Re:Microdosing LSD for Alzheimer’s proves safe in early huma...
by GuB-42 on Sunday December 22, 2019 @10:39PM
(#21861336)
And I totally agree... But I meant it in a "not a poison" sense, meaning it won't kill you. That's why I explicitly mentioned "LSD poisoning". I should have been more clear.
I have heard of HPPD and looked it up, but found nothing conclusive. I don't deny that it is real but we really don't know much about it. One problem is that we know that it happens to LSD users, but that's usually not the only drug they use, and due to its illegal nature, we are not even sure that's really LSD. There are LSD substitutes like NBOMe that have similar effects but are much more unsafe. To my knowledge, none of it happened in controlled studies.
I agree with the changes in personality that can be negative.
But an important part is that the study is about microdoses. Doses that are not enough to give you hallucinations. My personal theory is that the life-changing effects of LSD come from experiencing the hallucinations. These can be really intense, they are nothing like you ever felt before, and unlike dreams, they are memorable. And like any intense experience, they are bound to affect your life, for the better or for the worse. In fact, "flashbacks" have a lot in common with PTSD, so much that I think they really are PTSD, with the (usually bad) trip being the traumatic event.
But microdoses don't create these kinds of intense experiences. So combined with the fact it is essentially non-toxic for your body, I am not at all surprised that it passed all the safety tests. The really interesting part will be about effectiveness.
I have heard of HPPD and looked it up, but found nothing conclusive. I don't deny that it is real but we really don't know much about it. One problem is that we know that it happens to LSD users, but that's usually not the only drug they use, and due to its illegal nature, we are not even sure that's really LSD. There are LSD substitutes like NBOMe that have similar effects but are much more unsafe. To my knowledge, none of it happened in controlled studies.
I agree with the changes in personality that can be negative.
But an important part is that the study is about microdoses. Doses that are not enough to give you hallucinations. My personal theory is that the life-changing effects of LSD come from experiencing the hallucinations. These can be really intense, they are nothing like you ever felt before, and unlike dreams, they are memorable. And like any intense experience, they are bound to affect your life, for the better or for the worse. In fact, "flashbacks" have a lot in common with PTSD, so much that I think they really are PTSD, with the (usually bad) trip being the traumatic event.
But microdoses don't create these kinds of intense experiences. So combined with the fact it is essentially non-toxic for your body, I am not at all surprised that it passed all the safety tests. The really interesting part will be about effectiveness.