Do psychadelic drugs tend to cause Dissociative Disorders?

[bupropion]

Do psychadelic drugs tend to cause Dissociative Disorders? I have taken DMT and 2 varieties of Morning Glory seeds as well as been given ketamine against my will and believe that they do.

 

[rickolasnice]

Definitely a possibility.

 

[Solipsis]

I wouldn't dismiss the possibility, no. But if this is true, it seems to me that it depends on how well you integrate your trips (or give yourself the chance to) and/or genetic predisposition.

 

[General Patton]

If you've been given ketamine against your will, that's probably moreso the cause. Being slipped drugs is incredibly traumatizing, especially a dissociative like ketamine or PCP. Hope you recover your mental agency, shit is harsh man

 

[sekio]

Stressful events in general can cause PTSD and dissociative disorder.
Doing powerful, mind altering psychedelic drugs can be stressful.

Put the 2 pieces together and...

 

[Black]

i'd say yes.
i can't speak for "real" dissociative disorders, but my experiences with drugs that have even a slight dissociative component certainly point that way.
ketamine and (surpirisingly) cannabis are the worst offenders here. with both even a small dose puts me in a dissociative state (mainly derealisation and depersonalisation) for upwards of a week. when smoking cannabis repediately it can take months until is goes away.
nitrous is a little better as the symptoms only last for one day (independent of the dose)
ghb and (large doses of) alcohol also have effects, but to a much smaller degree and it usually fades away in one or two days, even with large doses.
classical psychedelics on the other hand are fine with me, as well as mdma.

 

[PROZ4C]

i'd say yes.
i can't speak for "real" dissociative disorders, but my experiences with drugs that have even a slight dissociative component certainly point that way.
ketamine and (surpirisingly) cannabis are the worst offenders here. with both even a small dose puts me in a dissociative state (mainly derealisation and depersonalisation) for upwards of a week. when smoking cannabis repediately it can take months until is goes away.
nitrous is a little better as the symptoms only last for one day (independent of the dose)
ghb and (large doses of) alcohol also have effects, but to a much smaller degree and it usually fades away in one or two days, even with large doses.
classical psychedelics on the other hand are fine with me, as well as mdma.

I believe it.

Honestly smoking mj did the most harm of any drug to me. Obviously not psychical but I for sure noticed certain disassociation from reality when I was smoking heavily. Well noticed after I quit smoking, at the time it carried on with out me realizing it.

Crazy thing is occasional to even moderate use of psychedelics (tripping once every two weeks at most, but usually only tripping once every 1-3 months) has lead to nothing but positive results. Taking life more seriously, being more grounded in reality, more honest with myself, more "on point" with things.

I think that is because with psychedelics no one really uses them on a regular basis. They might take you to outer space but people tend to wait long periods of time in between and that to me is what makes the difference.

I would imagine smoking weed more like it was LSD and only once a month or something would end up being positive instead of negative too.

I think people really underestimate the effect of heavy use of marijuana on the mind. Always seemed to be very good for the body though. Smoking after workouts really helps recovery.

 

[gayface]

PROZ4C, I'm not sure restricting your weed usage like that would necessarily help. Heavy weed users (in my experience) seem to forget how intense weed can be without a tolerance, and smoking as infrequently as once a month would give you no chance to build a tolerance. It's possible that whatever aspect of weed causes dissociation would therefore be experienced fully every time, whereas tolerance might actually mitigate any mental-health risks. I have no idea about the actual mechanics of this though; I may be totally wrong.

Might seem an odd point to pick over, but I was interested because your hypothesis is quite similar to the way I have consumed weed over my lifetime, though I smoked ~fortnightly. I've recently given up, for what it's worth. The mental effects I felt were simply too worrying, I was seriously fearing that I was one of those souls unfortunate enough to be biologically predisposed to schizophrenia. Having given up for a couple months now, I suppose my fear has diminished 50%, but it's still lurking, the thought that perhaps in 10 years I'll break. But none of this is about dissociative disorders OR psychedelics, so I apologize for going off-topic and using this to confess my probably hypochondriac fears.

But to echo what you've said, psychedelics don't seem to damage me like that at all. They seem positive. I'm still taking it easy on them, though. Considering that much of their usage was concurrent with weed, I can't really claim to separate their effects.

bupropion, I would like to hear more about your experience with K against your will. The most benign way I can imagine would be you were duped into taking K as opposed to some similar drug, and then immediately informed after dosing. But I can imagine some horrific alternatives, being forcefully injected etc. If it was like this, then the stress could have done a lot of damage itself. I hope you're ok.

 

[Lucy's Lover]

PROZ4C, I'm not sure restricting your weed usage like that would necessarily help. Heavy weed users (in my experience) seem to forget how intense weed can be without a tolerance, and smoking as infrequently as once a month would give you no chance to build a tolerance. It's possible that whatever aspect of weed causes dissociation would therefore be experienced fully every time, whereas tolerance might actually mitigate any mental-health risks. I have no idea about the actual mechanics of this though; I may be totally wrong.


i agrre with this i had been smoking weed daily for a few years then took my first real break just after crimbo. im not sure about dissociation but i think tolerance is better to have what made it a bit worse was the fact that i started caning high grade straight away