Neurosciece: Psychedelic Self-Realization

[Psychedalienation]

On a totally non-hippie, non mystic note, I have a question.

What, in the brain, causes psychs like psilocybin, DMT, LSD, etc, to have such profound lessons and self realizations. Is there proof that says that these drugs allow further access of our brain than not on them?

Im in the Army now in AIT and dealing with slow, long term stress has caused my attitude to decline drastically, among other behavioral negative side effects that are seemingly uncontrollable long term for me personally. This made me think back to how amazing my shroom trips were and the fresh perspective they gave me. It makes me want to take them and realize from a bugger picture, what to be thankful for and put that at the forefront of my consciousness rather than in my sub/unconsciousness.

So thinking about this got me wondering how this is even possible. What neurotransmitters could possibly have such profound effects on our Psyche? I know shrooms effect the 5-H2A?s i think. Been awhile lol.

Ple explain.

 

[SunriseChampion]

5-HT2A

I think it might have something to do with the increase in neural connections made during the high. There's a famous pictograph showing connections of a brain at baseline and one during a psilocybin high. You can find it on Wikipedia, I think. Pretty interesting.
I think that would lend itself to attaining new perspectives.

 

[lunchbox333]

psilocybin and N-n Dmt as well as lsd are all related structurally . tryptamine are by far the most profound experience, compared to drugs of the same psychedelic caliber. and I'm a HUGE fan of mescaline and other psychedelics, its just nothing quite matches the profundity of classic tryptamines. (actually I take that back mescaline can be QUITE the mental load sometimes, lets go with like analogues and other phenethylamines or 2c family etc etc). there is quite a bit of evidence that tryptamine not only connect neural pathways as sunrise champ was saying (btw I know exactly which pictograph you're talking about , its a good one) and connect parts of the brain previously unconnected, but there is also neurogenesis going on in substantial amounts..quite a variety of mental illnesses and disorders that can be treated, cured, prevented or mitigated by tryptamines.. after doing various classes of psychedelics I realized theres a subtle distinction between psychedelic and spiritually enlightening. they overlap but aren't always synonymous.

theres an interesting idea by David Nichols that connects serotonin in particular 5-ht2a as the spiritual neurotransmitter in light of and in rebuttal to rick strausmans hypothesis about DMT being the missing link neurotransmitter. quite an interesting dialogue. in my opinion I would have to say DMT is much more passionate and intense, wether it be smoked N-n or ayahuasca type brews, but lsd and psilocybin are miraculous in their own right. I would suggest watching some lectures by neuroscientists who specify in this field such as dr. James FArdiman or as previously mentioned DAvid Nichols. safe travels, c u in hyper space

 

[g0to]

If all it takes for a positive psychedelic experience "enlightenment" to wear off is time then the answer is simple. If you want to get into that mindstate again take more of the drug. Shrooms aren't innately compulsive or toxic so with that said, the question I personally kept coming back to was how can I apply these thinngs I feel that I've been shown and learned during my trip into positive day to day things. Because you can have the most reality shattering enlighjening LSD trip ever, but the next day there are dishes still in the sink, laundry in the hamper, tasks and errands to be attended to. So taking it alot over a long period of time to reach that mindstate can be harmful in a roundabout way. That's not to say that your average person who's never tripped probably ignores the more mundane tasks in life less overall. I forgot where I was going with this but.. it's not as simple as ascribing those euphoric and soul cleansing experiences to a single receptor subtype and stuff like that. These are novel experiences that in my opinion need to be integrated properly over time, and not taken for granted. If you go and take shrooms expecting a certain type of experience you've had in the past it will not be like that. it will be different and you'll be initially disappointed.