Subjective Effects of Dissociatives

Physical disconnection is the experience of feeling distant and detached from one's sense of touch and their feelings of ownership and control over their own physical body. This may lead to or be complemented by other effects, such as tactile suppression, physical autonomy, pain relief, changes in felt bodily form, a perception of bodily lightness, and a general array of physical suppressions.

Physical disconnection is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as cognitive disconnection and visual disconnection, which results in the sensation that one is partially or completely detaching from both their sensory input and their cognitive faculties. This effect is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of depressant and dissociative compounds, such as, ketamine, PCP, and DXM.

Cognitive disconnection is the experience of feeling distant and detached from one's sense of identity, thought stream, and general cognitive processes. This may lead to or be complemented by other effects, such as depersonalization, derealization, memory suppression, "ego death", and a general array of cognitive suppressions. The experience of this can also create a wide range of subjective changes to a person's perception of their own consciousness. These are described and documented in the list below:

• Feeling as though one's conscious thought stream and memories are not one's own
• Feeling as if one's conscious thought processes are distant and vague
• Feeling as if one's conscious thought processes have become autonomous and mechanical in their structure or behaviour
• Feeling a decrease in the overall speed, connectivity, and analytical abilities of one's cognitive abilities

Cognitive disconnection is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as visual disconnection and physical disconnection. This results in the sensation that one is partially or completely detaching from both their sensory input and their conscious faculties. It is a near-universal effect under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM.

##b{Visual disconnection} is the experience of becoming distanced and/or detached from one's sense of vision. At its lower levels, this results in ##int-link|to="/effects/acuity-suppression/"{acuity suppression}, ##int-link|to="/effects/double-vision/"{double-vision}, ##int-link|to="/effects/pattern-recognition-suppression/"{pattern recognition suppression}, and ##int-link|to="/effects/frame-rate-suppression/"{frame rate suppression}. ##md{- Feeling as if one is watching the world through a screen - Blurred vision and difficulty perceiving fine details - Feeling as if the visually perceivable world is further away in distance - Feeling as if one is looking at the world through someone else's eyes - Double vision that, at higher levels, forces the user to close one eye if they need to read or perceive fine visual details} Visual disconnection is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as ##int-link|to="/effects/cognitive-disconnection"{cognitive disconnection} and ##int-link|to="/effects/physical-disconnection"{physical disconnection}. This results in the sensation that one is partially or completely detaching from both their sensory input and their conscious faculties. It is a near-universal effect under the influence of moderate dosages of ##int-link|to="/summaries/dissociatives"{dissociative} compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. ##md{#### Holes, spaces, and voids}Holes, spaces and voids are a sub-component of visual disconnection that manifest when it has become all-encompassing in its intensity. This experience is more commonly known as a "K-hole" and is generally discussed as something that is specifically associated with ketamine, despite being present within most traditional dissociatives. A K-hole can be described as the place a person finds themselves in once visual disconnection becomes powerful enough to leave the person incapable of receiving external sensory input, replacing their visual input with a space that subjectively feels as if it is outside of normal reality. ##cap-img|src="/img/gallery/khole.jpg"|width="700"|border="true"|artist="Josie Kins"|title="The K-hole"|caption="This replication serves as a third person perspective replication of a K-hole experience."|align="center" The visual appearance of this space, hole, or void can be described as a vast, mostly empty and darkened chamber that often feels and appears to be infinite in size. This space is usually dark black in its colour, but can occasionally display itself with large patches of slow-moving amorphous colour clouds or subtle geometric patterns across its horizon. At its higher levels, these voids are often populated with hallucinatory structures, which are comprehensively described and documented on the respective SEI page. Alongside this visual experience, changes in gravity and a powerful sense of tactile disconnection are also usually present. This can result in one feeling as if they are undergoing an out-of-body experience while weightlessly floating through a void over great distances in a variety of different speeds, directions, and orientations. This is a feeling that is interpreted by many people as floating through space or the night sky. ##md{#### Structures}Structures are the only feature found within what would otherwise be completely empty and uninhabited voids. These manifest as the visual experience of monolithic 3-dimensional shapes or structures of an infinite variety and size that float above, below, around, or in front of a person as they gradually zoom, rotate, transform, or pan into focus and become unveiled before the person's line of sight at a gradual pace. ##cap-img|gfycat="SeparateTepidHeifer"|title="Basic Structures"|border="true"|artist="StasConstantine"|caption="This animation serves as some examples of level 3 hallucinatory structures within a standard dissociative void"|align="center"|width="705"|height="430" These structures can take the form of any shape but common examples include vast and giant pillars, columns, tunnels, blocks, buildings, slides, monuments, wheels, pyramids, caves, and a variety of abstract shapes. They are often fractal in shape and can manifest in a variety of colours, but usually follow darker themes and tones with an associated aesthetic that is sometimes subjectively interpreted as "alien" in nature. At lower levels, structures are overly simplistic in shape and have some basic detail to their lighting and shadows. They appear to be comprised of semi-transparent condensed colour and are seen as ill-defined or out of focus around their edges. However, at higher levels, structures become fully defined in their shape, edges, lighting, shadow, and detail. They often appear to be made of solid and dense realistic materials, such as stone and metal. In terms of their size, they become capable of appearing as thousands of miles long and are often extremely complex in terms of their shape and texture. Structures typically display themselves anywhere between 30 seconds to several minutes before the person experiencing them slips back into reality or into the presence of another structure. In terms of how these structures shift between each other, their transition processes can consist of transforming their shape into that of another structure, panning out of view until another structure pans into view, or remaining stationary whilst one is floating silently between them over what can feel like extreme physical distances.

