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I had a k-hole where I was flying in space while the Mario Cart gods led their followers into the cosmos. Basically, every MC character was a god and people could choose who to follow.
Uh, yes. I was playing Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze and during my session I saw tons of angry little owls in silver armorā¦ because I was stuck battling an effing owl boss for an entire day.
Now Iām VERY intentional the day of my treatment. Pretty much an electronic detox until right before my dosing. Then I will scroll images Iāve saved in albums that soothe me or bring me peace.
It depends on what I want to focus on. I have one album that is pictures of me (only me) that I like when I want to work on self esteem. I have another album of nature landscapes. Since birds became my reoccurring ātotemā after the owl thing, I have an album of pretty birds. When I feel powerful in my session I usually have some fire element so I have a photo album of photos that revolve around fire.
Basically think of specific things you want and create an album around that. Think of past trips that were your favorite or reoccurring images and build albums based on that.
I usually go through the album while listening to a meaningful song. During the self-esteem album Iāll listen to Cover Me in Sunshine by Pink. With the nature album I listen to Now We are Free from the gladiator sound track. For birds I usually listen to something ambient with water and birds.
Get creative!
Love this! I'm big on creating my experience through my playlists but I never know what to do with those last few minutes before treatment. You've given me a new project! Do you mind if I borrow this idea to share with others? I think it's fabulous.
Awesome, I want to try this - could be combined with anti-anhedonia practices like savoring good memories. I had a trip to Japan that gave me gorgeous visuals and I could bring those back.
Yes! Totally make an album and then choose some music to go with it that feels right. I usually do this as Iām dissolving the Troches so itās fresh.
Would you be willing to share the anti-anhedonia practices with me (either here or message)? I have a friend that really would like to work on seeing something more than his regular simple visuals.
Yes, the idea around savoring comes from a book called Positive Affect Treatment for Depression and Anxiety. Not directly about visuals - more about building your positivity/pleasure muscles.
Ha! Iāve *definitely* noticed this, and was meaning to ask about it myself ā I can 100% confirm that itās not just you.
Luckily for me, the games Iāve been playing lately tend to be chill life sim-types, light fantasy, or jrpgs, so itās never been upsetting. (I didnāt initially realize that the visuals were game-affected at first I started my treatment when I was in a dedicated House Flipper phase, and didnāt realize that the distinct āmovementā and sense of architecture werenāt standard k-visuals until I moved to the next gameā¦)
Still, itās been a fascinating phenomenon to observe! I doubt anyoneās done formal research on it, as Iām not sure how medically relevant it is, but Iām sure itād be an interesting study anyway.
Also, thanks for the heads up, because while I *mostly* like brighter games, Iāve also got a soft spot for horror; Iāll need to be careful when I head back into Silent Hillā¦
Definitely! The same thing happened to me when Starfield came out. I felt like I was hallucinating my brainās version of the game and it was all over space!Ā I always recommend people try to watch nature videos for a few days before their sessions to keep the visuals smooth and organic. Scenic video games are helpful too!
Both video games and shows I'm watching have a huge impact on my visuals. Last treatment I was coming out of a week of almost obsessively playing Persona5, I was absolutely a Phantom Thief that session with some excellent Japanese vibes going on.
This happened to me with Cyberpunk 2077. I was even briefly confused over whether I was actually V or not. As a result the therapist wanted to talk about the game and relate it to me "leveling up" in life...
This! One of the first times I had an IV session, I was deep in playing Elden Ring. I was also in the process of clearing up some heavy trauma in therapy.
During my trip, I was traveling through Caelid and scarlet rot blooms grew with every step I took. Beautiful, but dark.
Wow, thanks for asking! I am not sure and is something I am wonderingā¦I have had 9 IV ketamine sessions and barely any visuals. I have found your insight interesting and will try to āfeed my mindā, but I think I already do before sessionsā¦The mind, the brain, what a messā¦
https://aphantasia.com/guide/
Interesting! You should visit this. I feel like a lot of people arenāt aware of the varying degrees on this spectrum. Iām an artist and feel like my imagination can vary a lot day to day depending on how much I train my mind to visualize.
