Avoiding Bad Trips with Other First Timers

[Iliketoswim]

I've been looking around the forums and just can't find one that matches my situation quite exactly so here it goes. The past few weeks acid and shrooms have been hitting my town with an unlimited supply for the most part. I've had 3 acid trips, 2 of which were very intense, and 1 shroom trip on an eighth the past month I would say. On both of my strong acid trips, I've come across high highs and LOW lows. My first acid trip off two tabs I convinced myself that I was a failure in life and was going to have to spend the rest of my days in a mental hospital. That thought only lasted 5 minutes probably but it really stuck with me. Then on the other trip I had the most amazing night, all good for the entire trip until the effects finally started wearing off and I started thinking about my social status and situation. It took me about 2 seconds to think about it and then I started having suicidal thoughts (fuck!). Ruined my night. The next day I came to terms that all of it is bullshit. I'm worried that next time I might take a trip and never come back. It's fucking scary, I could really take a trip one time and just never be the same, realize something that will totally fuck me in the head for the rest of my life. I plan on tripping next month off 3 tabs (strongest dose ive ever experienced) with two close friends who are first timers but REALLY want to trip with me. What advice can you give to me so that I can continue having beautiful trips that have positive effects on my thoughts and worldview? I really LOVE acid and how peaceful it's made me, I feel like a little kid again! Also, I love the kids who are gonna trip with me, and I'd hate to see them have a bad trip. HOW CAN WE ALL AVOID THESE HORRIBLE THOUGHTS AND REALIZATIONS THAT POP INTO OUR MINDS ON LSD SO WE CAN ALL CONTINUE TO ENJOY ACID?

 

[.:Holy::Toast:.]

It sounds like you have some issues you need to work out before you take psychedelics again.
If you cannot stop these thoughts from manifesting maybe it's time to take a look at where these thoughts may be coming from, they aren't something that psychedelics will just put in your head

 

[Crashing]

You have to remember tripping is all mental, mind manifesting, and in many cases should be regarded as a spiritual tool rather than a drug. Sometimes the initial effects have to wear off a bit for the real trip to begin, that is a period of deep thought, realization and reintegration.

If things get weird, i tend to find ambient, bassy music to be very grounding. As well as humming or playing low notes on an instrument and just becoming completely consumed with the tones.

 

[atara]

It sounds like you have some issues you need to work out before you take psychedelics again.
If you cannot stop these thoughts from manifesting maybe it's time to take a look at where these thoughts may be coming from, they aren't something that psychedelics will just put in your head

^^this. Most people don't become suicidal on LSD. In fact, most people don't become seriously suicidal at all. It often relates to some hidden dislike of some people around you, your family, etc. You've gotta learn to let that shit go.

My first acid trip off two tabs I convinced myself that I was a failure in life and was going to have to spend the rest of my days in a mental hospital.

Maybe you need to learn a little more about the effects? The thing is, you have to both accept that you can't control the trip and realize that it's just a trip. A lot of people fall into the trap of thinking that because they believed something while they were tripping they have to still believe it. Not so. You can believe something for five minutes and let go of it. It's natural. LSD -will- cause you to lose control of your train of thought, but you'll be okay unless you expose yourself to the wrong mindset or the wrong situation or the wrong person. You're going to feel fear, just leave it alone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI [1]

I plan on tripping next month off 3 tabs (strongest dose ive ever experienced) with two close friends who are first timers but REALLY want to trip with me.

I wouldn't take so much. It will, praise Buddha, still feel as new as the first time, as long as you've let time in between. There's no reason to keep dialing up the numbers just to impress yourself.

Suggestion: keep talking. Play nice.

[1]: the unfortunate thing about DFW is that even in this speech where he warns people about focusing on the negatives all the time, he still talks about the negatives all the time. Listen to David Foster Wallace, but don't try to be David Foster Wallace. For example, your thread is asking one question, but this other thread is asking a similar question, but look at the phrasing!

 

[myr]

I wouldn't recommend sitting two first timers on 3 tabs. If by any chance it goes south with either of them you will be in trouble handling it. Not being able to do so could throw you into a bad trip easily.