Auditory suppression is the experience of sound becoming perceived as more distant, quiet, and muffled than they actually are. This effect can significantly decrease both the volume of a noise, as well as its perceived quality. It is usually described as making it difficult to comprehend or fully pay attention to music and other sounds.

Auditory suppression is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as auditory distortions and auditory hallucinations. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur less commonly under the influence of GABAergic depressants and antipsychotics such as alcohol and quetiapine.

Double vision is the experience of seeing duplicated vision, similar to when one crosses their eyes. Depending on the intensity, this effect can result in a reduced ability to function and perform basic tasks that necessitate the use of sight.

At the lowest level, double vision is subtle and mostly ignorable. Although obviously present at this stage, it is still not intense enough to render the person incapable of perceiving visual details necessary for certain tasks, such as reading text or crossing a busy street. However, at higher levels, double vision becomes so intense that the person will no longer be able to accurately perceive small and large-scale visual details of their environment. This will necessitate the person to close one of their eyes at all time in order to function as they would sober.

Double vision is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as visual acuity suppression and visual agnosia. This effect is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of depressant and dissociative compounds, such as alcohol, quetiapine, ketamine, and DXM.

Environmental cubism is a visual segmentation of the external environment into squares and cubes of varying amounts and sizes. Once established, these segments can begin to slowly drift away from their original location and will often change in size, leaving gaps in-between them. The space within these gaps can either be completely dark or composed of tightly bound visual geometry. This effect is remarkably similar in its appearance to cubist photography and artwork.

This dark space can eventually grow, progressively decreasing the size of the cubes until a person finds themselves surrounded by a dissociative hole. It is not uncommon to be able to innately feel and detect the details and layout of both the different sections of the distortion and the gaps between them.

Environmental cubism is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as scenery slicing and visual disconnection. It is most commonly induced under the influence of heavy dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM.

Gustatory suppression is the experience of tastes becoming significantly vaguer, weaker, and less noticeable than they would be during everyday sobriety. At higher levels, this can result in food becoming completely tasteless and significantly less appealing.

Gustatory suppression is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as tactile suppression and pain relief. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM.

An internal hallucination is the perception of a visual hallucination that exclusively occurs within an imagined environment and can typically only be viewed with closed eyes, similar to those found within dreams. This is in stark contrast to external hallucinations, which display themselves seamlessly into the external environment as if they were physically present. At lower levels, internal hallucinations begin with imagery on the back of a person's eyelids, which do not take up the entirety of one's visual field and are distinct from their background. These can be described as spontaneous moving or still images of scenes, concepts, places, or anything one could imagine. The imagery is manifested in varying levels of realism ranging from ill-defined and cartoon-like to wholly realistic. They rarely hold their form for more than a few seconds before fading or shifting into another image. It is worth noting that this level of intensity occurs in a manner similar to that of hypnagogia, the state between sleep and wakefulness. At higher levels, internal hallucinations become increasingly elaborate as they eventually become all-encompassing, fully-fledged 3D scenes that surround the person in a manner similar to that of dreams. This can create the feeling that one has "broken-through" into another reality. The things that occur within this perceived alternate reality can be anything, but fall under common archetypes such as contact with autonomous entities, alongside a wide variety of imagined landscapes, and scenarios. Internal hallucinations are often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as geometry, external hallucinations, and delusions. They are most commonly induced under the influence of heavy dosages of hallucinogenic compounds, such as psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants.

