Effects - Taking LSD being blind

[vizcaya]

Swim and some friends met a cool guy last weekend. He's an old friend but is really curious about triying it for the first time. Is there any advice any one can give me about LSD and being blind? ( Yeah hes blind by the way )

Reputation Comments on this post:

	very interesting question
	Great and thought provoking question!

[catsaway]

Wow - what an awesome question!

It may be the most amazing experience of his life but then again it may be frightening.

It may be worth giving a small dose and working up whils talking to him the whole way

good luck

[Alfa]

We had a blind girl on here some years ago. Her experiences with magic mushrooms where very interesting. She had sensations that came extremely close to both Closed Eye Visuals and sight. Sensations of colour, form and waving of walls, similar to what a person with sight would see. The phenomenon is amazing. It would be very nice to get more reports from blind people on how they experience psychedelics.

[cuddlesthefox]

That could possibly be the best and most thought provoking question read on here in ages!
If he's been blind from birth the limitations are endless. I mean what colours would go through his brain.
However he could end up in an asylum somewhere if it takes a bad turn. Just take care.

[vizcaya]

Thanks for the responses, Swim friend has agreed to share his experience with the rest once it takes place. Swim will report sometime in 2-3 days with it.

If any one else has anything they would like to add swim would greatly appreicate it thanks.

[fnord]

It may be the most amazing experience of his life but then again it may be frightening.

I see no reason for it to be anymore or less frightening then it would be for a person with good vision,in fact id go as far as saying that IMHO a blind person would be able to deal with LSD alot better then someone with full use of there sight.

Now here some other peoples experiances.

Why would hallucinations be out of the question? The most common forms of hallucination are olfactory (smell & taste), and auditory hallucination is much more common than visual. You'd have to be really tripped out before the visual hallucinations became particularly significant. LSD does much more than just make you see things, it alters a users beliefs as well as perceptions. This is why the hallucinations are so convincing, the drug makes you believe them.

Seth, Edinburgh Scotland
Hallucinations are quite possible for a blind person, what he will visualise is a separate question. It will depend on whether he/she has any previous sight. Now if you really mean illusions and not hallucinations then a blind man will not be able to experience these.

Richard Avery, Alcala de Guadaira Spain
Hallucinations are not purely visual (as anyone who has taken acid will know). They may be auditory or affect any of the senses. Furthermore, few genuinely blind people experience no visual perception whatsoever. If a blind person can experience a trip, they can certainly experience a flashback.

Max Wurr, Stanmore UK
This would depend on whether the blindness was caused by damage was to the eyes themselves or the visual cortex. LSD produces visual effects by stimulating the visual cortex - If the visual cortex was functional then it would be perfectly possible to see them. Flashbacks should be possible for the same reason too.

Ben Wilson, Huddersfield West Yorkshire
Hallucinations are in the mind, so they are not out of the question. As for flashbacks; smells, sounds, tastes, and touches can be recalled as well as the visual aspects of our memorys.

RHonda, Tempe,AZ USA
my brother has been blind from birth and has been dropping acid on a leisurely basis for years. I was with him one day when he experienced a flash-back - he claimed he could smell the presence of a rainbow before his knees dissolved and he crashed to the ground, fracturing his wrist and elbow. Once my laughter had receded I asked him what he thought a rainbow looked like - he said it felt like a thought of an ocean.

eric mansfield, Warminster wiltshire
Wittgenstein wrote 'if a lion could talk, we wouldn't understand him'. I suspect that the same applies to a question put to a blind person who is asked about what they think they are seeing under the effects of acid. But who knows?

Barry, Edinburgh, Scotland
You will trip, but it will be much different than your average seeing fellow, my guess is there would be emphasis on smell touch, taste and hearing. Really, you would have to ask a real blind person to find out.

John Doe, Venice California, USA
I have a blind friend who has been since birth, he dropped acid at one point and visualized scenes from books and his life that had been described to him in detail such as one of our favorite haunts which has been described to him hundreds of times. Now I can't say what he saw was what was there because he did run into some stuff when he tried to walk around but did a decent job of it.

Dale, Rialto, US

[catsaway]

Good luck with it - the possible benefits, i would think, outway the risks.

I think you should have an empathetic and experienced 'mentor' to keep and eye/ take care of him throughout his trip

[Panthers007]

Take the time needed to have Blind Swim give a full and detailed report for posting in these forums. Such material is truly beyond value! Very, very rare to get such a report first-hand. I surely hope that equal care is taken in everything from establishing the best set & setting possible - to procurement of known strength and purity for the venture ahead.

In the limited breadth of reports on this subject, none ever suggested a negative reaction whatsoever. Need I remind anyone that people lacking eyesight tend to compensate by having especially clear and open senses in all other ways - including clear and dynamic minds. They are NOT retarded or crazy.

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Aurobindo/dynamic_mind.htm

[cuddlesthefox]

Originally Posted by fnord

I see no reason for it to be anymore or less frightening then it would be for a person with good vision,in fact id go as far as saying that IMHO a blind person would be able to deal with LSD alot better then someone with full use of there sight.

Now here some other peoples experiances.

Swim wasn't meaning to be patronizing. Swim just thought that maybe a blind persons heightened senses in other areas could lead to a different or intense trip. Just swim being over cautious.

