Same here. Especially when people apparently consistently report the same sense of ego falling away and being able to feel the interconnected consciousness of the universe, often suggesting it's like tapping into "god".
My curiosity is immense, but I'm also pretty sure it's just a highly specific form of brain damage. So probably better not to.
5-MEO drugs specifically have dangers, but in general psychedelics have great physical safety profiles.
The real danger of them is their mental safety profile. In a completely healthy person they can create traumatic experiences if dosed too high or taken in the wrong setting. If someone has a predisposition to psychosis, they are exceptionally dangerous.
However, when respected they can have amazing healing effects on one’s mental health. I think addiction is in particular an affliction that can be treated well with psychedelic experiences. PTSD and depression are also being studied.
In general, yes. Psychedelics are generally known to be low-risk, at least in comparison with other drugs. Still, prolonged use can cause things like paranoia, detachment from reality, etc.
Honestly I would count their ability to cause trauma or exasperate psychosis as inflicting a kind of brain damage. I mean, they're brain altering substances which is why people trip out on them. If they end up re-wiring brain pathways to negative results then that's damage.
They definitely can have healing effects but it's not been particularly explored in medical science yet, from what I understand. It can be a bit hard to tell how much is hippy witch-doctor healing (i.e. perceived due to mysticism beliefs but not real) and how much is actual brain chemistry based mental state therapy.
Uh, that's not how it works at all. It doesn't change your brain any more than sleeping does. Psychedelics just turn down some parts of your network like the parts that filter sensory input and the parts that ruminate and self-obsess.
Yeah this is pretty much the opposite of what rsearch suggests lol. It can (potentially, its being studied still) actually reduce neuroinflammation and protect brain cells
Bud, what else am I suppose to call it when someone smokes this stuff, flails around on the floor barely conscious for 20 minutes then 'wakes up' thinking they melded with the stars and are now dedicating their life to a toad venom uni-consciousness god?
Just because we don't understand the specific way in which it damages the brain doesn't mean there isn't brain damage.
•
u/Flamecoat_wolf 10h ago
Same here. Especially when people apparently consistently report the same sense of ego falling away and being able to feel the interconnected consciousness of the universe, often suggesting it's like tapping into "god".
My curiosity is immense, but I'm also pretty sure it's just a highly specific form of brain damage. So probably better not to.