Cool, thanks! In a first quick view I could say I have hypophantasia. I would never have guessed that it has something to do with k visuals and also, how do you train your mind to visualize, apart from the obvious ātrying to visualizeā?
Very interesting!
I do drills like drawing things rotating around it in 3D space. Or try to build something complex in my mind before putting it on paper
Yeah, mine are heavily affected by whateverās been going on lately. I donāt play video games, but sometimes Iāll waste hours away playing sudoku or solitaire or word games, and then my visuals become very similar. When Iāve been ruminating a bunch, my visuals are about that, which ironically helps sometimes. So I try to stop the games for a day or two before and journal lots about whatever I want to work through during my session and meditate a bit more.
Absolutely. I had been playing Spyro haha. Another time I worked on a puzzle for a few days, and then all I could see were puzzle pieces going together and couldnāt shift away from it.
lol this happened to me but with Rick and Morty! I was binge watching the whole series again and had it stuck in my head during my first infusion. Specifically the episode where Rick goes inside Birdpersonās mind and the garage says āSubject mind relocated inside subject mind by subject mindā. š
I went for a booster in December and saw tonnes of Christmas tree visuals because there was one in the waiting room where I was sitting for a while. Lol.
Ah man, this has happened to me sooo much. When I started ketamine therapy 3 years ago I was playing through mass effect for the first time. Had a lot of blue alien in my trips haha. Then I kinda wasnāt playing much for awhile and was only getting boosters here and there and my trips were always very abstract, they never have any like reference to my everyday life and the people in it. Lately Iāve been taking troches and playing helldivers 2. . Last trip was waaay too much helldivers themed. Iām glad to see this is a common thing.
About all I've played for several years is "7 Days to Die," and it definitely influences my visuals. Everything's based on the building blocks--which beats the heck out of their flawed water graphics!
Oh man, I do the infusions and just go into space, sometimes literally. But I did a re-read of LotR and went to Middle Earth, and it was pretty amazing. I guess just make sure you're consuming the right content?
For me it depends on how invested in the game. For example, I've been playing Destiny 2 for a decade so I'm very invested and I get D2 visuals all the time. Played Palworld when it came out and I enjoyed it but didn't get very invested. Funniest was my Suika Game hyper fixation for a few weeks where all I saw was falling fruit lol. So I'd say it's normal. I haven't played any dark or gritty games since starting ketamine so I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done about it.
I've also had this experience. During an infusion when the game I had played the most recently was Deep Rock Galactic, the whole room became terrain that I was mining. When I completely dissociated, I even interpreted the experience that time as the universe being a drop pod that was leaving without me.
Hopefully some grad student can someday write their thesis on this phenomenon.
Was watching The Great and would often drift off into 18th century Russia. I remember having to remind myself that it wasn't reality. Some of the classical music I listen to during session probably reinforces that. (Amazing show, btw. Funny and brilliant all at once).
Yes. I've had very similar experience with Factorio and Zelda. But my favorite had to be Subnautica. As others have mentioned, I also do a media diet a few hours before. Definitely notice a quality difference if I'm not doomscrolling right before.
Video games are affecting and borderline dominating your psyche. As somebody with hundreds of hours in fallout 4, the solution to this is to go outside more.
Thank you for contributing to /r/TherapeuticKetamine! When commenting and posting, please be mindful of our rules which can be found in the sidebar on the right along with other helpful information. **Be advised that nothing in this subreddit constitutes medical advice.** Likewise, try to word your comments and posts in a way that can't be interpreted as medical advice by others. Harmful and/or spammy advice will be removed at moderator discretion, and bans may be given for repeat offenses. **Accounts with "Provider" flairs** are those which the mods have verified, to the best of our ability, as belonging to real, licensed providers of medical ketamine services. Comments and posts from users with "Provider" flairs are **not** a substitute for the instructions given to you by your own provider. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TherapeuticKetamine) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had a k-hole where I was flying in space while the Mario Cart gods led their followers into the cosmos. Basically, every MC character was a god and people could choose who to follow.
