What's the take on LSD being able to "re-wire" the brain?

[whiteroom67]

Any opinions on this? I have had trips in the past that profoundly changed the way I felt amongst the world around me, but my last LSD was kind of a bummer, overwhelming, bad setting, etc... and since then I haven't felt as much "in peace" with my surroundings. This was quite awhile ago too. Any opinions, or facts, on LSD literally rewiring the brain for better or worse? Possibly organizing a time to "candyflip" in order to ensure a positive rewiring? Any thoughts/opinions?

 

[BenzosBudOrBooty]

Maybe see a doctor. DON'T try to reverse a bad trip with a good one. That may lead to mental illness. Probably best thing you can do is go sober. That's what I think.

I don't think LSD re-wires your brain for the better or for the worse, it just changes your perception. And sometimes there's an adjusting period of dark times if it happens too quick. If you go sober that adjusting period will re-cover quicker. Anti-psychotic medications can help too.

 

[Xorkoth]

Our brains are constantly rewiring, and sometimes things we experience on psychedelics can lead to change. Like any other strong experience can.

 

[psood0nym]

I wouldn't say there's anything particularly special about LSD over other psychedelics in this respect, but any experience that is associated with "amplified" experience and subsequent "reliving" and elaboration in memory, along with metacognitive reflection (as profound psychedelic experiences often are associated with), could be convincingly argued to "rewire" the brain to some non-trivial degree. A terrifying experience could cause this as well, which is how I, as well as many others, suspect "bad trips" can cause lasting problems, just as any severe mental trauma can. Likewise, a profoundly benign psychedelic experience can have lasting beneficial effects. As Xorkoth notes,"our brains are constantly rewiring." For a general explanation see the role of Hebbian conditioning in long term potentiation in learning.

 

[pupnik]

Every experience alters the bag of perspectives by which you may evaluate life.
LSD (any psychedelic) adds the waking dream reference or perspective which you may or may not wish to measure other things with.
the experience may be briefly angelic, or demonic, or may be an endless eternity of love or death or any of a myriad of possibilities between (set setting and dose related).

This is not exactly wiring, but it is certainly equivalent in some cases (especially with stronger doses) to winning the lottery or to some terrible punishment.

In that way you are likely to be touched deeply or moved in an unexpected way.

One of the most basic realizations any of us may have is that life is unsatisfactory, which really means that you can't always get what you want, but if you try some times, you just might find, you get what you need.

My advice is to find the silver lining to your new vision before playing with fire.

 

[phuckingnutz]

.... A terrifying experience could cause this as well, which is how I, as well as many others, suspect "bad trips" can cause lasting problems, just as any severe mental trauma can. Likewise, a profoundly benign psychedelic experience can have lasting beneficial effects....

You mean like PTSD?

Also, I'm sure methamphetamine can rewire the brain, but only after consistent use/abuse.

I HAVE "chased" bad DMT trips with more DMT and gotten the forebodingness to leave...then again, DMT is NOT LSD so I can't speak with regard "chasing" a bad acid trip.

 

[Solipsis]

Reading a pretty great book on thought patterns / modes and common thinking errors, I mention this because concept association is described in it in an interesting way, makes me imagine "ripples" in that system, and taking LSD seems like making big splashes and pond-skipping, anyway people tend to express themselves in terms of "everything is connected", well without going into microcosm macrocosm resemblence... I think that reflects most of all how our associations are all connected, only it seems that the psychedelic state allows us to peer further, like a chain reaction...
The associated nodes aggregate into our selves and our world, it seems realizing this so much makes this whole psychological system flicker, flash and glimmer. Halfway into epilepsy it would almost seem.

Like I said: I am imagining, that's my take I spose

 

[:DNA]

Reading a pretty great book on thought patterns / modes and common thinking errors, I mention this because concept association is described in it in an interesting way, makes me imagine "ripples" in that system, and taking LSD seems like making big splashes and pond-skipping, anyway people tend to express themselves in terms of "everything is connected", well without going into microcosm macrocosm resemblence... I think that reflects most of all how our associations are all connected, only it seems that the psychedelic state allows us to peer further, like a chain reaction...
The associated nodes aggregate into our selves and our world, it seems realizing this so much makes this whole psychological system flicker, flash and glimmer. Halfway into epilepsy it would almost seem.