 

[perpetualdawn]

As others have mentioned, it's a good idea to use lower doses.

Psychedelics can be understood generally as being mind-amplifiers. As in, everything that goes on in your mind gets turned up. That's why colours become richer, sound becomes more vivid etc. If you turn the amplifier up high enough you start getting feedback, just like with a guitar or mic too close to the speaker. A bit of feedback can be really interesting because it reveals some characteristics of the underlying apparatus or structure that makes our mind, but it can also become confusing. The idea of amplification applies to the emotions that come up, thoughts, memories, everything. There are some nuances to it all which are the reason that different PD drugs have different subjective effects, but that is a good overall model for psychedelics work. Keeping this model in mind helps make sense of the strange effects that occur when you are actually tripping, and can help you understand what's going on when someone else is having a rough time.

One way to deal with the obtrusive thoughts is to logically investigate them. So for instance, if you start to become obsessed with the idea that you're going to end up in a mental hospital, ask yourself why that would be, and if you would like to go there, and if not then what can you do to make sure you don't etc.. I find that whenever something weird like that comes up in my mind, that I just have to start asking myself questions about it, and it becomes apparent that I'm the one in control and that I get to decide what to do with my life. Surprisingly, logical thought is quite easy to perform on LSD once you decide to do it. Anyways, that's one way to navigate that I find works... people have different ways of dealing.

 

[Modelogy]

perpetualdawn, great thinking. Understanding relieving truth behind illusion of bad world/life/whatever is possible through realization, revelation through logic. Like "wait... hm? is it true? what is this based on?" And then comes like sun thru black clouds :D

Also giving up is good way out. Which actually isn't way out, since you must agree to stay in this hell forever... But if you accept it, and that is not that difficult, because desensitization helps you and also because the ground truth is: Whatever happens, happens. Let it be. All is as God wills it. (no, i'm atheist) This is the source of acceptance and agreement. And then all the burden falls of. Psychedelics are great at that moment.

 

[#Intothemdrugs]

If I were you I would make sure that the acid is real LSD and not nbomes. If its bitter and numbs your mouth out, its probably nbomes. My town had no LSD for a long time then all of a sudden this super powerful "acid" popped up. Was 25i. Thankfully no one died, but it was scary that people believed it was real and treated it like LSD. That being said, perma trips are very rare and even in high doses don't usually happen. You have to remember its all the drug doing this to you, and tell your friends that are trip. Also keep some xanax or benadryl around if someone starts to go into a bad trip. I also get negative thoughts on psychedelics, but i have depression so its normal for me. I find when I go hard in psychs (like once a week trips) it kills my overall mood and makes me depressed from serotonin down regulation. Maybe limiting your trips to once every 3 weeks or every month might help. If ur friends haven't tripped, don't give em 3 tabs. Give em one, maybe two, and if u drop take 1 or 2 or get a trip sitter. Your going to be seen by them as the expert, the responsible one, and as such it may help to keep your wits about you. At least that's how it is with me wjen I drop with newbs

 

[St3ve]

I'd assume the OP knows better than to give his first timer friend three blotters after the experiences he's had on lower doses. What I've noticed with regard to psychedelics is that taking them together with friends in a sense makes the experience less intense. Having people to talk to and share what you are experiencing distracts you from getting completely lost in your own mind. First time I took acid was with two of my closest friends at the time. At times where I felt a bit anxious about what was happening to me, just telling them that was enough to completely take that feeling away. I'd say it's less likely you'll have a bad experience if there are others, especially ones you are close to, are around you. I'd advice for all of you to take the same dose as well as this creates more of a "togetherness" during the experience.