A perspective distortion is a subtle to extreme change in how a person perceives the size and distance attributed to their body, specific parts of the external environment, or the external environment as a whole.

When affecting distance, perspective distortions can make things seem as if they are physically closer or further away than they usually would be. This can range from a subtle experience, with the other side of the room feeling marginally further away than it usually would be, to an extreme experience, such as feeling as if the horizon is right in front of you.

In relation to size, perspective distortions can make things seem as if they are physically smaller or larger than normal. This can range from a subtle experience, with the room feeling marginally smaller and more cramped than it usually would be, to an extreme experience, such as feeling as if the room is hundreds of miles wide.

Feelings of suddenly having an impossibly giant or tiny body are also a very common manifestation of this effect. This feeling is already known by scientific literature as “Alice in Wonderland Syndrome”. The effect can either be attributed to the body as a whole or specific parts of it. For example, feelings of having a huge head or tiny limbs are possible.

Perspective distortions are often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as depth perception distortions and visual disconnection. They are most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, MXE, and DXM.

##cap-img|src="/img/gallery/OoBE.jpg"|width="300"|artist="Unknown"|border="true"|title="Out of body experience"|align="right"|top="true"A ##b{perspective hallucination} is an alteration of the perspective through which a given ##int-link|to="/effects/internal-hallucination"{internal} or ##int-link|to="/effects/external-hallucination"{external hallucination} is seen. Although there are multiple forms of perspective hallucination, within the context of dissociative drugs, 3rd person perspective hallucinations are by far the most common. This perspective can be described as an out-of-body experience where a person's viewpoint is floating above, below, behind, or in front of their physical body. Perspective hallucinations are often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as ##int-link|to="/effects/delirium"{delirium}, and ##int-link|to="/effects/memory-suppression"{memory suppression}. They are most commonly induced under the influence of heavy dosages of hallucinogenic compounds, such as ##int-link|to="/summaries/psychedelics/visual"{psychedelics}, ##int-link|to="/summaries/dissociatives"{dissociatives}, and ##int-link|to="/summaries/deliriants"{deliriants}.

Scenery slicing is the experience of a person's visual field appearing to split into separate, cleanly cut sections. These individual slices then proceed to drift slowly away from their original position before disappearing and resetting to normal. This effect typically occurs spontaneously and rarely sustains itself for more than several seconds.

The organisation of these slices can be quite varied; they can be as simple as three separate sections or extremely complex, with formations such as multiple intricate slices of moving interlocking spirals, or an infinite variety of other potential geometric designs.

Scenery slicing is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as environmental cubism and visual disconnection. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of psychedelics, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.

Tactile suppression is a decrease in one's ability to feel their sense of touch, which may result in a general numbness across the body. At higher levels, this can eventually increase to the point where physical sensations have been completely blocked and the body is fully anaesthetized.

Tactile suppression is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as pain relief and physical euphoria. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur under the influence of opioids and certain GABAergic depressants.

Acuity suppression is the degradation of the sharpness and clarity of vision, resulting in vision becoming partially to completely blurred and indistinct. This may affect either the entirety of the person's vision or specific sections of it. The experience of acuity suppression is comparable to looking through an out of focus lens that degrades the detail one can see in the external environment. Depending on its intensity, this can often result in a reduced ability to function and perform basic tasks that necessitate the use of sight.

Acuity suppression is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as double vision and visual agnosia. This effect is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of depressant and dissociative compounds, such as alcohol, quetiapine, ketamine, and DXM.

