"It’s still not clear why such effects can have more profound long-term effects on the brain than our nightly dreams."<p>maybe because it's not really like dreaming at all?<p>calling a psychedelic trip a "waking dream" really undermines the way your consciousness is altered during a trip. as a matter of fact, your consciousness is one of the few things that seems consistent through the real world and dream world.<p>calling it a "waking dream" also kind of undermines how insane dreaming actually is and how little we know about it.
I am looking forward to a time where the existance of these psychoactive drugs becomes more widely accepted for scientific studies and medical treatment without any of the current demonisation. There seems to be too much to learn about the function of the self that it almost seems irresponsible to wash this aside and criminalise it with a last centuries mindset.
Here is a link to the actual research article, "Enhanced repertoire of brain dynamical states during the psychedelic experience."<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1002/hbm.22562/" rel="nofollow">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1002/hbm.2256...</a>
For what it's worth, this article was written by a mycologist, not a drug expert. That's why some of the explanations sound a little off. I also don't know anyone who would describe psilocybin as being like a waking dream.
I like how this guy explains it: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYl9krZksk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrYl9krZksk</a>
I've taken them a few times, and all have been positive experiences that let you explore existence. I remember at the time I was reading Flow the psychology of experience. And while I was under the influence at work, I started thinking about how that book applied to what I was doing, and was seeing it happen all around me ( auto assembly), no loss in motor skills because my skill level of that job was higher than the amount of thought actually needed, so my unused thought energy seperated from my actions, I started looking at things differently, mainly myself and that point of response to stimuli for action or whatever. The point where if you notice it can lead you towards or away certain goals with some sort of common thread.<p>words cant explain, because it will help each individual upgrade their mental operating system differently.<p>there was a two week span where I took a small dosage each day, and i felt better than any anti anxiety or anti depressant I've taken previously. Have never taken another "mental" rx medication since, that as about 4 years ago. marijuana excluded ca-legal
I often hear that these types of drugs can change the way you see the world. As someone who has never taken a psychedelic I wonder if my highly scientific/atheist view of the world will shift after taking a shroom? Can anyone relate?
“Except for some naïve users who go looking for a good time…which, by the way, is not how it plays out,”<p>Shrooms and LSD is not a party drug. I repeat. not a party drug.
"Psychedelic mushrooms put your brain in a “waking dream,” study finds"<p>This sounds like an Onion headline, heh. They needed a study to figure that out? Just take 1/4 oz and call me in the morning.