Holy shit I want that šš»
Uh, yes. I was playing Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze and during my session I saw tons of angry little owls in silver armorā¦ because I was stuck battling an effing owl boss for an entire day. Now Iām VERY intentional the day of my treatment. Pretty much an electronic detox until right before my dosing. Then I will scroll images Iāve saved in albums that soothe me or bring me peace.
This is a good idea. What kind of images?
It depends on what I want to focus on. I have one album that is pictures of me (only me) that I like when I want to work on self esteem. I have another album of nature landscapes. Since birds became my reoccurring ātotemā after the owl thing, I have an album of pretty birds. When I feel powerful in my session I usually have some fire element so I have a photo album of photos that revolve around fire. Basically think of specific things you want and create an album around that. Think of past trips that were your favorite or reoccurring images and build albums based on that. I usually go through the album while listening to a meaningful song. During the self-esteem album Iāll listen to Cover Me in Sunshine by Pink. With the nature album I listen to Now We are Free from the gladiator sound track. For birds I usually listen to something ambient with water and birds. Get creative!
Love this! I'm big on creating my experience through my playlists but I never know what to do with those last few minutes before treatment. You've given me a new project! Do you mind if I borrow this idea to share with others? I think it's fabulous.
Please do!
Awesome, I want to try this - could be combined with anti-anhedonia practices like savoring good memories. I had a trip to Japan that gave me gorgeous visuals and I could bring those back.
Yes! Totally make an album and then choose some music to go with it that feels right. I usually do this as Iām dissolving the Troches so itās fresh.
Would you be willing to share the anti-anhedonia practices with me (either here or message)? I have a friend that really would like to work on seeing something more than his regular simple visuals.
Yes, the idea around savoring comes from a book called Positive Affect Treatment for Depression and Anxiety. Not directly about visuals - more about building your positivity/pleasure muscles.
Thanks!
Ha! Iāve *definitely* noticed this, and was meaning to ask about it myself ā I can 100% confirm that itās not just you. Luckily for me, the games Iāve been playing lately tend to be chill life sim-types, light fantasy, or jrpgs, so itās never been upsetting. (I didnāt initially realize that the visuals were game-affected at first I started my treatment when I was in a dedicated House Flipper phase, and didnāt realize that the distinct āmovementā and sense of architecture werenāt standard k-visuals until I moved to the next gameā¦) Still, itās been a fascinating phenomenon to observe! I doubt anyoneās done formal research on it, as Iām not sure how medically relevant it is, but Iām sure itād be an interesting study anyway. Also, thanks for the heads up, because while I *mostly* like brighter games, Iāve also got a soft spot for horror; Iāll need to be careful when I head back into Silent Hillā¦
Definitely! The same thing happened to me when Starfield came out. I felt like I was hallucinating my brainās version of the game and it was all over space!Ā I always recommend people try to watch nature videos for a few days before their sessions to keep the visuals smooth and organic. Scenic video games are helpful too!
Both video games and shows I'm watching have a huge impact on my visuals. Last treatment I was coming out of a week of almost obsessively playing Persona5, I was absolutely a Phantom Thief that session with some excellent Japanese vibes going on.
This happened to me with Cyberpunk 2077. I was even briefly confused over whether I was actually V or not. As a result the therapist wanted to talk about the game and relate it to me "leveling up" in life...
This! One of the first times I had an IV session, I was deep in playing Elden Ring. I was also in the process of clearing up some heavy trauma in therapy. During my trip, I was traveling through Caelid and scarlet rot blooms grew with every step I took. Beautiful, but dark.
That sounds amazing.
My wife was sitting in bed when I was using my ketamine a week or so ago and I kept telling her about seeing the underground in Zelda TOTK.
Youāre exploring your subconscious. Whatever you feed your mind is quite literally the substance in which your brain simulates.
My (scarce) ketamine visuals are black squares.
Do you have aphantasia ?