Depersonalization or depersonalisation (sometimes abbreviated as DP) is medically recognized as the experience of feeling detached from one's mental processes, body, or actions as if they are an outside observer. During this state, the affected person may feel like they are "on autopilot" and that the world is lacking in significance. Individuals who experience depersonalization feel detached from aspects of the self, including feelings (e.g., "I know I have feelings but I don't feel them"), thoughts (e.g., "My thoughts don't feel like my own"), and sensations (e.g., touch, hunger, thirst, libido). This can be distressing to the user, who may become disoriented by the loss of a sense that their self is the origin of their thoughts and actions.

Depersonalization is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as anxiety, depression, time distortion, and derealization. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur under the influence of cannabis, psychedelics, and to a lesser extent during the withdrawal symptoms of depressants and SSRI's.

Derealization or derealisation (sometimes abbreviated as DR) is the experience of feeling detached from, and as if one is an outside observer of, one's surroundings (e.g., individuals or objects are experienced as unreal, dreamlike, foggy, lifeless, or visually distorted). It's a type of cognitive and perceptual dysregulation. People experiencing derealization often claim that reality persistently feels as if it is a dream, or something watched through a screen, like a film or video game. These feelings can sometimes instill the person with a sensation of alienation and distance from those around them.

Derealization is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as anxiety and depersonalization. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM.

Ego death (also known as ego suppression, ego loss or ego dissolution) is the temporary experience of a partial to complete disruption of a person's sense of self, which often results in a range of profound changes to how the person perceives and interprets their otherwise usually stable sense of identity, agency, and self-hood.

These changes can include but are not limited to any combination of the following three subcategories:

Ego death is well known for the transformative and significant impacts it can often have on a person's perception of both themselves and the world around them. These responses and alterations can occur both during the experience of ego death, but also in the hours, days, or weeks afterwards.

It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of hallucinogenic compounds, such as psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants.

Existential self-realization can be described as a sudden realization, revelation, or reaffirmation of a person's existence within this universe. This typically feels like a sudden and profound "waking up" or "rebirth" that results in an intense sense of motivation, an added sense of purpose to one’s life, a sudden comprehension of their own situation, an appreciation for life, and a sense of urgency to make the most out of it while it lasts. During this state, no new knowledge is learned but the previously known information regarding their existence is reintegrated in a sudden and profound manner that results in a deep sense of appreciation for the unlikely circumstances of their own existence. The residual impacts of this effect often carry over into sobriety, potentially resulting in lasting positive benefits for the person.

Existential self-realization is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of psychedelic and dissociatives compounds such as ketamine, LSD, 4-AcO-DMT, and DCK. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent after near-death experiences and under the influence of entacogens such as MDMA.

Immersion enhancement is an effect that results in a pronounced increase in one's tendency to become fully captivated and engrossed by external stimuli, such as film, TV shows, video games, and various other forms of media. This greatly increases one's suspension of disbelief, increases one’s empathy with the characters, suppresses one's memory of the "outside world", and allows one to become engaged on a level that is largely unattainable during everyday sober living.

At its highest point of intensity, immersion enhancement can reach a level at which a person begins to truly believe the media they are consuming is a real-life event that is actually happening in front of them or being relayed through a screen. This is likely a result of the effect synergizing with other accompanying components, such as internal or external hallucinations, delusions, memory suppression, and increased suggestibility. Immersion enhancement often exaggerates the emotional response a person has towards media they are engaged with. Whether or not this experience is enjoyable can differ drastically depending on various factors, such as the emotional tone and familiarity of what is being perceived.

Immersion enhancement is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of psychedelics and cannabinoids.

Introspection can be described as the experience of a state of mind in which a person feels as if they are being encouraged or forced to reflect upon and examine aspects of their life, thoughts, and feelings.

This state is often felt to be extremely effective at facilitating therapeutic self-improvement and positive personal growth on a level that remains largely unparalleled by that of everyday sober living. This is due to the way in which it often results in logical resolutions to the present situation, future possibilities, insecurities, and goals or personal acceptance of insecurities, fears, hopes, struggles, and traumas.

Introspection is unlikely to be an isolated effect component but rather the result of a combination of an appropriate setting in conjunction with other coinciding effects such as analysis enhancement, empathy, affection, and sociability enhancement, and personal bias suppression. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of hallucinogenic compounds, such as psychedelics and dissociatives. However, it can also occur in a less consistent form under the influence of entactogens and meditation.

