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This is your brain on drugs (quokk.au)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
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This is your brain on drugs

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[–] 56 points 7 months ago (15 children)

I can certainly vouch for amphetamines*.

*in controlled amounts for people with ADHD

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago* (14 children)

    I don't consider pharmaceuticals "drugs". I tend to draw a line between medication and recreation. I even do that with cannabis-- although that can get a little fuzzy sometimes :P

    but that's just my opinion

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago* (7 children)

    Is the line you draw based on the intent of the user or the intent of the provider?

    Like, for instance, if someone with ADHD uses caffeine to help them focus better, is that medication? Or, if someone tries a hallucinogen with the intention of opening their mind, is that medication?

    A couple more potential examples: Is a trans man using testosterone they purchased on the black market to treat their dysphoria medicating? Is an athlete using the same substance to enhance their performance medicating?

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

    The intent of the provider is irrelevant. It’s about how it’s being used.

    For black market hormones, that’s HRT and is obviously medical. i’m not sure I would call the performance-enhancing athlete recreational because they’re not doing it to get high. That’s also medical, but shitty medicine. like I said, it’s not about the source, it’s about the usage.

    With your caffeine example, that’s clearly medication. Using a hallucinogen in that manner? That sounds recreational to me. although psilocybin is in the experimental and pre-clinical stages for being used to treat epilepsy, which would clearly be medical.

    edit: for those who might object to my classification of spiritual pursuits as "recreational", let's just call it "recreational (or other)", but its sure isn't medical.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Psilocybin is also being trialed for certain mental conditions like PTSD.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (2 children)

    exactly. lots of recreational drugs are being tested for medical uses. cannabis is famously being used for a broad range of medical uses.

    but my point is that I can take CHEMICAL-X for its intended purpose or for my own purpose, and there's a difference between the two. one is medication, and one is recreation-- and yes it's possible to take it for a mix of both reasons.

    whether I get it from a pharmacy or someone at a party is irrelevant (for the context of this conversation).

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago* (1 child)

    Ok, but a lot of research chemicals' intended purposes are opening your mind, and them doing anything helpful is a bizarre off label usage that happens to work.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago*

    like I said, there can be mixed usage. it's doesn't have to be one or the other... ok, maybe I was unclear on that point. it's complicated and depends a lot on person experience. it's highly subjective.

    for example: say my back is killing me, so I smoke a bowl to ease the pain. OH NOES! I'M STONED! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also enjoying being high, and anyone who believed me would be an idiot.

    in that scenario, my usage would be mixed because the intent was medical, but I'm also enjoying being high.

    another example: say I'm having a nasty panic attack, so I smoke a bowl to alleviate the freakout. while I will technically be high, I'm not really enjoying anything about the experience. what I really feel is like taking the panic attack and turning the volume down from an 11 to a 2 or a 3, making it manageable. and, while I'm high, I'm not really enjoying myself at all.

    does that make more sense?

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Yes, secret third thing, yes, secret fourth thing.

    Psychedelics for discovery are different from ones for fun and also from ones for dealing with ptsd or addiction

    That said, doping to cheat is maybe recreation, but doping for body modification without attempting to resolve any issues is far closer to a piercing or tattoo than a line of coke imo.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago*

    All I was trying to do is draw a very basic distinction between a medical or scientific or clinical pursuit of taking chemicals (I took a Tylenol because I had a headache), and a more “other“ pursuit (I smoked a spliff to get high), which could cover a lot of the more specific examples you have cited, but I think you understand the point I was trying to make

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    I mean, you can get pharmaceutical heroin and pharmaceutical meth and while you're not going to experience quite the same levels of harm since it'd be pure and clean, the addiction will still deal the same damage as the street stuff

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)

    I’m not really referring to the source, but the use of it. Like, I’m getting medical cannabis here in Florida, and my usage of it is split between medical and recreational. And I’m honest with myself enough to be able to tell which is which.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    If the recreational use improves your mood, isn't that a medical purpose too?

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)

    Good question. Well, since one of the main medical uses for me is to treat my anxiety order and depression, that’s a bit of a tricky question. If I’m having a panic attack or crying because of my depression, then I would call that a medical usage. But if I’m just generally grumpy, then I’d call that recreational. Or if I’m just feeling tense, and wanna relax, recreational. Or if I just feel like getting high, definitely recreational.

    If my back hurts, or my knee is aching, then, yeah, definitely medical.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    I think the line is so blurry as to not matter in most circumstances. If you're grumpy or tense and use it to feel better, it may not be a necessity, but it still improves your quality of life the same as if you did the exact same thing with an antidepressant. When there are safe and effective ways to feel better, there's no reason to suffer. Saying it's not medicinal is the realm of insurance companies and puritans.

    You can even make a good case for party usage being medicinal if it keeps your mood up and helps you be more social. The line that really matters is whether or not usage is responsible. As long as you can use responsibly, party on. The world sucks plenty, I'm not going to think twice about responsible users just trying to make their lives better.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    It’s highly subjective and can be different from person to person. I’ve simply expressed my own opinion and it’s highly relevant to my personal use cases.

    As a different person, your perspective can be very different as your own opinion on the matter.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    • [+] 27 points 7 months ago (3 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)

    although the ketamine should be used with care and under supervision the first time. correct dosing can be tricky, and getting it wrong can be go very badly.