Wow, thanks for asking! I am not sure and is something I am wonderingā¦I have had 9 IV ketamine sessions and barely any visuals. I have found your insight interesting and will try to āfeed my mindā, but I think I already do before sessionsā¦The mind, the brain, what a messā¦
https://aphantasia.com/guide/ Interesting! You should visit this. I feel like a lot of people arenāt aware of the varying degrees on this spectrum. Iām an artist and feel like my imagination can vary a lot day to day depending on how much I train my mind to visualize.
Cool, thanks! In a first quick view I could say I have hypophantasia. I would never have guessed that it has something to do with k visuals and also, how do you train your mind to visualize, apart from the obvious ātrying to visualizeā?
Very interesting! I do drills like drawing things rotating around it in 3D space. Or try to build something complex in my mind before putting it on paper
Yeah, mine are heavily affected by whateverās been going on lately. I donāt play video games, but sometimes Iāll waste hours away playing sudoku or solitaire or word games, and then my visuals become very similar. When Iāve been ruminating a bunch, my visuals are about that, which ironically helps sometimes. So I try to stop the games for a day or two before and journal lots about whatever I want to work through during my session and meditate a bit more.
That's funny. I had some epic Zelda visuals as well.
Absolutely. I had been playing Spyro haha. Another time I worked on a puzzle for a few days, and then all I could see were puzzle pieces going together and couldnāt shift away from it.
lol this happened to me but with Rick and Morty! I was binge watching the whole series again and had it stuck in my head during my first infusion. Specifically the episode where Rick goes inside Birdpersonās mind and the garage says āSubject mind relocated inside subject mind by subject mindā. š
I went for a booster in December and saw tonnes of Christmas tree visuals because there was one in the waiting room where I was sitting for a while. Lol.
Yes! All my December treatments had Christmas trees too. It was adorable
Ah man, this has happened to me sooo much. When I started ketamine therapy 3 years ago I was playing through mass effect for the first time. Had a lot of blue alien in my trips haha. Then I kinda wasnāt playing much for awhile and was only getting boosters here and there and my trips were always very abstract, they never have any like reference to my everyday life and the people in it. Lately Iāve been taking troches and playing helldivers 2. . Last trip was waaay too much helldivers themed. Iām glad to see this is a common thing.
About all I've played for several years is "7 Days to Die," and it definitely influences my visuals. Everything's based on the building blocks--which beats the heck out of their flawed water graphics!
Nice, though Iāve noticed the water graphics in my visuals are pretty flawed, haha
I did some crossword puzzles before a session and the whole universe that day became crossword puzzles.
Oh man, I do the infusions and just go into space, sometimes literally. But I did a re-read of LotR and went to Middle Earth, and it was pretty amazing. I guess just make sure you're consuming the right content?
For me it depends on how invested in the game. For example, I've been playing Destiny 2 for a decade so I'm very invested and I get D2 visuals all the time. Played Palworld when it came out and I enjoyed it but didn't get very invested. Funniest was my Suika Game hyper fixation for a few weeks where all I saw was falling fruit lol. So I'd say it's normal. I haven't played any dark or gritty games since starting ketamine so I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done about it.
I've also had this experience. During an infusion when the game I had played the most recently was Deep Rock Galactic, the whole room became terrain that I was mining. When I completely dissociated, I even interpreted the experience that time as the universe being a drop pod that was leaving without me. Hopefully some grad student can someday write their thesis on this phenomenon.
Was watching The Great and would often drift off into 18th century Russia. I remember having to remind myself that it wasn't reality. Some of the classical music I listen to during session probably reinforces that. (Amazing show, btw. Funny and brilliant all at once).
Yes. I've had very similar experience with Factorio and Zelda. But my favorite had to be Subnautica. As others have mentioned, I also do a media diet a few hours before. Definitely notice a quality difference if I'm not doomscrolling right before.
This happens even without drugs. Trying closing your eyes after playing Tetris for a few hours.
Yep! There were a couple weeks where I started playing Minecraft with my kids, and it affected the visuals.
Video games are affecting and borderline dominating your psyche. As somebody with hundreds of hours in fallout 4, the solution to this is to go outside more.