hello, i thought about writing this for quite a long time. i’m a 21 year old Male. I took mushrooms on weekends consecutively for two months and the last time i took them i took the most i ever had. that was in december 2025 from then on, i had mild dprd and very mild visual snow. it was almost non existent as well as no anxiety or depression. after a while i felt myself recovering. i had not drank alcohol since that happened and i havent smoked weed in over 3 years so that never effected me. then fast forward to april this year i had an extreme shutdown mode where i had completely debilitating anxiety and depression, visual snow and dprd. it was so horrible and the worst thing ive ever been through. i could not sleep at my own house for 3 weeks and had to live at my moms house. i was extremely depressed. i’ve experienced depression in the past but i had recovered and found purpose in my life. that day it came back like a truck was the day i thought for sure i would end my life. thanks to my family and friends and god that didn’t happen. anyways, since then ive slowly started recovering (or just getting used to it over time i can’t tell). i still do not drink and i would not dare to touch any kind of drugs ever again. i don’t go to the movies or large events with stages as it bugs my symptoms very badly. i am now on 10g of lexapro everyday, which has helped me tons. i also refuse to eat normal mushrooms now. i know its stupid but i won’t even eat any normal mushrooms that are included in food it’s just a thing i have. i go to therapy every two weeks to help cope with symptoms. but for the most part what helped me was just keep moving forward in my life with my career and social life. it irritates me that everyone i talk to about this can’t grasp what i go through. but yeah thats my story and i try hard to take care of myself. i never knew how important sleep was until this happened to me. to everyone that goes through this i love you all and hope we all recover and get over this one way or another. :)

Hello friends, I’ve posted about this topic before but it’s been almost a year and I need some updated guidance. I’m 19 months into my hppd recovery and my visuals have improved significantly. The only symptoms that remain are slight (but mostly benign) screen sensitivity, flickering of vision in low light conditions, and tinnitus (by far the most annoying symptom).

I was hoping after this amount of time I would have returned to my baseline but I’m quite discouraged this is not the case. The tinnitus is quite pervasive and is tied to my mood and stress levels. It’s extremely distressing when it flares and often makes me suicidal. I often try to ignore it/tune it out but that’s been difficult as it’s really in your face. At this point in time do I just accept that this is part of my new life. Was really hoping of being capable of experiencing silence again but I’m losing more and more hope as the months go on. Thanks!

I abused Benzos heavily since I was 15 I am 19 now and am recovering, one of the many, many, long term side effects is visual distortions. Im curious as to why recovered Benzo, Heroin, Meth addicts ect are able to go on interviews and have a positive outlook on life despite having undoubtable permanent brain damage, meanwhile people on this sub are still figuring out IF THEY EVEN HAVE brain damage from psychedelics. I know I have permanent brain damage from benzos and accepted it. Why can’t psychedelic users accept the permanent changes that come with altering your perception?

Just found out that I’ve had HPPD for years and didn’t even notice. Im in early recovery and I actually enjoy the visuals. I do see how this could be distracting once I have more responsibilities to take care of, cuz if I pay attention to it I can dissociate pretty hard into the experience.

Music also makes things so much more intense and certain songs make me physically feel like im tripping not just the visuals. Crazy.

i never realized it wasnt normal until a couple days ago when someone said “when you look at the wall do you see static?” And i was like, “you dont?”

I have really bad struggles with mental health so the visuals are kind of a welcome distraction, and the more I read I see that mental health struggles are somewhat a part of this as well…I just never connected the two. Anyway thanks.🙏