From: cliftonr@netcom.com (Pope Clifton)
Subject: Re: Fried Brain on Acid
Organization: t.b, t.p.d, & a.d
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 16:52:26 GMT

Anthony Ankrom (aankrom@nyx.cs.du.edu) wrote:
:  While reading this post I got a silly idea: What if during the process of
: tripping, one encountered a stimulus or stimuli that, induced the brain
: into rewiring itself in a random way? (By brain, I mean the cortex) I mean
: these stimuli are certainly elusive, but conceivably thewy could exist.
: And what might it take to rehabilitate a victim of this hypothetical
: affliction. By no means am I suggesting this as a proscription against the
: use of LSD or any other hallucinogen. But it judst seemed an interesting
: possibility. It wouldn't necessarilly have to be random either. Some
: overwhelming stimulus may ber able to render a tripper vegatative. I have
: no idea how frequently such an event could occur. (Please no flames on
: this, just discussion. I'm not out to spread myths and fear...) 

  It would seem to me that any event severe enough to cause PTSD (Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder) on someone in a normal state of mind would be
likely to cause more severe and intense changes in personality and
ability to function if experienced by someone who is tripping.
  This in fact sounds very like what happened to the guy described a 
while ago who while tripping was told that his father died, was assaulted
by police, etc.  Maybe a psychologist familiar with PTSD treatment
could have saved him, instead of guilt-tripping him and abandoning him
to his depression.
  Someone very close to me was once raped by a former boyfriend while 
tripping and unable to resist or complain.  I don't expect her to ever
try any psychedelic again.  I didn't know her then, and it was a long 
time ago, so I don't know how badly it affected the rest of her life.

:  A friend of mine's brother once had a syndrome following an acid trip
: that seemed a hybrid of post-traumatic distress and schizophrenia. He
: couldn't carry on a coherent conversation or sleep. He eventually recovered
: and is perfectly healthy now, but it makes me wonder what induced this. It
: was NOT like he was still tripping. It was like an odd aftereffect...

  With LSD tending to make suppressed memories more accessible, it
seems possible to me that circumstances resembling traumatic childhood
memories would trigger more profound reactions.  If they were not 
consciously worked through and "exorcised" while still tripping, as I
think some forms of LSD therapy did, then it's conceivable that they
would have considerable impact for some period of time.  The unconscious
packs a lot more punch than most people realize.
  Still speculation, but I think it's more likely that the triggering
stimulus for a severe reaction would be someting highly personal than
an abstract stimulus of the type you describe.  (Though it makes for
good science fiction, and has appeared in various science fiction stories.)
  -- Clifton

--
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Clifton Royston, Pope of the Church of the Subgenius in Paradise
"Have a revelation, the first one's free/Soon to be addicted to eternity" - HMR