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    • [–] 25 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Salvia is maybe the most dangerous drug for someone like me. I don't like feeling altered, never really enjoyed my experiences with marijuana because I wanted it to be over after awhile. But salvia? Intense hallucination but it only lasts like 15 minutes? Sign me up.

    Back when it was legal I smoked some. Once it hit, the world kinda wobbled like the glass on the building in the Matrix after the helicopter crashes. I was in an easy chair. All the shadows in the room were orange and yellow static and then my TV, which was off, expanded to indefinite size, turning the wall to my left into a black void. My chair lifted up, turned, and I flew into that black void, which was outer space. I had a BLAST. I was yelling and hooting as I blasted through the cosmos. Then I backed out, my chair settled back into my living room. I felt thirsty and so wanted to get a drink from the jug of Kool-aid I'd made that was in the fridge. I stood up and was like 12-feet tall or something. I remember feeling like I was reaching down into what felt like a doll house fridge to retrieve the jug. As I drank, I returned to normal size. The trip was over, no side effects.

    I never did it again. I figured I'd had a good experience and didn't want to risk it. I had friends who did it and they felt like their skin was an itchy suit and they tried to unzip themselves to get out of it. Nope.

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  • [–] 14 points 7 months ago

    One of my best friends smoked some shortly after my experience. They were transported to Jurassic Park and were screaming for the Baby Jesus to run from a triceratops. "Run baby Jesus, RUN!" stands as one of the funniest things I've ever heard someone yell.

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    • [–] 41 points 7 months ago (13 children)

    I fully support this message, except can skip the salvia

    👍 1
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  • [–] 18 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    What you don't like being transported to the evil clown dimension?

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  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    Great description. Its so sudden, and the feeling of falling away from reality is intense. I wish I could draw what I saw and share it with other people.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    Please don't try.

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  • [–] 11 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    I'd actually need to make something more like a 10 fps black and white silent film. I'll make sure I send you the first copy if I make it.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    You are literally describing my first salvia trip. It was like.. falling out? of a film real? And then seeing the frames whizzing past, along with film reals (frames) of all these other perspectives everywhere.. and then falling BACK into a string of film, but it wasn't mine. And there were the clowns. And they were as surprised to see me as I was them. And as fast as I had fell in, I fell back out, and snapped back into my film reel, and BAM back into reality, laughing my face off.

    All of maybe 3 minutes, probably less.

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  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago

    I tried it once, and found it to be intensely lacking in any sort of.. well anything.

    My brain told me everything was tiny, and I heard a whomp whomp whomp whomp for a few minutes and that was it. It tasted like smoking grass clippings over a campfire, and I went “well its a fun plant to grow but I wont be harvesting it again”

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    • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    Yeah... I don't even do caffeine, lol

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  • [–] 19 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    I bet you do oxygen.

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago* (3 children)

    I heard everyone who tries it ends up dead. Better steer clear of that stuff.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    I hear those who don't do oxygen all die as well.

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  • [–] 15 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    That's the withdrawal symptoms for those that stop using it.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago*

    Start using again if you experience red face, short of breath, wheezing, lethargy, or if your heart stops pumping induce alternative input immediately, continuing periodically in accordance to your doctor until cardiovascular function returns.

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    • [–] 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

    Salvia is a trip man. I remember doing it once and it felt like the room I was in flipped 90 degrees and I was holding the arm out the couch like my life depended on it.

    Taken a lot of drugs but only take ADHD meds now and the occasional spliff. Been hooked on coke and it’s just meh now. Been hooked on Xanax and nearly died but still miss them.

    Ketamine is mid. Would love to try heroin if it wouldn’t ruin my life.

    Mollie was amazing back in the day but couldn’t handle the come down now.

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    • [–] 20 points 7 months ago (9 children)

    Salvia is something people try. I have not met anyone who has used it long term, one anecdote on a job site about classmates doing it on the regular, but I think it was an exaggeration.

    Saliva hallucinations are intense, short lived and the ones I had were quite unpleasant.

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  • [–] 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    The experience reports i read about it are all bad to neutral. It doesn't belong on the list of good drugs

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    It did absolutely nothing for me. a couple friends sampled the same stash and claimed it was wild, but I didn't even get a mild buzz.

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago

    You didn't smoke enough or it was a bad batch. Once I felt just like you, tried again later, and the world turned inside out for 5 minutes.

    It's a plant, so there is some variability. Sometimes it's harder, sometimes it's milder. Similar with mushrooms.

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  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    "ones"? That would seem to imply you did it more than once.

    My cousin gave me a gallon bag of the stuff once... it was all he had left and he just wanted to be done with it. I packed a bowl in my bong and had a huge hit. It last about 10 minutes and I saw some pretty fun stuff (stuffed animals getting up and dancing), but the overall experience was not fun. I handed the rest of the gallon bag off to a friend. That was over 20 years ago and I'm pretty sure that same bag is probably still being passed around.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    short lived

    I remember reading a trip report from a guy that thought he was a ceiling fan for 15 years

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    A roommate thought he flew to pluto and back in the span of a robot chicken episode. He didn't say he was travelling superluminal.

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    • [–] 4 points 7 months ago

    wrong sub, this is sageadvice

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    [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Chonging DMT out of a crack pipe is probably one of the worst things I've ever tasted

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    • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

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    [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    Caffeine and alcohol

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