Life of a medical student

New Years!

Life as a medical student part 5: January 2018

Current activity: Basking in the afterglow of an amazing new year's trance festival

Pro: Life is so good right now.

Con: Honestly cannot think of one – even my aching limbs (an aftermath of vigorous dancing) feels like a welcomed reminder.

Music track: "Chakra" by W&W x Vini Vici

I cannot comprehend that it is finally 2018 and what a fabulous start to party into the New Year. Now for the common individual the idea of a trance festival can seem quiet daunting – but to be honest you are missing out. I cannot begin to describe the amount of fun it contains. Let me set the scene: in the heart of the forest in which one must travel far and wide is a wonder that is unparalleled to anything else in the world. Comrades unite for a journey that lasts a mere two to three days and nights. All adorned in hippie attire; be it tie-dye, elvenware, nude or a creative concoction of their own daring minds. Multiple stages with backdrops coated in rainbows of psychedelic artwork that dance in waves when illuminated in the night sky. Tents pitched on every available piece of land dispersed between the forest trees. Swimming pools (a perk of the festival being held in a resort) and a natural river flowing by. An air of excitement dominates as the hidden portion of heaven starts filling up.

Now this all sounds majestic (and it is) but I'm going to flat out honest with you. If you open your eyes and look around – you see drugs. A fuck load of drugs. All sorts too: mushrooms, MDMA, LSD, ecstasy, weed, acid, cocaine, etc. It pretty fascinating. An odd description? It may come across as such but from a purely medical and observatory perspective it is very fascinating. I have had the privilege of perceiving first-hand the effects of most of these drugs which we do not get educated on in class – which is kind of stupid. You cannot turn a blind eye and act as if people don't do drugs. Patients lie (Watch House people! It explains it all). They will lie to you. They will lie to their families. They will even lie to themselves. So if a patient presents with bizarre symptoms I think it would be beneficial to be aware of recreational drug side effects and also have the ability to detect if said patient consumed an assortment of drugs (such as LSD or acid combined with MDMA or ecstasy also known as a Candy Flip). Me being the curious being that I am asked an experienced friend (haha that's putting it nicely) to educate me on these things. For medicine and science of course.

Again, I do not claim to be an expert on the subject, but from what I understood: (1) MDMA (a.k.a. Molly) is a common drug that can be found in crystal or powder form. Its duration of effects lasts between four to eight hours. A patient, whoops I mean an individual, on this drug experiences an intense feeling of love and affection. You would often find an intoxicated individual dancing with everyone and being physically affectionate or touchy. Presentation includes scleral jaundice (in large doses), dilated pupils and often bleeding lips (they usually chew their lips and inner cheeks during their high). The side effects can be divided into short and long term. Short term side effects: the individual becomes a "yes man" thus it is a gateway drug and is also physically tired once the drug effects wear off. Long term side effects: the individual experiences an overall decrease in happiness and is emotionally unstable for two weeks after drug use.

(2) Mushrooms come in two forms: hearts or pistils and different strains are available. Duration of action is eight to twelve hours. This is a visual psychedelic drug (colours appear vibrant) and the general visual and physical effects are based on the individuals mental space of mind at the time (e.g. an individual in a good space will have a good trip and be laughing while an individual having a bad trip you will see sitting quietly overthinking things). The down effects after this substance use include feeling tired, the munchies and diarrhoea.

(3) Poppers. This comes in liquid form in a brown bottle and oddly enough is freely available to purchase at any pharmacy (what the hell?). Poppers gives the individual a 10 second high (you see people sniffing from a brown bottle on the dance floor quiet often), is a sexual enhancer and causes visual hallucinations.

(4) Weed is a well-known and used one in every setting; not just trance festivals. Two strains exist: Indica, which has medical uses, and Sativa. From my observation people react differently to weed. Some sit in a vegetative state, some are mellowed out and happy while others seem anxious and paranoid. Cannabis use is also linked to psychotic episodes as seen in mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia.

(5) Cocaine is an expensive drug that comes as a powder or rock and is usually sniffed. The effects include appetite suppressant and energy enhancer (you don't sleep while on cocaine; hence it being used stressful and demanding professions in such as professional dancers, CEOs of companies, waiters, etc.). Presentation comprises of bleeding lips (chewing lips and inner cheeks), grinding teeth and constant movement such as head bobbing as the individual is unable to sit still. Possible side effects are induced seizures, erectile dysfunction, epistaxis (nosebleed) and aggression. Long term side effect is addiction. The danger with cocaine is that many dealers mix it with other substances such as mandrax or baking soda to increase the quantity. This makes the drug weaker and the side effects much worse.

This crash course is not from personal experience. Only from a friend's experience, perspective and opinion. I am sure everyone has their own take on this subject. Now I am inclined to clairfy this is NOT an attempt to promote substance use but instead to be aware of individuals on substances. Try it out when you go to a club or festival and observe the people around you – try guess who is on what. It's kind of cool. Now in the trance festival setting the majority (nearly all) the people attending are on some sort of substance or psychedelic. I, on the other hand, am high from the music alone. Psychedelic trance music is insane! Like amazingly insane! I could (and have) danced for thirteen hours straight at the trance stage. Usually the festivals also have a techno stage that has a four hour techno ultimate phase starting at one in the morning. Techno is pretty hardcore and you dance quiet aggressively to it. The oddest thing happened to me at one spring trance festival. I was dancing at the techno stage making friends/ dancing with strangers when this guy tried hitting on me. Weird? Na that's not it. People try getting laid or meeting significant others everywhere. The weird part was that he started trying to grind with me to techno. Like hello! I am trying to techno here – body gyrating erratically, head banging and WOO-screaming. You cannot grind to techno. It was the weirdest thing and I honestly felt like yelling at him "Dude! You're like killing my vibe here. Let me techno!"

As a non-drug user I can tell you my take on the effects of certain drugs. Especially in terms of meeting individuals of the opposite sex. It is such a turn off! Like I don't mind who does drugs. That doesn't faze me but when I find an attractive or interesting guy it just kills it. Once I was vibe-ing with this cute guy on the Sunday Funkday stage and we were chatting/ dancing. We went to check out the Drum 'n Bass stage but I wasn't really feeling it and decided to head back to the trance stage saying that I'd catch up with him later. He grabbed my arm suddenly and whined, "Please don't leave me! Im on MDMA and don't know where my friends are." Bye-bye any sort of attraction that may have been there. I was just thinking, "Oh my goodness I am not here to be a babysitter." At another festival I saw the HOTTEST Israeli man I have ever seen. Dark hair, blue eyes...post-army body. The works. But alas he did not see me as he was tripping on acid.

Most of my experiences at festivals are funny stories and good times. The people at trance festivals are amazing and friendly. They are there for the fun and the moment which I feel like we should all do more often. What an incredible start to the New Year.

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