How Does It Feel To Be High? Psychiatrist Explains Why The Experience Resembles Meditation

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

American psychiatrist with a private practice in San Francisco and Marin County focused on addictions, Timmen L. Cermak, M.D. tackles some of the questions about what happens when you get high. In his recent book, Marijuana on My Mind: The Science and Mystique of Cannabis, he looks beyond the objective perceptive by examining subjective experiences. 

Cermak uses Micheal Pollan’s quote to describe one part of the experience saying that “cannabis users directly sense a profound shift in the texture of their experience,” in his new post for Psychology Today.

He further explains how this amazing plant helps us not only to relax and slow down but also “intensifies many sensory experiences,” like sound, color, taste and physical movement. At the bare minimum, it increases our appreciation for these sensory experiences. But, how? 

Cermak explains that the change happens on an internal level. This means that there’s no change in the sensitivity of our hearing or other senses, but rather there’s an altered brain function that leads to altered mental experience and bodily reaction to stimuli. 

“People figuratively ‘see’ the world with different ‘eyes’,” he says, adding that this is pleasant for most people but not everyone. 

THC Leads To Dishabituation 

According to Cermak, one of the most significant changes in brain function caused by THC is related to dishabituation. Simply, when we see or feel, or smell something on many occasions, we get used to it and notice it less as we habituate to it. This is where THC steps in and reverses the process of habituation.

“It lowers the bar for the brain area (the amygdala) responsible for comparing current stimuli to those in the recent past,” Cermak explains.

This allows us to notice things as if we're not already accustomed to them, to bring “sounds and sights that we've habituated to back into our awareness.”

The psychiatrist further compares this refreshing of our world perception to meditation, which can also help us smell the roses again. This is best summarized in Proust’s comment, which Cermak quoted. The French author, widely viewed as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century, was known for having experimented with many drugs throughout his life.

In the end, Cermak highlights the importance of this subjective perspective on cannabis, saying it is one side of the cannabis coin. The other, which is also necessary for understanding is the scientific perspective.

“A healthy relationship with cannabis requires a balance between objectivity and subjectivity,” Cermak concludes. 

Photo: Courtesy of Zoltan Tasi via Unsplash