[Songcycle67]

I'd say it would be really remarkable for a blind person due to the sharpness they gain in their other senses. Even if they don't get any astonishing visuals, listening to their favorite music or smelling a nice flower could become orgasmic. Can't wait to hear how this turns out.

[cra$h]

I've always wonderd this since I was around 5th grade or so, or as soon as I became aware of LSD. Would love to know how the blind trip.

[DJ Dougpound]

Swim is more interested on how a dmt trip would be for a blind person. Those who have smoked it know of the intense CEVs.

[cra$h]

I'd be interested to hear about even a diphenhydramine trip from the blind. It don't matter what drug it is, as long as it's hallucenogenic.

[Samadhi]

This sounds like it could be a great MAPS study. To chronicle the first-hand experiences would be amazing and beautiful to read. The feelings that would accompany the trip of a blind person must be so powerful and awakening.


now you got me all excited.

[Greenport]

...Once swiM's bookkeeper found something on this topic that claimed blind people who tripped before sometimes have recurring colors and stuff moving around in front of their eyes for quite a considerable time afterwards. She dunno where that was written though.

[mouthwater]

I suppose the biggest question is 'were they born blind or go blind'? All my friends that were born blind dream primarily in touch and sound, and I seriously doubt they'd have any visions during a trip. I think if the person in question 'went blind' the trip report will be more interesting, since they're capable of conceptualizing vision, and it'll likely manifest itself in extensive CEVs (because removing visual sensory input, such as by closing your eyes, gives you a 'blank slate' to work with) or perceived OEVs. Also, [it'll hopefully manifest] as an awesome and productive mindfuck and thoughtgasm.

Related topics:
* Magic Mushrooms: blind people experiencing visuals?
* Glaucoma and Salvia Divinorum

[drugsforumm]

judging by some people that i'm not's experiences, be careful with this drug and a blind person. too high of a dose and he could lose total connection with reality and no visual connection to help anchor him to reality. ego loss is a powerful thing to toy with.

Reputation Comments on this post:

please explain, because this sounds ridiculous

[Bajeda]

Originally Posted by drugsforumm

judging by some people that i'm not's experiences, be careful with this drug and a blind person. too high of a dose and he could lose total connection with reality and no visual connection to help anchor him to reality. ego loss is a powerful thing to toy with.

Is swiy actually vision impaired, or is he just assuming that a visual connection is necessary to ground someone to reality?

[lineartransform]

The results will depend on the cause of your friend's blindness.

Classic visual hallucinations (form constants, ie spirals, lattices) are a result of disturbances to the resting state of the visual cortex. (see paper http://neco.mitpress.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/3/473)

If the source of your friend's blindness is before the visual cortex (ie physical differences with the eye) then I believe there will be little difference in hallucinations between your friend and your hallucinations with eyes closed.

If the cause of blindness is a result of the visual cortex itself malfunctioning, all bets are off.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	nice link/citation
	A well put together response, with links to boot!
	informative post... thx

[MindNRA]

I REALLY want to see this report so when its done, I would love to read it in depth.

Could you simulate a blind trip by putting a blindfold on your eyes? It would be an equivalent of someone who went blind.

[mouthwater]

Originally Posted by MindNRA

Could you simulate a blind trip by putting a blindfold on your eyes? It would be an equivalent of someone who went blind.

Yeah, but it would scarcely be a fair comparison. SWIY would be much better at visual conceptualization; I'd imagine someone who went blind, depending on how long ago, would have experienced memory degradation, and would be more prone to stimuli involving their other senses. But I'm sure many SWIUs on-site trip with blindfolds, or in the dark, occasionally.

[Songcycle67]

If there's damage to the visual cortex, as has been outlined above, then a blindfold isn't going to simulate that at all. Even CEV's wouldn't appear for someone who is blind due to damage to the visual cortex.

[eye69]

Originally Posted by fnord

I see no reason for it to be anymore or less frightening then it would be for a person with good vision,in fact id go as far as saying that IMHO a blind person would be able to deal with LSD alot better then someone with full use of there sight.

Now here some other peoples experiances.

I was hoping that you could please remove my name from your post #6 on the blind man on LSD thread.

either please delete the 6th post. or delete my name and city (Venice, CA) for me. My name is the last one on the list, Please help me. I would be very much appreciative if you could delete my name from the 6th post on that thread.

Thanks.

Jeremy

[rawbeer]

This is a good one to roll around in the brain, and reminded me of something I read in college years ago, about blind people (born blind) who had had their sight restored (presumably through surgery - I can't remember, that wasn't the most interesting part of the article for me). Many of them found vision to be terrifying and disorienting. They had come to have notions of the world around them based on their other senses, and vision produced a new, apparently grotesque distortion of what they had become so familiar with. Like your whole life you've been petting this cute cuddly thing and then one day you see it and it's a sewer rat, I guess. Which of course reminded me of some vivid stories I had heard of LSD's effects, which can turn the familiar into the novel, for good or ill. Some of these blind people liked being able to see, of course - one girl described the first tree she saw as being full of lights, or on fire because of the sunlight passing through it. Burning bush, anyone? I still think of that whenever I see light coming through a tree. I wish I still had a copy of that article...anyway, I thought that was at least tangentially related, and also worth rolling around in the ol' brain.
PS any chance anyone else read this article? I should've paid more attention in school.

[nnizzle]

Perhaps this thread could be merged with one which sprang up recently and concerns visual/hearing impaired subjects and a broader range of psychedelics?
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/sho...ight=lsd+blind