two different things.