Comments on: Ecstasy may bring the love by filtering the fear

By: Nimzo

Nimzo — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:04:53 +0000

Is it just me? Or is the study missing the point about empathy all together…. I’ve taken MDMA many times in the past (90′s) and the feeling of love and connectedness was without question the main effect of the drug… I’ve taken it alone, and then Yes.. I felt lonely, but that’s cause I wanted to be with people whilst on the drug. I’ve had deep conversations with other people whilst on MDMA together, and talked openly to other people on the drug cause we felt connected and we trusted each other… The study show’s that facial expressions are harder to read, that’s general empathy… MDMA is far deeper than that… It’s an emphatic realisation that were all human, and were not separate… were together.. one… Thanks.
Oh… No way you’d get me undergoing a test like this… Methamphetamine is a very damaging drug, (addiction) like double blind testing with Heroin.

By: Andy Forceno

Andy Forceno — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:43:35 +0000

@non3

Thanks, I’m familiar with pihkal. My post was referring to the tryptamines (i.e. the ones in tihkal). Of course, there are some very potent serotonergic amphetamine-like compounds such as DOI (which is commonly used in psychopharm research as a potent serotonin ligand).

By: Ecstasy prejudica o reconhecimento de expressões faciais de medo

Ecstasy prejudica o reconhecimento de expressões faciais de medo — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:16:25 +0000

[...] Post com mais detalhes sobre o artigo no blog MindHacks. [...]

By: Mark Temporis

Mark Temporis — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:09:43 +0000

I had been a longtime user of methamphetamine when I visited a friend in SoCal who took me to my first rave.

His Ecstacy experience was pretty bog-standard. Mine was a feeling of unusual anger–much moreso than I would get using ice.

I think the MDMA amplified the feelings of strangeness and discomfort I normally have in crowds.

By: Mr. Gunn

Mr. Gunn — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:58:00 +0000

Why woud you expect that someone on MDMA would be better at perceiving emotions? Recognizing an emotion in someone else and feeling it internally are far different things.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:39:41 +0000

Interesting in the context of this, which also showed up in the news today: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Brain-spot-where-fear-resides-found/articleshow/7116854.cms

By: String

String — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:57:34 +0000

This is interesting as I am empathic and have no need, or support, for using these types of substances to ‘increase empathy’ and in fact stay away from them because empathy is a valuable survival skill (for me). Meth users are notoriously paranoid as well; something to do, in my opinion, with the neurological effect of meth, as the body signals that cognitive functioning is becoming impaired. I have always held that speed like drugs kill off empathy and the ability to form correct psychological/social connections. From an inside out view, this is because someone who has used too much meth or ‘E’ empathically feels to me cold and disconnected.

By: non3

non3 — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:03:04 +0000

@Andy, there are a LOT of amphetamine-type serotonergic hallucinogens:

http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/pihkal/pihkal.shtml

The most probable one to fit your definition would be 2CB – read it up at the website above if you’re interested.

By: Andy Forceno

Andy Forceno — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:06:30 +0000

I predict more or less the same effect will be found for the serotonergic hallucinogens, despite having no chemical similarity to the amphetamines, as similar empathogenic effects have been reported anecdotally.

Yet another great post. Thanks!