Psychonaut turned scientific researcher Josie Kins has personally tried over 200 psychedelic compounds and had hundreds of psychedelic experiences. But she no longer takes them herself. “I’ve already explored them so thoroughly,” she says. Over the past 12 years, Kins has compiled a list of 233 effects people experience under the influence of psychedelic drugs, drawn from online accounts and her own experience, called the Subjective Effect Index.
In 2021, she began working for a startup drug company called Mindstate Design Labs to make the classification system more precise and comprehensive, under the advisement of renowned psychedelic researchers Thomas Ray and Andy Newburg. That work could double the total number of entries on the list, she says. But it’s the cognitive and emotional effects that seem to elude categorization and need the most refining. “The visual effects are already rigorous,” says Kins.
Below, a selection of some of the 52 visual effects on her list.
Diffraction is the experience of seeing rainbows and spectrums of color embedded within the brighter parts of a person’s visual field. It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.
Increased pareidolia is an increase in a person’s ability and tendency to recognize patterns (usually faces) within vague stimuli. It is most commonly induced under the influence of mild dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline.
Machinescapes are a complex visual and tactile experience where one perceives hallucinatory mechanical landscapes that are vast in both size and intricacy. They are most commonly induced under the influence of heavy dosages of Salvia divinorum. However, they can also occur less commonly unde
