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The Cost of Being Informed...

Minerva

Minerva

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 23, 2003
Messages
41
Its late and im bored and have been thinking about this for a while.

Hanging around this board, i get the feeling im not alone in wanting to know pretty much everything about something im going to take. I think every drug except acid i researched and knew at least some of the effects and health concerns before taking. My question comes from this..

Does being informed about drugs, specifically their effects and health risks, lessen their experience?

1. By knowing what a drug is going to do, does this mean you wont be open to the full experience? Hard to explain, but if you know your going to be 'luved up', for example, after taking mdxx for the first time then when you actually are, you would be expecting it and it wont be as big a deal?

2. By knowing the health risks associated with many drugs (I'm going to focus on mdxx) does it affect your night out? some of my friends have been dropping for the last few weekends, and ive asked 'did you get as high and did it last as long as the first weekend?' and got the reply 'uh, i guess not hey'. To me this seems like they havent even thought about it until i mentioned it and therefore on the third weekend waiting for the pill to kick in they wont be thinking 'damn, ive been going hard lately, i havent had 3-4 weeks to replenish seratonin so this pill isnt going to effect me much'.

For me, the last couple of times ive taken pills, after ive dropped and am waiting to start rolling i start worrying that its not going to work or be as good as the last time. That leads me to: 'is it working? can i feel it?' and its starting to affect my experience. So i started thinking about why i do this, is it it because i am so informed? i know about 'losing the magic' and therefore worry about it?. Or is this a simple case of 'chasing the high'?

Sorry if this doesnt make any sense, i have problems saying what i really mean. I guess im just after peoples opinions/reactions.
 
I know what you mean. But then again, because of acquiring this knowledge I know that moderation is the key, so when I do drop once every two months I know it is going to be a blissful experience, thereofore my mentality before the come-up is the opposite of your's (no personal attack here).

Knowledge has its ups and downs I suppose...
 
I understand what you're saying - and I agree in some respects; however, I feel that extra knowledge is never a burden to carry. By going into an experience with a clear expectation of what should, and shouldn't happen, you can often replace any fear of the unknown with an educated sense of anticipation such as you've described. However, the next step is then to work on knowing your own body - recognise the subtle signs that occur when the drugs begin to take effect, then you can relax in the knowledge that everything's taking off smoothly.

Furthermore, I think that going into a drug experience without that extra knowledge can lead people to panic - particularly if they're not sure of what dose to take, or what the common side effects are besides 'getting fucked up'.

BigTrancer :)
 
When I was young and naive, being informed did have a minor impact on my experiences... When I read about a drug, I would form idealistic and unrealistic expectations of its effects. When I took it, if something happened which I didn't expect, I'd panic about it.

But...

Would I rather I had known nothing of what I was doing to myself, and had no expectations to let down?

;)
 
For me, the last couple of times ive taken pills, after ive dropped and am waiting to start rolling i start worrying that its not going to work or be as good as the last time.
Click to expand...

i had that mentality a bit, where i did my research and then whenever i took ecstacy, i would be waiting for it to kick in and thinking what if it dosn't or what if it isn't as good or what if it isn't what i expected after the last time i took it. I would be sitting there for first 40 minutes or whatever after dropping thinking when is it going to come on? when is it going to hit me?and you start thinking about it too much and that i feel can lessen the experience.
But i guess i got over that, and i know that it is going to work, and i know that it is going to do what i want it to do. so now once i drop, i just forget about it and let it do it's work and enjoy.
 
My first MDMA experience I had a ball as you do. I had such a good time that i did quite a bit of research. I think researching the drug then made my next few experiences more anaylitical than they should have been as I lost the roll with it aspect of things. All good now though! :D
 
I think as you get more experienced, the indepth knowledge of the drug will actually enhance the experience. Sometimes when I am pilling, I think to myself, "my god, what an amazing thing a human body is and what an amazing science of chemistry is - the substance I just took is flooding my synapses with the 5-HT neurotransmitter and blocking its reuptake and I'm feeling fucking great. I can count on you my friend MAO, you'll give me enough time to enjoy the night as usual! " :) or i'm just crazy :)

But seriously, its like alcohol. You know perfectly well what being drunk feels like. You've done it countless amounts of times. Yet if you are getting pissed, you will enjoy that feeling as usual, providing you are in the right frame of mind.

