I see too many people worrying and posting things about "do I have HPPD", or "getting visuals sober, do I have HPPD" etc.

Sometimes, if I concentrate hard enough, I see patterns in surfaces that I'd see while tripping. Why does this happen? My guess would be because LSD activates the serotonin receptors - used in your brain for pattern recognition - you see patterns you hadn't seen before. After a trip your brain has kind of "learned" these patterns so you can consciously or subconscious recall what you saw resulting in "visuals" for some time after a trip.

Some people can relate, some people may have no idea what I'm talking about.

I did a survey a few months ago and 100 people said they get slight "visuals" for some time after a trip, and about 100 people said they don't. Seems pretty 50/50 and its probably to do with different people's perception.

Based on what I've seen here, in real life, from this survey I don't think this is said enough: it's fairly normal to experience "trip-like" experiences such as visuals after taking LSD for some time. The problem is this isn't talked about or known enough and when people do mention these effects there's a huge stigma around it and everyone assumes they're in shit when it happens.

Talk to Frank, an anti-drug campaign says "ongoing visual distortions, can occasionally happen, often causing great distress". If you researched this drug before trying it you'd worry about this happening, so when it does which us often the case you'd freak out simply because the site effectively told you to.

Proper trauma caused by a trip which gets in the way of day-to-day life is very different. Psychotic episodes inflicted by a trip is very different again. These are more uncommon and much more serious problems which I don't mean to demean. But these post trip visuals are far from either. Let's be honest, it probably only bothers people if they worry it's something more serious.

TL;DR - It's fairly normal and common to get slight post trip visuals and it's probably nothing to worry about and will get better over time. Let's make this more known so people won't freak out when it happens.

As always, stay safe and please trip responsibly. ✌👽