Perceptions of time

Intoxication with amyl nitrite or butyl nitrite (i.e., poppers) is characterized by euphoria, warm feelings, change in perception of time, a sense of fullness in the head, relaxation of smooth muscle, vasodilatation, increased heart rate, and decreased systolic blood pressure. An increase in sexual drive and intensification of orgasm, poor judgment, and a reduction in inhibitions are... 

Disorientation (impaired perception of time and unable to recognize familiar people)... 

Because Ecstasy can produce mild hallucinations, it is often referred to as a psychedelic drug having effects similar to those of LSD. Unlike other psychedelic drugs, however, Ecstasy does not produce vivid perceptual and visual distortions, like walls and ceilings turning into liquid. Rather, the perception of colors, sound, music, and touch appears to be intensified by Ecstasy. In addition, the perception of time may be slowed or otherwise altered. 

Bad trips A commonly known outcome of hallucinogenic experience is colloquially known as a bad trip. This essentially consists of a panic episode, sometimes brought on by a dislike of the hallucinogenic effects and fear that the experience will not end. Given that LSD prolongs one s perception of time, it may seem as if the experience will never end and it... 

Marijuana produces a distinctive behavioral syndrome that is easily distinguished from that of most other drugs. The most prominent feature is the initial period of euphoria, or high, which has been described as a sense of well-being and happiness. Euphoria is frequently followed by a period of drowsiness or sedation. Perception of time is altered, along with distortions in both hearing and vision. However, illusions and hallucinations occur infrequently. The subjective effects also include dissociation of ideas. 

The effects of LSD may be observed for 8 hours. The specific acute effects of a drug like LSD include euphoria, depersonalization, enhanced awareness of sensory input, alterations in the perception of time or space or body image, and to some extent, minor stimulant effects. Sometimes the dreamlike quality of the experience produces relaxation, good humor, and a sense of wonder or euphoria. 

In Chapter 4 we discussed how Ayahuasca users often felt that they were freed from time. Past, present, and future lose their significance. In Chapter 2 we discussed how certain languages may shape or reflect different cultures notions of time. Your psychological perception of time is, of course, affected by such things as medications, time of day, your level of happiness, external stimuli, and even the temperature. Hypnosis can also cause time dilation, as can cannabis and LSD. Additionally, heat appears to speed up the activity of a chemical timepiece in the brain. For example, fever can severely speed your perception of time, perhaps partly because it speeds chemical processes. Opium is notorious for its effect on time perception. The English writer Thomas De Quincey reported... 

Amyl nitrite and other poppers can cause confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, and a slowed perception of time, even with only limited use. For these reasons driving, operating machinery, or any other work that requires being alert or responsive, is not recommended while under the influence of amyl nitrite. Amyl nitrite can also cause people to feel less inhibited, relaxed, and give them a sense of well-being and intensified emotions. This can impair judgment, especially when it comes to sexual behavior. 

At higher doses, ketamine leads to pronounced changes in judgment, distorted vision, auditory hallucinations, such as humming or buzzing, and marked disorientation. Some users report a profound impact on the perception of time, which appears to slow to a complete halt in the emergent, or heavily hallucinatory state. 

Users often experience a mellow sense of wellbeing and relaxation that makes them feel expansive, creative, and more sensitive to all types of stimuli. Perception of time slows, and ability to gauge distance, depth, and speed accurately is distorted. Users can also spiral downward into anxiety, paranoia, panic attacks, and hallucinations. This effect is more pronounced when larger doses of THC are ingested, such as when hashish or other more concentrated forms of marijuana are used. Higher doses are also possible when marijuana is eaten rather than smoked this occurs when more of the drug is ingested before it can be metabolized. 

Users claim aphrodisiac effects from heightened stimulation, enhanced penile erection, and relaxation of the anal sphincter and rectum. Because of the rush of blood and oxygen to the brain, facial flushing and a temporary euphoria occur several seconds after inhalation. Perception of time is slowed. 

Hallucinogens Hallucinogens are natural or chemically synthesized medications that change perception of time, reality, and the environment by abnormal disruption and activation of serotonin. Some patients experience chronic mental disorders. Commonly used hallucinogens are ... 

Hashish depresses the CNS and results in mental relaxation, altered perception of time and space, loss of inhibitions, and euphoria within 15 minutes and lasts up to 4 hours. 

Cognitive Memory loss (poor recall and losing items) aphasia (circumlocution and anomia) apraxia agnosia disorientation (impaired perception of time and unable to recognize familiar people) impaired executive function... 

Inhalants depress the CNS, producing decreased respiration and blood pressure. Users report distortion in perceptions of time and space. Many users experience headaches, nausea, slurred speech, and loss of motor coordination. Mental effects may include fear, anxiety, or depression. A rash around the nose and mouth may be seen, and the abuser may start wheezing. An odor of paint or organic solvents on clothes, skin, and breath is sometimes a sign of inhalant abuse. Other indicators of inhalant abuse include slurred speech or staggering gait red, glassy, watery eyes and excitability or unpredictable behavior. 

Some community benefits cannot be considered purely as a function of market forces. The perception of time-value money of an individual is different from that of a community. The time-value of money is very high and the consumer will not spend money at the present time for a benefit occurring in the future unless the benefit is clearly apparent. If the values of corrosion prevention are not perceived at the time of purchase, then there may be insufficient incentive to pay for those corrosion prevention incentives that would preserve community resources in the long term. 

Sociological and anthropological research emphasizes that societies use shared temporal metrics not only to regulate and standardize the perception of time, but... 

Until recently, the supremacy of pitch over other sound attributes prevailed in Western music theory. Time and timbre, for example, were considered to be of secondary importance. Today, however, this ideology is changing, and the tendency is now to consider that attributes such as pitch, time and timbre are all descriptors for the same phenomenon, but from different perspectives. For example, pitch may be considered as one aspect of the perception of timbre and timbre as one aspect of the perception of time. Pitch may, in turn, be considered as a quantifier to measure time. The music and theoretical work of composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Schaeffer, Iannis Xenakis, Jean-Claude Risset, Horacio Vaggione, Trevor Wishart and Joi e Antunes have helped to emancipate the role of time and timbre in Western music (Stockhausen, 1959 Schaeffer, 1966 Xenakis, 1971 Risset, 1992 Vaggione, 1993 Wishart, 1985, 1994 Antunes, 1995). 

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