PsychonautWiki Archive

Memory suppression

Revision as of 20:29, 13 July 2016 by >Phencyclidine (→Ego death: - added reference)

Memory suppression (also known as ego suppression, ego loss or ego death) can be described as an effect which, in a manner which is directly proportional to the dosage consumed, directly inhibits one's ability to maintain a functional short and long-term memory.

It is a process which can be broken down into 4 basic levels:

  1. Partial short-term memory suppression - This is the partial failure of a person's short-term memory. It can be described as a general difficulty staying focused and an increase in distractibility.
  2. Complete short-term memory suppression - This is the complete failure of a person's short-term memory. It can be described as the experience of being completely incapable of remembering any specific details regarding the present situation for more than a few seconds. This is capable of resulting in thought loops, disorientation, loss of control and confusion for the inexperienced. Long-term memory, however, remains entirely intact as people are still perfectly capable of recollecting their name, date of birth, childhood school, etc.
  3. Partial long-term memory suppression - This is the partial failure of both a person's long-term memory and the complete failure of their short-term memory. It can be described as the experience of having difficulty remembering even the most basic fundamental human concepts stored within the long-term memory.
  4. Complete long-term memory suppression - This is the complete failure of both a person's long and short-term memory. It can be described as the experience of becoming completely incapable of remembering even the most basic fundamental human concepts stored within the long-term memory. This includes one's name, identity, home town, that they are on drugs, what drugs even are, what human beings are, what life is, what existence is or what anything is. The most notable of these, however, is the loss of one's ability to recall their concept or sense of self and identity which is commonly referred to as "ego death."

Although memory suppression is similar in its effects to amnesia, it differs in that it is usually possible for the person experiencing it to recall what happened during the process after it is over. However, amnesia by its very definition allows people to retain information within the present moment but renders them incapable of recalling it afterwards.

Ego death

At level 4, the most profound aspect of all-encompassing long-term memory suppression is the way in which it obliterates one's ability to recall or even feel a general sense of their own name, identity, me-ness or selfhood. The experience of this is colloquially known as ego death. Rhetoric around "ego death" suggests that people are capable of "experiencing" ego death, as though it were possible to experience raw sensory input without any concept of self or reference point. Since experiences must be experienced by a subject, it is not possible to experience anything without subjectivity (i.e. without a concept of one's self).

"Ego death" often refers to such a radical change in one's concept of self that their old self has "died," in a sense. For example, on high doses of dissociative drugs, users have described losing all familiar subjective reference points, such as forgetting their name, when they were born or even their species.

However, it is not possible to experience complete ego loss because it is not possible to have experiences without any subjectivity (experiences have to happen to something - experiences don't float around waiting to be collected as though they are things in an of themselves). It is possible to have experiences through a radically altered, minimal concept of self but the idea of being able to experience without subjectivity is a contradiction and thus impossible.

Merkur clarifies: "Accurately described, the mystical state involves a disappearance not of the ego, but rather of the self-representation, the idea of oneself. The ego, defined as the capacity to sense, perceive and to think, continues to function as the seath of experience, even when what is experienced is cosmic."[1]

Psychoactive substances

Compounds within our psychoactive substance index which may cause this effect include:

... further results

Experience reports

Anecdotal reports which describe this effect within our experience index include:

... further results

See also

  1. ↑ Merkur, D (2014). The Formation of Hippie Spirituality: 1. Union with God. in Ellens, JH (ed). Seeking The Sacred With Psychoactive Substances (Volume I). Praeger, Santa Barbara: 2014.
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