>>Both nitrous oxide and ether have been used medically² as anesthetics.
In Europe, nitrous oxide is heavily used in obstetric care. I realize that is not the case in the US, but in Sweden, where I live, nitrous oxide is offered almost every woman in labor. Basically, they say "take as much as you want, as long as you hold the mask with your own hands (if you take too much, you will pass out and drop the mask)". That way, a majority of Swedish women above a certain age have tried nitrous oxide. My guess is that many of us have also been high on it. I have at least twice. I recognize very little of the otherworldly experiences you write about above. Maybe not being in pain, not being scared and not being in a hospital helps.
I actually learned about the use of nitrous for women in labor while researching this article! Super interesting. I could definitely see the stress of the situation crowding out the hallucinatory experience.
I was raised a Catholic, so I spent about 25 years far away from any mind-altering substance. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke tobacco, even coffee I seldom take. However, being a Brazilian, I came into contact with a group that does ayahuasca Rituals. I have been a member for the last 10 years and our group tends to attract all kinds of people, including psychonauts. I find it extremely interesting to learn of the experiences of other people using a range of substances to better understand this bizzarre reality we find ourselves into. Thanks for sharing.
Glad there are several people self aware enough to nope out of this but...nitrous sounds right up my alley haha. I have often fantasized about existing in a world of my own thoughts 😅
A good takeaway! Not for everyone for sure. One of my hesitations when writing this was the possibility of being too encouraging towards drug experimentation...glad it's also having the opposite effect!
>>Both nitrous oxide and ether have been used medically² as anesthetics.
In Europe, nitrous oxide is heavily used in obstetric care. I realize that is not the case in the US, but in Sweden, where I live, nitrous oxide is offered almost every woman in labor. Basically, they say "take as much as you want, as long as you hold the mask with your own hands (if you take too much, you will pass out and drop the mask)". That way, a majority of Swedish women above a certain age have tried nitrous oxide. My guess is that many of us have also been high on it. I have at least twice. I recognize very little of the otherworldly experiences you write about above. Maybe not being in pain, not being scared and not being in a hospital helps.
I actually learned about the use of nitrous for women in labor while researching this article! Super interesting. I could definitely see the stress of the situation crowding out the hallucinatory experience.
Wow, this is fascinating, I've never heard of this before.
I was raised a Catholic, so I spent about 25 years far away from any mind-altering substance. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke tobacco, even coffee I seldom take. However, being a Brazilian, I came into contact with a group that does ayahuasca Rituals. I have been a member for the last 10 years and our group tends to attract all kinds of people, including psychonauts. I find it extremely interesting to learn of the experiences of other people using a range of substances to better understand this bizzarre reality we find ourselves into. Thanks for sharing.
Recent paper on false beliefs in psychedelics that seems relevant: The power of insight: How psychedelics solicit false beliefs
https://psyarxiv.com/97gjw/
This was a great read. You capture the state of being in a nitrous trip so well.
Glad there are several people self aware enough to nope out of this but...nitrous sounds right up my alley haha. I have often fantasized about existing in a world of my own thoughts 😅
My take away from this is that I shouldn’t huff Nitrous Oxide xD
A good takeaway! Not for everyone for sure. One of my hesitations when writing this was the possibility of being too encouraging towards drug experimentation...glad it's also having the opposite effect!
None for me, thanks; I have never found anything there but a hell outside time of gray light and loud silence.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing. You might like the three-part meditation series (links to the first two at the top) https://www.mattball.org/2023/06/enlightenment-june-2023-coda-part-3-of-3.html
Take care.