Like I said: I am imagining, that's my take I spose

oh you can't just do that -- describe such an interesting sounding book and not include the title along with it What's the name of the book?

 

[Burnt Offerings]

I've been thinking about this topic too. I recently took mescaline and experienced a very intense/euphoric 12 or 13 hour trip. But in subsequent days I've felt quite depressed and my mood is just..."grey". The people and things that usually bring me pleasure and happiness no longer seem to work for me. I'm just unhappy all the time regardless of situation, I imagine this is what "real depression" feels like. My theory is that the drug just hit my serotonin receptors pretty damn hard and it'll take time to recover...I hope that's all it is, anyway. Bought some HTP-5 today, maybe that'll help. Cannabis hasn't really helped that much.

It's unusual because all of my previous psychedelic experiences (esp. with psilocybin) have left me with lingering feelings of happiness and empathy, not depression and moodiness.

 

[Xorkoth]

L-tryptophan works better than 5-HTP, but no harm, possibly some benefit. That is unusual, mescaline in particular for me usually leaves me feel wonderful and centered. Perhaps there is another factor at work? My baseline mood tends to fluctuate and sometimes it just hits a low point for a few days, a week, whatever. Did you lose sleep because of the mescaline? Sleep deprivation can have pretty dramatic effects on your mood.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

L-tryptophan works better than 5-HTP, but no harm, possibly some benefit. That is unusual, mescaline in particular for me usually leaves me feel wonderful and centered. Perhaps there is another factor at work? My baseline mood tends to fluctuate and sometimes it just hits a low point for a few days, a week, whatever. Did you lose sleep because of the mescaline? Sleep deprivation can have pretty dramatic effects on your mood.

Yeah, I did lose sleep somewhat, I took it at around 10 PM and stayed up pretty much all night and into the next morning. I had to force myself to come down with some Xanax just to get some sleep because I knew I needed it (sleep, that is, not Xanax). This all happened around four days ago or so. As far as the other things in my life, they aren't great to be honest. One of my friends (who is homeless and who've I've been let staying with me) has been kind of a dick lately, and a lot of people seem to keep asking me for favors. Plus I'm not doing too well in school this semester & I have a pretty serious physical illness that I need to keep track of on a regular basis, so all those things add up to a fair deal of stress. It just feels a bit different now, though, because even in very low points in my life, there'd be flickers of happiness, but now I just kind of have a baseline feeling of emptiness and just generally being bummed out.

 

[Xorkoth]

Sorry you're going through that. Sounds like you're a bit depressed, I bet you can think og ways to improve your situation though, and then you'll feel better. And it could partly be from drug aftereffects/lack of sleep/etc, too.

 

[Wobblier]

could it be a tool to help develop the mode of consciousness of abstracting?
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads...ough)-direct-impact-into-Korzybski-s-Parabola

I think you need to look at your situation / life as a whole. A more holistic view might be more beneficial listening to your story.


I am not sorry that you feel down. You might have become aware with the help of altered states that you are not happy in life. Break the elements of your life in which you are not happy down and from a plan to improve these. This is a good opportunity; being 'bummed out' can be a good thing.

You are now aware of conscious of abstracting the questions is what are you going to do about it? Will there be a paradigm shift (big or small)?

 

[Solipsis]

oh you can't just do that -- describe such an interesting sounding book and not include the title along with it What's the name of the book?

It's "Thinking fast and slow" by Daniel Kahneman (won Nobel prize actually).

@Xork: L-tryptophan is a precursor to 5-HTP, so seems strange that it would be better... more bioavailable? idk

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah, for whatever reason it works better, a lot better I think. A lot of people have said that on this forum as well. I don't get much of anything from 5-HTP but if I take a dose of tryptophan I get slightly sedated, happier, just generally a good feeling that also helps me sleep if I want it for that.

 

[whiteroom67]

Yeah, for whatever reason it works better, a lot better I think. A lot of people have said that on this forum as well. I don't get much of anything from 5-HTP but if I take a dose of tryptophan I get slightly sedated, happier, just generally a good feeling that also helps me sleep if I want it for that.

True, Tryptophan works the same for me... it seems to work well, but I have heard that the exception would be with MDMA recovery. I heard that MDMA can block enzymes that convert L-Tryptophan into 5-HTP, making 5-HTP the better choice for post-MDMA recovery. I don't know how true that is though.

I actually forgot I started this thread awhile back lol. I actually just started another thread very similar to it.