While it's impossible to completely control a trip, with experience (especially negative experiences) you can learn to steer the trip in a different direction. LSD and other psychedelics tend to have an impairing effect on short term memory. You can use this to your advantage, if you go about it correctly. For me, as soon as I recognize that I am having scary/paranoid/negative thoughts I try to distract myself by shifting my attention to something else (the sooner you do this, the easier it is). It can be as simple as looking at something else or getting up and walking around a bit. It can also be something a bit more drastic like changing the music, going to a different room or going outside. Because of the loss of short term memory it's quite easy to become completely engrossed in something else. Going outside whilst tripping tends to be more fun with friends, preferably going to a nice park at night (so there's less/no sober people to worry about). Walking around and talking about whatever can be a great way to really explore your trip.

If that is not enough to take your mind of things you can also try switching the emotional content of your thoughts to very neutral things. When in a negative mindspace, thinking positive doesn't really work, your tripping mind will instantly convert happy thoughts into bad thoughts. Neutral thoughts bring out neutral emotions. A simple way of achieving this is by describing the things around you to yourself (as in: "that's the table, it's got four legs, oh look there's stars dancing on it's surface, the stars are green and dance around in circular motions, there's my poster of the beatles and there's my friend staring at his hands, he must be having a good time. There's the door and if I open it I can go to the kitchen, etc."). You'll find that this can effectively calm you down quite quickly. Once you feel confident again you can start having fun again!

Alternatively, you can take the harder route and delve into the negative thoughts full on. Investigating them for what they are and questioning why you'd think that/feel that way about whatever it is. This can evenutally bring you to some pretty bad places, but acid doesn't last forever and the effects will wear off. Once you do come out of the trip you'll be glad you went through it. I find it harder to do this if there are other people around as they'll distract your train of thought.

In case on of your friends starts freaking out, it's important to take care of them as soon as possible. Ask them what's going on, if they'd like the music on/off/changed, some water or food, etc. Just showing that you are there for them and everything is ok is usually enough to pull them out of the bad space again.

Eventualy, the best way to go about it is to convince yourself you'll all have a wonderful time and no one is going to have a bad trip. If you are not afraid of the bad trip it will never happen!

Have fun dude!

 

[Kl519]

If you're particularly new to lsd, then you have to accept that you can't predict whether you'll have your insecurities, worries, secrets and bad memories come out or not. But fortunately, there are some ways to get out of it.

First, you have to remember that it's the drug making you think like that and it's one of its effects. Every single person has all of the above; nobody is perfect and everyone will have doubts time to time. But instead of drowning in it, spin it in a way where you get something positive out of it; think of it as a way to harbor some humility, or that they are just challenges you must overcome. I believe that every negative thought arises because we are trying to get to good place as a result from that. So if possible, try to latch on to the potential of yourself as a person and accept that everyone has their own ups and downs.

Second, try to be active physically (very lightly though, that alone will trip you out) or with your mind. Have music on, talk, watch tv or a movie, take a walk if there aren't many people out, or whatever you and your friends may do that doesn't consist of anything dangerous, over exerting, or too difficult while in that tripping state. For example, my friend has a ping pong table (aka table tennis) and we have a lot of fun trying to play that while on acid. It ends up being hilarious for all of us.

Third, try to trip when you feel well physically and mentally. This works best when you don't have many things to worry about, and you've done the things you needed to do. I've always had a good trip when I timed it like that, in fact those were some of my best and most positive lsd trips ever.

All the tips from other posters are great too. There are many different ways to handle a bad trip (try to remember that too), so find out what works for you by experimenting.

 

[snagglepuss]

Great posts...interesting reading...what has been said is absolutly true.Mind manifestation.A mind free
of any major worries,and getting excited about the experience.That thought of
fear before the drop,should be forgotten ,pushed aside ,or made as small as possible.

I had a trip a few years ago that was great all the way through.At some point i sat
their and thought.I feel great i wondered if neg thoughts would affect things.As i thought
of neg stuff ,i started to feel anxiety ,doom ,like a totally diff direction shift .I stopped
and thought "OK thats enough"!!!.Changed the subject ..thought a different subject or something
positive.And boom i went right back to feeling great again.Like the poster says above.Theres
def a control function at some points of the trip to steer it in a direction.It may be
different for each person.If your caught in a thought loop of unhappiness..and "realize" it at the time
try thinking of something different