how to hallucinate without drugs

How to Hallucinate Without Drugs

Try to ask someone how you can hallucinate without the use of drugs and they’ll probably reach for the phone to call the authorities. But you’re serious, right? Frshminds can help you discover how to hallucinate without using drugs, and as always, we pass no judgment!

Scientists have known that psychedelic drugs such as LSD and Psilocybin (shrooms) can have therapeutic benefits for people battling anxiety, depression, and addiction since the 19th century. However, psychedelic drugs can also alter a person’s state of consciousness, mood, and behavior, and cause them to hallucinate. This led to laws that banned these drugs in the US. Ever since hallucinations induced by psychedelics were dubbed unpredictable and harmful, people have been trying to find out how to “trip” without psychedelics.

Why Do People Want to Hallucinate?

To hallucinate means to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel things that don’t exist outside of your mind. It’s like going on a mental trip outside of your normal self. Hallucinations alter your perception of your surroundings. People report seeing abstract shapes, flashes of light, and having a mystical experience during the trip.

The experience can make you feel afraid, nervous, or paranoid; or, none of those things. Not only are hallucinatory experiences often positive, but there are many people seeking psychedelic experiences or an expansion of their normal consciousness as a way to improve their lives. There are even psychedelic integration therapists who help people put their hallucinatory experience into context to help them change destructive beliefs and behaviors.

How to Hallucinate Without Drugs

If you’re wondering how to hallucinate without taking drugs out of sheer curiosity or planning a non-psychedelic trip, you may find one of the following six approaches to be effective for you:

Holotropic Breathwork (HB)

how to hallucinate without drugs
Developed as a way to naturally unlock the psychedelic potential of your lungs.

LSD researcher Stanislav Grof and his wife Christina Grof developed holotropic breathwork (HB) as a way to unlock the psychedelic potential of your own lungs. HB involves fast, deep, and forceful breathing to reduce oxygen until you enter into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. It feels like you’re in a lucid or waking dream where you can see images clearly.

The technique is supposed to promote self-discovery and self-healing by connecting with your mind and spirit. This “therapy” is thought to help people deal with chronic pain or stress, mental trauma, depression, and addiction. A 2015 study concluded that HB can promote higher levels of self-awareness. As it may be somewhat difficult to achieve this state without direction, and to maintain it when the hallucinations start, HB is best done when working with a trained HB facilitator, or guide.

Sensory Deprivation

Another way to trip is inside a sensory deprivation tank, also known as a float tank. The non-psychedelic therapy is done in a soundproof tank filled with about 10-12 inches of saltwater, which allows the individual to float. The person is isolated from everyone and their own senses. Once they drift into an altered state of consciousness, they may feel euphoria or see and hear things that are surreal.

Some floaters report having a mystical experience similar to taking psychedelic drugs; an “out of body” experience complete with spiritual insights. According to a 2014 study, float therapy shows promising benefits for sufferers of anxiety, depression and other illnesses. It may also reduce pain and stress and improve sleep.

The sensory deprivation tank was originally designed in 1954 by John C. Lilly, M.D. Lilly was a neuroscientist who investigated human consciousness when isolated away from external stimuli. He was also known to use hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and Ketamine inside the isolation tank.

Anechoic Chamber

how to hallucinate without drugs
An anechoic chamber is a room designed to completely absorb reflections of either sound or electromagnetic wave.

If full sensory deprivation sounds intimidating, you could choose to get rid of that sound alone, like in a sound deprivation chamber. Pictured here is a facility with an ‘anechoic chamber’ at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The anechoic chamber is made with a sound-absorbent material that cuts out up to 99.99% of all sound waves.

Being locked away into sound-free nothingness is thought to induce hallucinations and out-of-body experiences. The sound of silence may help relieve stress and symptoms of anxiety or depression. A 2020 report of several studies on the effects of silence on the mind showed that it significantly altered the participant’s perception of time, increased their relaxation, and improved their mood.

Kundalini Activation Process

The Kundalini Activation Process, in simple terms, means activating the “life force energy” thought to be stored at the base of the spine. Kundalini activation was developed by Venant Wong and is similar to Reiki. Wong believed he could use the energy systems and chakra or meridian points in the body to produce psychedelic-like effects.

Experiencers of Kundalini reported going on astral journeys. Some had flashbacks and mystical visions. Others felt a release of emotional tensions, euphoria, mental clarity, decreased anxiety or depression, or an overall sense of well-being. This non-psychedelic therapy is usually guided by a certified facilitator while the participant lies on a yoga mat. Music is usually played in the background to help evoke sensations.

Eye-Gazing

Who knew that staring into someone’s eyes long enough can induce an altered state of consciousness similar to psychedelics? In 2015, Italian psychologist, Giovanni Caputo, figured out a drug-free way to produce hallucinations and dissociation effects. It can happen in less than 10 minutes.

Caputo conducted a clinical trial where 20 healthy participants were asked to gaze into each other’s eyes. They reported changes in sound perception, color distortion, images of deceased relatives, loss of memory, dissociative symptoms, and a warped perception of their faces.

Staring into your own eyes is another example of how to make yourself hallucinate without drugs. Another study by Caputo found that people could experience similar changes in perception from gazing into their eyes in a mirror. Research participants reported mental clarity, a heightened sense of awareness, and enhanced self-esteem.

Hypnosis

Hypnosis, also referred to as hypnotherapy, is a process where the patient is put in a trance-like state. The therapy has been used to help individuals manage anxiety and end alcohol and nicotine addictions. People under hypnosis typically experience heightened focus, concentration, and suggestibility as well as vivid fantasies.

But hypnosis can also induce a type of altered perception, such as color experience, similar to when someone is hallucinating. Clients’ experiences included revisiting past lives and flashback images. This is usually after they are in a state of hypnosis and the therapist gives them suggestions to hear certain sounds or see certain objects.

Patients reported clearly hearing and seeing the (suggested) sounds or objects as if they were present, although they were not, in reality.

Despite being made illegal, clinical trials on psychedelics are still ongoing. Results from a 2016 trial show that Psilocybin has positive therapeutic effects on anxiety and depression in cancer patients.

Making Sense of Hallucinations

People who had psychedelic experiences or non-psychedelic hallucinations are not always able to make sense of their experiences. There might be a psychedelic integration therapist who can assist you with putting things you saw, heard, and felt into perspective. They can also help you use the information to positively transform your life. Feel free to utilize Frshminds‘ online directory to find a psychedelic integration therapist near you.

Explore the realms of psychedelics and natural hallucinations with our Ultimate Psychedelics and Mental Wellness Guide!

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About the Author

Josh has diverse background with a combination of formal training in both healthcare and business administration. Currently the CTO of Frshminds, he has a life long interest in alternative approaches to healthcare as well as technology development. Prior to working on Frshminds, he was the CTO of Lift & Co, a cannabis information site and ran Extreme Innovations, the in house software development services company of Extreme Venture Partners, one of the most successful early stage venture investors in Canada. Since becoming interested in psychedelics, Josh has explored microdosing, mushroom cultivation and was responsible for building out Frshminds' mushroom species guide.

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