5 ms·

Human brain changes after first psilocybin use

54 points by XzetaU8 2y ago

ericmcer 2y ago
I took a fair number of trips when I was 16 and I think it literally brought my consciousness online. There was a pretty stark contrast between the me before who who just wanted to play video games and hang out with friends, and the me after who was overwhelmed by natural beauty and my smallness in relation to the vastness around me. It might have been responsible for the next 5+ years of my life where I shirked school/career in favor of delving pretty deep into hallucinogens and a hippy type lifestyle in search of some "Truth". I don't know if it was just timing and it jump started a natural part of aging, or if it triggered something that would not have occurred otherwise. Either way it definitely did a number on my 16 year old brain, still unsure if it was a net positive or negative. The sad part is they don't have such a profound effect on me anymore, it can still be pretty interesting but the life altering trips seem to be reserved for the first few times. My only expectation from them now is to feel nice and have some pleasant visuals. I don't approach it seeking some lesson or greater truth, just have a nice time, which is maybe the final lesson lol.
- namaria 2y ago
  McKenna would argue that's how apes became humans
  - grugagag 2y ago
    I love listening to McKenna but quite often I realize he’s just an excellent bullshitter with an esoteric twist.
    - namaria 2y ago
      There's no need to call what he says bullshit or esoteric. Maybe he's wrong, most of the time he's not precise enough to be wrong. I read his words as a sort of existential poetry.
      - grugagag 2y ago
        Absolutely, yes and I love it. But most of whatever he’s saying, his ideas cannot really be proven so.. Regardless, I still draw inspiration from him and his oratory skill.
- sameoldtune 2y ago
  my layman viewpoint is that psychedelics make things that seemed immutable more…mutable. Everyone has some short list of things they are endlessly hung up on. Mushrooms might make you realize there are more viewpoints and more options. But after you’ve taken them a few times, there isn’t so much resistance. It’s just a goofy light feeling for a few hours. Chasing that feeling when you first took them and realized that “borders are just like, made up man!” is just like chasing any other high.
- ne0flex 2y ago
  >I don't approach it seeking some lesson or greater truth, just have a nice time, which is maybe the final lesson lol. I relate to this a lot. After a friend died in 2020, I started down that rabbit hole increasing dosages for look "perspective" or "truth" that ended up cumulating into an overdose and an overnight hospital stay. At that point, I realized that going into these things searching for something / using as a coping mechanism is fruitless and it's a more "enjoy the journey" type of thing. I was hoping for an epiphany that would set me on some steel-willed journey, but that never came.
  - mistermann 2y ago
    > At that point, I realized that going into these things searching for something / using as a coping mechanism is fruitless One failure does not prove something is not possible. When under the influence, have you ever encountered knowing that the reality we experience here is not what it seems to be? Bringing these things back (especially in a persistent manner) is tough, but most people can recall the phenomenon abstractly.
    - Jerrrry 2y ago
