I've never taken any psychedelics yet but I will be taking my first in two days. I have heard stories from my friends who have been taking drugs for years and they say once they took their first psychedelic their mind was never the same. They said that sometimes they can hear voices when walking down the street or hear people calling their name. They also said their insight on the world and their views on everything completely changed. Is all this normal? Should I expect this to happen to me too?
Yes, it is normal.
It is normal in two ways. Taking psychedelics will cause a permanent change and it is normal for people to hear voices.
The second point has nothing at all to do with drugs. Most people have voices but do not pay attention to them. In other individuals these voices are out of control.
A mental condition is generally related to a normal mental process. Normal, meaning that a very high percent of people experience it. Nothing is added to your head which was not there before, but something is altered outside of normal functioning. Taking a psychedelic is relatable to a short term mental disorder. Like a muscle that has contracted or tightened to an extreme, to the point surrounding muscles are affected by it. Hearing voices is one example or possible result. We all hear voices, but only in a few cases do voices overwhelm people and start consuming their thoughts.
Mental disease is mulitple symptoms coming from a single cause, one would hope at least, and toxic chemicals can cause them. LSD is stupendously toxic by the way. A curious person may simply want to experience it, but I would tell that person that it is not a free ride and not the most intriguing thing that life has to offer.
Certain people who, for whatever reason, were permanently affected by voices took psychedelics to increase the prominence of the voices and strengthen other details surrounding the voices, for long periods of time afterward. They felt strongly that the voices were teaching them about unaltered history of the world etc. Whether you buy into their belief or not, the fact is that the psychedelic drugs increased the prominence of certain mental processes for a long time afterward. I noticed this as well, only I did not buy into it and it was not an enjoyable half-life of altered mental state.
Radiation is a fitting analogy. Half-life is not exactly "permanent" and normal life actually includes a lot of radiation.
Whether it is going to alter your mind into one that hears voices, nobody can say for certain. LSD tends to give people enormously huge giant fucking egos though. So much so that they tell you they do not even "comprehend" having an ego. WOw/ But they definitely consider what they thought they knew before to be trivial to what they know now. I tend to disagree with this sentiment but it is what you feel when high.
From personal experience, if smoking the marihuana drug gives you anxiety, then you are not a good candidate for trying out stronger brain chemicals. I tend to think of them a bit like mind rape or shooting bullets in the dark. I also do not buy into any of the set and setting having any affect on bad trips and never thought HPPD as anything rare for experienced trippers. Most everyone taking these drugs are young. If you do reconsider then you might be thankful for it later, stranger.