I believe it's mistake to read too much into what happens in the immediate aftermath of anaesthesia. It's a different you.
Of course those reddit videos of undying love are sweet. But, people are often very very very inappropriate. It doesn't mean much, it doesn't mean they are unbridled sexist pigs, or heading there. Post-operative recovery Nurses have good stories.
That said, older people come out of Anaesthesia a bit differently. I am told by anaesthesiologists, that older people don't always come back the same even 6 months later. If you're old you need to be prepared for this, and it can acellerate decline in cognitive function (so I am told. I am not a health professional)
I think I've told this before but here goes. I was put under multiple times, but in this instance for nasal surgery I believe.
When I woke up, the nurses were half laughing and half pissed that I tried to get up mid surgery and fought them, so much so they had to get 6 nurses to restrain me(I'm a huge guy, no surprise here).
She said 'You kept saying you needed to take care of Charlotte, whoever she is, she must mean a lot to you.'
Charlotte was the location of our data center. Apparently even in my delirium I dream about work.
According to my family and nurses I was shouting "I am a fly! I can fly!" all while trying to reach the ceiling (by piling tables & chairs). That was until they could stop laughing long enough to restrain me (30 years ago things were different). So I just wouldn't put too much thought on these things. I have absolutely no memory of the event.
Every single time I've been put under, I have absolutely zero memory of the event. When I wake up, I cry for about 30 seconds for absolutely no reason, then puke or dry heave. I'm not a cryer, which is so odd to me. I don't put much stake in it, just another oddity.
I lost my grandpa (80+) a year ago to suicide. He had surgery for a minor GI issue, then came some complications, another surgery and then another one. He ended up very weak and couldn't walk properly, but his biggest complaint was that his body just didn't feel right after the surgeries. He'd often say that his GI tract felt as if it had been "disconnected," but also that the anaesthesia did something really bad to his head. He'd complain that he was seeing the world "like on a TV screen," as if he wasn't really sitting on the couch with us, living, but just watching things from a distance. Whatever it was, it made life unbearable for him, and he was gone in a few weeks.
> seeing the world "like on a TV screen," as if he wasn't really sitting on the couch with us, living, but just watching things from a distance
I have this happen at times; I associate it with tiredness.
I've also noticed parts of my mind switch off suddenly when tired — one annoying and unfortunate thing I've inherited from my father is a tendency to get stuck in metal loops about imaginary arguments, sometimes involving people who died a decade ago, and one time this kept me awake… until just suddenly switching off like it was a part of my brain that fell asleep.
My understanding is that different bits of the brain do fall asleep separately than the whole, and that this happens at incresing scope and frequency the longer one has been awake, and knowing this means it wasn't scary to experience such a sudden change of mental state.
I’ve definitely experienced that last part in a short burst here or there. Having it permanently would definitely be catastrophic. I’m sorry this happened to your grandpa, you, and your family. Thank you for sharing.
This is pretty terrifying to me. As someone who messed around a fair bit with altered states in my younger years I can remember feeling very similar to whats described here and being stuck like that is terrifying.
I consider myself a bit of a "psychonaut" and occasional practitioner of meditation.
But I had to cultivate this appreciation. I believe the DR/DP was a manifestation of my self's resistance to a new way to see the world and a new way to relate with my self - or lack thereof.
I stopped resisting, DR/DP went away... easier said than done though, I know. And I'm sure my experience was unique to my own.
There is a big difference between someone who studied computer science and then worked for one year in the field before quitting, and someone who devoted their life to it.
Not to be rude, but it is not possible to know what all other people have experienced. This is but one of many things you can learn from a deep study of mysticism.
Is it impossible to don't afraid of anything?
Or maybe even scarier / more powerful: is it impossible to simulate it, adequately?
You quoted a general statement on the psychotic vs mystic, but when I respond to that generalisation you accuse me of unjustly generalising. According to your statement here, we should also dismiss your quote, since “it is not possible to know what all other people have experienced”, so how can you generalise them?
Im pretty sure everyone, "even here", applies double standards. It's human nature. You fail by your own criteria. Fwiw, I upvoted both generalizations, yours and waterlovers, but want to point out that not all generalizations are equal.
Doesn't this imply that there _is_ some sort of damage caused or something, but younger brains are able to work around it easier? General anesthesia should be avoided unless absolutely necessary imo (particularly egregious is doing it for wisdom teeth).
I have had limited experience of this, helping seniors with computing problems as a volunteer. One of my mentees had double-hip replacement. He definitely wasn't as sharp afterward. In his eighties.
My own cognitive state under anaesthetic, I am told was lucid but entertaining. I was interviewed by a doctor about some research project in wisdom teeth, post operative. It's 30 minutes of my life I have no recollection of, or even awareness. Another time after a colonoscopy I was told I was on a 30 second delay loop, replying well after the normal interval to any question. Slow.
It was the classic double of gastro and colon. Rather than a full general I may have been given what is called twilight. Beyond not having intubation, you still don't recall the procedure and afaik it's the same drugs and brain effects. Also if they do find polyps, and burn, or take biopsy I am told it's not exactly easy. They have to move you around. Asleep or dozing may be simpler. You're inflated.
I ask because I've done colonoscopy a few times (I have IBS plus family history of colon cancer) and not once did I get general anesthesia or anything that impacts my brain. It hurts a bit (mostly from the gaz they use to inflate the colon) and yes taking biopsy is a quick sharp pain but it's really not that bad.
Likewise for endoscopy (that's significantly more uncomfortable than colonoscopy though). At least in Europe and in Japan, general anesthesia is not part of the sop.
I think some inhibitions or blockers fall off, and you kind of run on dream logic. I had some major surgery and my sister was supposed to come in and help out right after it. She came right as they were bringing me back in to the room, and apparently I was commandeering the doctors to give her space and make her a coffee cause "Im a fucking queen, and you will do as I tell you"... I don't remember any of it.
Yes, I wish families understood this more. My father, 70, had no health conditions, then had two completely unrelated medical emergencies within a couple of months, pulmonary embolism and testicular torsion, requiring GA. 3 years later, he’s still not the same person.
My father was in his late seventies when he underwent surgery for back pain. Unfortunately, they discovered that the cause of the pain was that his multiple myeloma had spread and that there was really no turning back. When he woke from surgery he couldn’t remember who his children were. He was a completely different person.
Definitely experienced this with my father, after two cardiac surgery (cardiac ablation), he became much more radicalized. Politically, he went from someone who was left wing closer to the center to being very much anarcho-left wing, repeating that the poors are exploited and getting very angry whenever someone disagreed with his new views. The change was rather startling. He did also experience some cognitive decline (lower working memory), had a hard time reading (he was a voracious reader before that) and experienced wider mood swings.
It was rather scary how much he changed in so little time.
This makes me wonder if there is a relationship between cardiac surgery and personality changes. I remember reading something similar about Lee Holloway[0].
Of course those reddit videos of undying love are sweet. But, people are often very very very inappropriate. It doesn't mean much, it doesn't mean they are unbridled sexist pigs, or heading there. Post-operative recovery Nurses have good stories.
That said, older people come out of Anaesthesia a bit differently. I am told by anaesthesiologists, that older people don't always come back the same even 6 months later. If you're old you need to be prepared for this, and it can acellerate decline in cognitive function (so I am told. I am not a health professional)