Psychedelics and consciousness: Could drugs help quantify our waking state?

In a recent study, volunteers were given psychedelic drugs and had their brains scanned in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. The scientists conducting the research wanted to gain a better understanding of consciousness and find out what the brain is actually doing when it experiences consciousness.

By disrupting the way the brain perceives and models the world while we’re awake with psychedelic drugs such as DMT, researchers can try to understand how the conscious brain works.

Studying the effects of psychedelics might be key not only to understand how consciousness works, but also to treat some of the problems that can affect our waking lives, with psychedelics being proposed as treatments for depression, anxiety and addiction.

[bqrre]

I've been microdosing LSD and been on a couple of MDMA & LSD-journeys, with intentions and reflection + afterwork. It has helped me tremendously with my traumas and ptsd-symptoms. Sometimes I stop, taking in the moment and realizing that I don't feel those threats as bad as before, walking in public or in a stressfull situation. It's really hard to comprehend, that you can rewire you're brain, with dedication, discipline, training, breath work, whatever it may be.
And using psychedelics as tools.

[Itsjettondon]

It’s not that it’s just a cool moment in your life, during your trip you think this is your new life so it makes it so much more real and profound to the user in ways that people that have never done a psychedelic could never possibly understand. I mean it’s quite literally psychically impossible to understand until you’ve open open those synapses. That’s why psychedelics change people so much you’ve literally unlocked new ways of thinking and understanding things during your trip. People underestimate this and think that the hallucinations are going to be the biggest part of the trip, and while that can be true, most of the time it’s going to be your thoughts that dictate your trip. Don’t underestimate ts

[martintaylor]

Psychedelics definitely have potential to deal with mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression, I would like to try them again but it's just so hard to source out here.

[Draakie]

There is one huge problem with doing psychedelics with some friends in a peaceful environment and doing them in a lab with probes stuck to your head....they work totally different.

[JimbobFaz]

So if consciousness is just a controlled/constrained hallucination, does this mean that a mental illness is a perpetual bad trip? Also, consciousness is a controlled/constrained hallucination within where/what/when exactly?

I find this particularly interesting, especially as someone who has some experience in the past with physodelics, with some pivotal insights/epiphanies from this (also some pretty bad times to). Not done this for 19 years though, but now practicing meditation daily and finding it to be very beneficial and also interesting.

[azelinbuttitta]

This is an amazing video and I’m pleased to hear there is research for what I’ve been intuitively thinking.

[theohitman]

Last night I did DMT and it’s just not possible to put it into words.. tunnels, colors, shapes, and some funny looking elves

[STONECOLDET]

I think about this quite often, of someone had been on psychedelics from birth they'd experience the world subjectively differently and so describe different physical laws if they went on the same physics degree

[Tunafishloverr]

I wanna know who edited this, the cutaway visuals are just amazing

[paulgullan]

If every human had free access to DMT the Planet and Humanity would be saved. It has told me on many occasions and I am certain this is not a theory but a fact. Amazing drug, I cannot understand why it is illegal if it is safe, non addictive. mind-blowingly beautiful experiences, life changing awareness of self, others, the planet, the universe and knowing that we are all a part of GOD.

[NAGAFILMDOC]

Please consider that plants are safer than syntesis as they have a guardian spirit to guid you. Its not just about molecoles its all about intentions. Blessings

[kristahutchinson]

Research has shown psilocybin to have potential to treat a range of psychiatric and behavioral disorders.

[nigelnyoni]

Low frequency delta waves when we sleep
Gamma waves when we concentrate
Alpha waves rise when our eyes are closed, and dampen when we open them

[jeremygould]

All the complex shapes shows just how complex concesness is

[lpkombi]

I've done a ton of research on this topic as it's been something I've actually had struggled with it for a long time. It terrified me, which climaxed in a panic attack over the nature of consciousness. I would describe myself as being pretty logical, I don't really indulge in any esoteric/really religious beliefs and I try to base my views on as many experienced accounts as possible.

Almost every single psychedelic user shares the same experience, and at a certain point will agree with what I'm saying about reality.

As someone that's experienced what I believe to be 'Ego Death', I am 100% sure that Psychedelics are the way to realize an absolute 'truth'. Everything is interconnected, thus every part of the universe is the same 'entity'. Galaxies, planets, humans and consciousness are only 'parts of the whole'? I can't describe it.

This is where many psychedelic users have different opinions. Wether the universe is 'real' or not, wether what you see on psychedelics is just altering your brain in a way that you can 'see' things you couldn't, or if it's all just made up by the 'great consciousness' that is the universe to distract from the endless state of nothing that surrounds it. This is incredibly hard for language to describe, but I hope you get what I mean. In its very nature, language is made to describe abstractions, things we would recognize as 'things'. Thus, something that cannot be described as a thing by the normal mind, like a ""Great consciousness"" is a concept far too outlandish to describe. I hope this clears it up a bit.

This topic can be seriously disturbing when you get to a certain point, but also so rewarding. I can only recommend, if you are in a very good state of mind and have a good support system, that everyone try psychedelics at least once. Low doses are absolutely okay, in fact I'd recommend starting at like 30ug LSD.

As I said, excellent and informative view that goes into the very interesting possibilities that exist within psychedelics research. Thank you for bringing an unbiased look into this.

[alexstanley]

I'm on 15 hits of lsd and this thing I'm writing , now is ALLthat exists is anyone else here ? Communicate please

[sweetiewolfgirl]

This is deffinitely something I would volunteer for. I've never done any sort of illicit drug, despite offers, but this is something I'm interested in. Given my experiences I feel like it would add a decent amount to them to work with, with the addition of another state of which to compare to for myself.

[stjepanjuric]

I've been smoking changa for a couple of years, and I've probably had 200 trips on Dmt

[dmtdreamz]

Where is this place?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Each time I silently posed one of these questions, the answer came instantly in an explosion of light, color, love, and beauty that blew through me like a crashing wave. The ongoing WOW is happening, right now! We are all co-authors of this dancing exuberance, where even our inabilities are having a roast. We are the authors of ourselves, co-authoring a gigantic Dostoevsky novel starring clowns! This entire thing we're involved with, called the world, is an opportunity to exhibit how exciting alienation can be.

[dotcom]

Looking for control in your life and creating an ironic situation where you have no understanding where you are isn’t what you want. I believe that you can achieve this deeper understanding of life and gain control by looking for the omens in life and trying to understand the worlds true language, universal love. I’m ignorant and insignificant, but I want to provide what I know at this point in my life because it may be interesting to see what another human thinks. That’s how I’d see it. I wish the best for anyone looking into spiritual curiosity and strive to look deep within before reaching above; It’s a much healthier and beautiful experience/journey.