I have, in the way of things melting (for example). I've seen a dream-like image of reality, a short fat man, riding away on a horse with a rainbow tail I have used LSD quite extensively as well - I cannot tell you how many times I've done it.
But most of the time, it isn't that obvious. My hands look a little bluish or reddish. My spouse looks shiny. I get little moving lines on a blank sheet of paper: Sometimes I draw the ones that I can get (I often make art while on LSD as well as sober: I have a pretty steady hand).
It is all a bit less than I've gotten with, say, mushrooms. Of course, I don't do heroic doses or anything and the more vivid hallucinations came with a stronger dose than I tend to have.
Me neither, but I have aphantasia and thus an under-developed mind's eye - if I can't visualise detailed imagery within my head normally, it makes sense that that machinery isn't available for LSD to build realistic hallucinations out of.
People are asked to imagine a bicycle. They are asked "Are you imagining a bicycle right now?" and the answer is "yes."
The interlocutor says "ok, please diagram/draw the bicycle you are imagining."
The results are insane. It becomes clear very quickly that people are not really imagining a bicycle. They are pulling up a partial memory of a bicycle that their brain is willing to rubber-stamp as "good enough."
I wonder how many people with "aphantasia" have the same internal images and are correctly unsatisfied with the level of imagery that human memory provides.
That doesn't mean I doubt aphantasia sometimes exists, on some level, but the accuracy of internal images seems to me like an important part of the discussion about it.
This is relevant to LSD because it is possible that you are "seeing" the same things that other people do but you are less willing to treat these visual effects as representing an image. Somebody else looks into the darkness and sees a person-shaped shadow... they think they see a person, you think you see a vaguely person-shaped blob. A schizophrenic looks into that shadow without LSD and sees a person chasing after them.
That's really interesting, thanks. And sure, a significant amount of remembered imagery is undoubtedly reconstruction and interpolation, but when I try and imagine a bicycle all I get is those partial memories of bicycles that flicker in an out of my mind's eye intermittently, there isn't really any reconstruction or interpolation that produces stable imagery. My visual memory is fine (although the inattention and working memory deficits of ADHD in itself may affect how much detail is committed) - I recognise what things are and things I've seen before - it's my mind's eye and the ability to envision that's lacking. And without being able to envision you can't really imagine visually.
I wouldn’t be surprised. A lot of people don’t test what they buy before ingesting it. A lot of other drugs are marketed as something else. For example “MDMA” is often just amphetamine that the dealer sells as MDMA but they produce very different experiences. The physiological effects are similar but the mental effects are not comparable especially what it feels like the next day. Always test everything you get if you want to be sure.
There is plenty of hallucination going on in my head though, often so crystal clear and undeniable that I all but see it out in the world. I think that’s enough to qualify as hallucination even though it’s not the cartoony meme of seeing aliens walking around or whatever.
agreed. the pop culture representation of hallucinations is actually more describing delirium. however, closing your eyes and letting your third eye wander is where the real interesting things happen, and it's possible that those experiences are so vivid even with eyes open because you are more acutely aware of what the third eye is seeing. almost as if it unlocks a sixth sense of sorts
But most of the time, it isn't that obvious. My hands look a little bluish or reddish. My spouse looks shiny. I get little moving lines on a blank sheet of paper: Sometimes I draw the ones that I can get (I often make art while on LSD as well as sober: I have a pretty steady hand).
It is all a bit less than I've gotten with, say, mushrooms. Of course, I don't do heroic doses or anything and the more vivid hallucinations came with a stronger dose than I tend to have.