      Lol depersonalization and derealization and dissociation and DMT elves are awesome, but the reason the ideas are so fleeting, consulate, vague... yet determinate; is because they are completely fabricated illusions of abstract collective unconscious archetypes. They are no more or less real than the rest of our artifacts from evolution. But attempting to give any more credence to these phenomena than to dreams or intrusive thoughts is essentially a dragon hunt of sorts.
      - grugagag 2y ago
        > yet determinate; is because they are completely fabricated illusions of abstract collective unconscious archetypes. Thing is the we need these from time to time to push us off the rut.
      - mistermann 2y ago
        By what means could you come to possess knowledge of all trips that have ever occurred, and other unknowable things? Might you be on a trip of some sort as we speak?
486sx33 2y ago
Personally this drug in not real heavy doses helped me tackle some issues in my life when I was younger that helped me become more psychologically free. I recall having a bonfire on my lawn in the middle of the day while burning my taxes. Sounds weird but it did help
- grugagag 2y ago
  You sound like you got what you needed from it and not more. More could be like taking the bus and not getting off at your stop because you just started to like your bus. Eventually it will force you at a stop you may not like.
hipshaker 2y ago
Psilocybin, MDMA and Salvia divinorum have had a profound effect on my life and the person I am today. Of course it’s impossible to say who I would be, had I not tried these. Has it been for the better? Maybe. For the worse? Maybe. I do know that they are experiences I would not want to be without. They taught me a great desl about myself and helped shape my perception of the inner and outer world surrounding me. Am I smarter and more enlightened, probably not. May be I even shaved off an IQ point or two in the proces. But having my reality altered, even totally disintegrated (salvia) certainly paved the way for acceptance of other states of mind that people may exist in. This is very valuable to me, as it helped break down a black and white coccon I see many people live in (some break free by orher means, some never escape it). To me, it was bungee jumping for the mind but from the comfort of my own home. It certainly has helped me take on and be comfortable with opposing viewpoints, being very tolerant in general and able to reach further into the corners of my mind. It’s been decades since those first jumps, but the effects will last me a lifetime.
- grugagag 2y ago
  You will never be able to tell how you wouldn’t change had you not tried these. But I feel the same as you and I still feel the impact of my only LSD trip I had over 15 years ago like it just happened over the last weekend. However, I know someone who tried LSD for a year here and there every other weekend and I could tell that they incurred some dammage in their brain. They’ve grown in a way but feel fragmented and a bit broken in some other way.
  - llamaLord 2y ago
    IMO a healthy relationship with LSD is one where, after a certain point (usually single-digit experiences), you can very confidently wish the substance a heartfelt goodbye, and thank it for it's service. After my third experience, I woke up the next day knowing I'd learned an enormous amount about myself, and learned to think in ways I couldn't previously. At the same time though, I just... "Knew"... I'd learned everything LSD had to teach me and that any further experiences with it would be like trying to over-optimise my brain, causing more harm than good. That was ~4 years ago, and I've had literally zero desire to even consider touching the stuff since then. I'm glad I did (3-4 times), but I'm VERY confident I'll never do it again.
profstasiak 2y ago
Human brain changes after reading this comment

