Dissociatives #
Textbook Definition: A dissociative produces a sense of detachment from normal sights, sounds and experiences of self. This dissociation from environment is often classified as an hallucinogenic experience.
The following chemicals have been sampled and researched for inclusion within this section:
There was something about the idea of dissociatives which just didn’t appeal. I couldn’t understand what could possibly justify the enthusiasm of their users. The fact that the headline member of this class (ketamine) was allegedly a horse tranquilizer hardly helped to add positivity to my subjective negative perspective.
Then there were the disturbing reports of the mind being detached from physical sensory input, and the user effectively falling into a mental void (the so-called k-hole). That sounded like the opposite of LSD: instead of a wonderful oneness and connectedness, all is disconnected and an inglorious isolation ensues.
None of this was compelling, so it was through duty rather than desire that I metaphorically jumped into the hole (although no, I didn’t hole). Needless to say, I was taken entirely by surprise.
Generally it was fun, and even more surprisingly, it was sometimes profound. I found that my mind was not closed down, but rather, was freed to contemplate and explore. I simply never saw this coming.
I was well aware of the dangers presented by this class, including in terms of mixing with alcohol and other drugs. I had read the stories illustrating what can happen if the brain is no longer fully conscious of the active body, which is fuelled by some other chemical. I therefore elected to play in the shallow end, where I enjoyed many rewarding experiences.
A slightly eccentric aspect of my journey was that it was back-to-front: ketamine was one of my final dissociative experiments rather than my first. The reason for this was access, in that it was illegal in the UK. I thus had to travel. Whether the order influenced my comparative report on K itself is open to question.