K-hole

10 ml of ketamine solution crystallizing

"K-hole" is a slang term for the subjective state of dissociation from the body commonly experienced after sufficiently high doses of the dissociative anesthetic ketamine (75-125 mg IM). This state may mimic the phenomenology of catatonic schizophrenia,^[1] out-of-body experiences (OBEs) or near-death experiences (NDEs),^[2] and is often accompanied by feelings of extreme derealization, depersonalization and disorientation, as well as temporary memory loss and vivid hallucinations.

Ketamine and its subjective effects were related by Timothy Leary to the eighth and final circuit of his eight-circuit model of consciousness, along with DMT and high doses of LSD (1,000+ µg).

Description

Experience of the K-hole is, like many psychedelic experiences, highly subjective, and ketamine's effects may vary greatly between individuals. Often set and setting, the use of other drugs (prescribed or otherwise), as well as the user's physiology, psychology, personality and brain chemistry are among many defining factors which may affect an individual's personal experience of the K-hole, as well as other altered states of consciousness in general.

Impressions of the K-hole often include profound distortions in or complete loss of bodily awareness, sensations of floating or falling, euphoria, and total loss of time perception. Users may experience worlds or dimensions that are indescribable, all the while being completely unaware of or having lost their individual identities or their sense of an extant and external world.^[3]

See also

• Recreational use of ketamine
• Eight-circuit model of consciousness

References

• Curran HV, Monaghan L. (May 2001). "In and out of the K-hole: a comparison of the acute and residual effects of ketamine in frequent and infrequent ketamine users". Addiction 96 (5): 749–760. doi:10.1080/09652140020039116. PMID 11331033.