54 points by XzetaU8 2y ago

I took a fair number of trips when I was 16 and I think it literally brought my consciousness online. There was a pretty stark contrast between the me before who who just wanted to play video games and hang out with friends, and the me after who was overwhelmed by natural beauty and my smallness in relation to the vastness around me. It might have been responsible for the next 5+ years of my life where I shirked school/career in favor of delving pretty deep into hallucinogens and a hippy type lifestyle in search of some "Truth". I don't know if it was just timing and it jump started a natural part of aging, or if it triggered something that would not have occurred otherwise. Either way it definitely did a number on my 16 year old brain, still unsure if it was a net positive or negative. The sad part is they don't have such a profound effect on me anymore, it can still be pretty interesting but the life altering trips seem to be reserved for the first few times. My only expectation from them now is to feel nice and have some pleasant visuals. I don't approach it seeking some lesson or greater truth, just have a nice time, which is maybe the final lesson lol.

namaria 2y ago
McKenna would argue that's how apes became humans
- grugagag 2y ago
  I love listening to McKenna but quite often I realize he’s just an excellent bullshitter with an esoteric twist.
  - namaria 2y ago
    There's no need to call what he says bullshit or esoteric. Maybe he's wrong, most of the time he's not precise enough to be wrong. I read his words as a sort of existential poetry.
    - grugagag 2y ago
      Absolutely, yes and I love it. But most of whatever he’s saying, his ideas cannot really be proven so.. Regardless, I still draw inspiration from him and his oratory skill.
sameoldtune 2y ago
my layman viewpoint is that psychedelics make things that seemed immutable more…mutable. Everyone has some short list of things they are endlessly hung up on. Mushrooms might make you realize there are more viewpoints and more options. But after you’ve taken them a few times, there isn’t so much resistance. It’s just a goofy light feeling for a few hours. Chasing that feeling when you first took them and realized that “borders are just like, made up man!” is just like chasing any other high.
ne0flex 2y ago
>I don't approach it seeking some lesson or greater truth, just have a nice time, which is maybe the final lesson lol. I relate to this a lot. After a friend died in 2020, I started down that rabbit hole increasing dosages for look "perspective" or "truth" that ended up cumulating into an overdose and an overnight hospital stay. At that point, I realized that going into these things searching for something / using as a coping mechanism is fruitless and it's a more "enjoy the journey" type of thing. I was hoping for an epiphany that would set me on some steel-willed journey, but that never came.
- mistermann 2y ago
  > At that point, I realized that going into these things searching for something / using as a coping mechanism is fruitless One failure does not prove something is not possible. When under the influence, have you ever encountered knowing that the reality we experience here is not what it seems to be? Bringing these things back (especially in a persistent manner) is tough, but most people can recall the phenomenon abstractly.
  - Jerrrry 2y ago
    Lol depersonalization and derealization and dissociation and DMT elves are awesome, but the reason the ideas are so fleeting, consulate, vague... yet determinate; is because they are completely fabricated illusions of abstract collective unconscious archetypes. They are no more or less real than the rest of our artifacts from evolution. But attempting to give any more credence to these phenomena than to dreams or intrusive thoughts is essentially a dragon hunt of sorts.
    - grugagag 2y ago
      > yet determinate; is because they are completely fabricated illusions of abstract collective unconscious archetypes. Thing is the we need these from time to time to push us off the rut.
    - mistermann 2y ago
      By what means could you come to possess knowledge of all trips that have ever occurred, and other unknowable things? Might you be on a trip of some sort as we speak?

486sx33 2y ago

Personally this drug in not real heavy doses helped me tackle some issues in my life when I was younger that helped me become more psychologically free. I recall having a bonfire on my lawn in the middle of the day while burning my taxes. Sounds weird but it did help

grugagag 2y ago
You sound like you got what you needed from it and not more. More could be like taking the bus and not getting off at your stop because you just started to like your bus. Eventually it will force you at a stop you may not like.

hipshaker 2y ago

Psilocybin, MDMA and Salvia divinorum have had a profound effect on my life and the person I am today. Of course it’s impossible to say who I would be, had I not tried these. Has it been for the better? Maybe. For the worse? Maybe. I do know that they are experiences I would not want to be without. They taught me a great desl about myself and helped shape my perception of the inner and outer world surrounding me. Am I smarter and more enlightened, probably not. May be I even shaved off an IQ point or two in the proces. But having my reality altered, even totally disintegrated (salvia) certainly paved the way for acceptance of other states of mind that people may exist in. This is very valuable to me, as it helped break down a black and white coccon I see many people live in (some break free by orher means, some never escape it). To me, it was bungee jumping for the mind but from the comfort of my own home. It certainly has helped me take on and be comfortable with opposing viewpoints, being very tolerant in general and able to reach further into the corners of my mind. It’s been decades since those first jumps, but the effects will last me a lifetime.

grugagag 2y ago
You will never be able to tell how you wouldn’t change had you not tried these. But I feel the same as you and I still feel the impact of my only LSD trip I had over 15 years ago like it just happened over the last weekend. However, I know someone who tried LSD for a year here and there every other weekend and I could tell that they incurred some dammage in their brain. They’ve grown in a way but feel fragmented and a bit broken in some other way.
- llamaLord 2y ago
  IMO a healthy relationship with LSD is one where, after a certain point (usually single-digit experiences), you can very confidently wish the substance a heartfelt goodbye, and thank it for it's service. After my third experience, I woke up the next day knowing I'd learned an enormous amount about myself, and learned to think in ways I couldn't previously. At the same time though, I just... "Knew"... I'd learned everything LSD had to teach me and that any further experiences with it would be like trying to over-optimise my brain, causing more harm than good. That was ~4 years ago, and I've had literally zero desire to even consider touching the stuff since then. I'm glad I did (3-4 times), but I'm VERY confident I'll never do it again.

profstasiak 2y ago

Human brain changes after reading this comment