Memory suppression is an inhibition of a person's ability to maintain a functional short and long-term memory. This occurs in a manner that is directly proportional to the dosage consumed and often begins with the degradation of one's short-term memory.

At lower levels, this effect is a partial and potentially inconsistent failure of a person’s short-term memory. This results in a general difficulty staying focused, an increase in distractibility, and a tendency to forget what one is thinking or saying.

At the higher levels, this effect is a complete and persistent failure of both a person’s long and short-term memory. This results in one becoming completely incapable of remembering even the most basic fundamental concepts stored within their long-term memory. This includes everything from their name, hometown, past memories, the awareness of being on drugs, what drugs even are, what human beings are, what life is, that time exists, what anything is, or that anything exists. Memory suppression of this level blocks all mental associations, attached meaning, acquired preferences, and value judgements one may have towards the external world.

Changes in felt gravity can be described as feeling that the pull of gravity has shifted in its direction. For example, during this state one may feel as if they are floating forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards, or in an unspecifiable direction.

Changes in felt gravity are often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as geometry, internal hallucinations, and holes, spaces and voids. They are most commonly induced under the influence of heavy dosages of hallucinogenic compounds, such as psychedelics, dissociatives, cannabinoids, and salvinorin A.

Pain relief can be described as an effect which suppresses negative sensations such as aches and pains. This can occur through a variety of different pharmacological and subjective mechanisms such as blocking the physical sensations from reaching one's conscious faculties, by covering the sensation with feelings of physical and cognitive euphoria, or by directly targetting the body part which the sensation is arising from.

Pain relief is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as muscle relaxation, physical euphoria, and sedation. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of a very wide variety of compounds, such as opioids, GABAergics, GABApentinoids, cannabinoids, dissociatives, muscle relaxants, and NSAIDs.

Perception of bodily lightness can be described as feeling as if one's body has significantly decreased in its weight. This can result in feelings of increased energy and a general sense of bounciness due to the body seeming weightless and therefore effortless to move.

Perception of bodily lightness is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as stimulation and physical disconnection. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur under the influence of certain stimulating psychedelics such as certain LSD, 4-HO-MET, and 2C-B.

Physical autonomy can be described as the experience of a person's own body performing simple or complex actions entirely of its own accord. Depending on the intensity, this results in the carrying out of a given task becoming partially to completely automatic in nature without the requirement of decision-making skills or attentive conscious input.

At lower levels, the effect is partially controllable by commanding the body with simple thoughts. For example, thoughts such as "go to the toilet" or "go drink a glass of water" can result in the body performing these actions autonomously. This can often help the person perform necessary physical actions such as tending to bodily functions or avoiding danger when they would otherwise be too incapable, unconscious, or distractible to perform them manually in their current state.

At higher levels, this effect no longer requires verbal commands and becomes entirely automatic. It's worth noting that although this technically results in a loss of cognitive control, the body only performs actions which the owner would have decided to perform were they capable of it themselves.

Physical autonomy is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as physical disconnection and cognitive disconnection. It is most commonly induced under the influence of heavy dosages of dissociative compounds, such as ketamine, PCP, and DXM. However, it can also occur to a lesser extent under the influence of heavy dosages of psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.

Physical disconnection is the experience of feeling distant and detached from one's sense of touch and their feelings of ownership and control over their own physical body. This may lead to or be complemented by other effects, such as tactile suppression, physical autonomy, pain relief, changes in felt bodily form, a perception of bodily lightness, and a general array of physical suppressions.

Physical disconnection is often accompanied by other coinciding effects, such as cognitive disconnection and visual disconnection, which results in the sensation that one is partially or completely detaching from both their sensory input and their cognitive faculties. This effect is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of depressant and dissociative compounds, such as, ketamine, PCP, and DXM.

Spatial disorientation is the failure to perceive or perceiving incorrectly the position, motion, or altitude of oneself within the fixed coordinate system provided by the surface of the Earth and the gravitational vertical. In this state, a person may have trouble distinguishing up from down, right from left, or any two different directions from another. The person might also perceive the world or their own body as being flipped sideways or upside down.

Spatial disorientation is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as holes, spaces and voids, changes in felt gravity, and dizziness. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of dissociative compounds, such as diphenidine, ketamine, and DXM.