It's what that feeling allows you to emotinally experience and not what the feeling actually is. (eg. MDMA feeling allows to experience greater empathy and love, and the ability to express the love without inhibitions like telling your best mate how much the friendship means to you or telling your missus just how mcuh you love her)
 
Runner said:
IBut seriously, its like alcohol. You know perfectly well what being drunk feels like. You've done it countless amounts of times. Yet if you are getting pissed, you will enjoy that feeling as usual, providing you are in the right frame of mind.
Click to expand...

^^ Yes... and hopefully, that knowlege translates to knowing when to stop, too, because you're also aware of the consequences of the aftermath. Not like when you're 15 and think that drinking a whole bottle of Beam in 2 hours might be a good idea ;)

Not always the case, however =D

I don't think my drug "knowlege" since being on bluelight has affected my experiences much. If anything, to the postive, since bluelight encouraged me to get an EZ-test kit and thus most if not all, my MD** experiences are actual MD** experiences.

However, I do see what you're saying. When I first tried speed, for instance, I had *no* idea of what it was going to do. Someone put it in my drink and said "you'll like this". I just drank it up, like the stupid 18 year old I was, and had the absolute buzzalicious surprise of my life. Now, however, I'm accutely aware of speed's potential dangers and it really does affect how I use it.

As far as the mental thing goes though, it's completely able to be overcome if you try. Or rather, NOT try. You have to train yourself to relax during that coming-up period, or it's highly likely you will thwart your own come-up with worries. I do this by busying myself with something - if I'm at a house party, I'll start picking CD's to play, if I'm at a club, I'll engage in a conversation with someone or line up at the bar, or dance. You have to distract yourself. After all, the knowlege you've obtained is hopefully keeping you as safe as you can be; let it be background .

:)
 
Thanks for the replies people, youve definately given me some things to think about.

I love this forum :D
 
If you care to stray from the MDXX experience...

I've found that by reading various trip reports/experiences here and on www.erowid.org I have been able to dig furthur in my adventures and realise different things that had gone unnoticed in previous experiences.

And generally you find that people who are knowledgeable about the drugs they are consuming before they do have a far smaller chance of freaking out as they seem more aware *that it is just a drug* and not themselves losing touch with reality permanently.

------------------
Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other, "How do you drive this thing?"
 
Truuf Dat

I was going to say pretty much what SupaDiskoBreaka said. :)

I've found that knowledge prior to consuming a substance doesn't often lead me to get unrealistic expectations of it, but more leads to me making an intelligent choice about how much of a substance to consume and to in effect ensure that I have a dramatically lower chance of fucking up or fucking out.

-plaz out-
 
I can't say that research has changed the way I feel on pills at all. I remember the first time I had one, I sat there thinking "Is it working yet?", "Has anything happened". Now that I have done research, I appreciate it more, knowing if the pill I have consumed was worth the money paid, or just a shitty speed bomb.
 
Research has allowed me to be more relaxed with my intake and use. I know what I am doing, I know the risks and I believe that a good medium in drug use does exist. :)
 
I'd defintately have to say no. I completely understand where you are coming from, i ve had those thoughts myself.
But no, quite simply my education about drugs makes me feel great. but i feel great beacuse i am able to share the expereinces, talk about them, and laugh about them. I love the next day talking about how scattered and how moody i feel and so forth.
I think that its very dependant on your whole persona, and charactristics, not the fact that you are ''too'' informed.
There is no need to be cynical or jaded, just smile about what you know and make the best of it.
 
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