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[Bad Trip Subthread] How to handle or prevent a bad trip

^^^
benzos are also capable of causing an acute depressive state which would REALLY fuck you in the head on a psychedelic, its really screwed with me even sober.

So i would be correct in saying that we do need a bad trip document for BL, i thought we would need a more specialized one, So what i will do is start contacting people for some input, perhaps i will do some research and come up with an ouline first for a loose guideline of what should be in it. Anyone who wants to contribute contact me, it should be fairly easy i post my user names for messenger services all over the place and at the bottom of this post. I have yahoo and msn as well.


drugs are good to have around but the real help i think is usually other people in some cases, someone you love just holding you making physical contact (sometiems that makes it worse however), but in the end the best thing is if your prepared, you know all of the possibilies, IE your not going to melt your spine, your not going to end up tripping for years on end, and if you can calm yourself and accept what happens youll be ok.



aim mrsteveman1
yahoo mstman1
msn [email protected]
email ^
bluelight PM works fine too
 
In case of a bad trip..
What to do in case of a 'Bad Trip'
a bad trip occurs when the lovely, nice, glowy effects of a drug turn into nasty, paranoid, and horrible scariness

bad trips happen for a reason, usually one of the following:


adverse environment influences noise, strangers etc preying on the vulnerable, tripping mind
attempt to mentally resist the effect of the drug because you are scared or you can't relax
the surfacing of difficult and uncomfortable unconscious material or memories
the amplification of issues or problems between tripping people
a larger dose than you have experienced before
Even experienced users can have bad-trips, although experience makes you less vulnerable.

Clearly the best way to avoid a bad trip is not to take a drug at all.

signs of a bad trip
They start small and can snowball into anxiety, fear, paranoia, and paralysis. People experiencing a bad trip may appear withdrawn and silent or , visibly upset, scared or wild. They may curl up into foetal position.

You may feel like you are going insane, or losing control or dying. You may get caught in circular thoughts, like a hall of mirrors. The anxiety may trigger breathlessness or even a full-blown panic attack.

any drug
Any drug can bring on a bad trip - even E, even alcohol (never got home, drunk, and cried?).

The more powerful psychedelic drugs (LSD, magic mushrooms, ketamine) are most likely to cause a bad trip, but 'lesser' mind drugs such as amphetamines, cannabis, and cocaine can all induce paranoia and weirdness.

preparation
You can reduce the chance of a bad trip by ensuring you are in a safe comfortable environment with someone you trust. Read up on the drug you are taking.

Be informed and be careful. Measure the dosage accurately and when trying a new drug or a new supply always start low to guage its strength.

bad trips: what to do
The most important thing to remember in the midst of a bad trip is not to panic. Bad trips can be diverted, lessened, and stopped by certain careful techniques.

if you are having a bad trip

change the music to something light and familiar
change the location go outside, into another room, or find a quiet, non-threatening environment
talk to a friend someone you are close to who you can trust
concentrate on your breathing a bad trip can be worsened if you try to resist it. Instead divert your mind by counting your breaths in and out.
the drug will not harm you repeat to yourself the phrase 'I am immortal'. Your anxiety is purely an effect of the drug and will pass. You will be okay.
and if someone else is having a bad trip

change something - the location, music, lighting. do not force anyone to move if they do not want to. Gently coax, invite or encourage instead
reassure them they have taken a drug, the trip will end, and they will be okay>
tell them the time with their sense of time distorted, bad trippers often feel caught in eternity. Give them a schedule for when they will feel better
relaxing and breathing the fear is often heightened by the tensing and trying to resist. Letting go will make them feel better. Breathing will relax them and give them something to focus on
don't leave them alone but don't crowd them either

Got it from ez test website - probably for most of you is basic, but maybe not all.
 
I think the best advice for people is to just change the setting. You might have to change the music, the place your at, maybe even the people your with. Somehow every time I change the setting, I somehow manage to get out of a bad trip without even trying to get out of it. Because when you sit there and fight it by trying to makeyourself come out of it, you just make matters worse. LSD has a way of expanding the crap out of your mind!!
 
ojlesio said:
and if someone else is having a bad trip

change something - the location, music, lighting. do not force anyone to move if they do not want to. Gently coax, invite or encourage instead
reassure them they have taken a drug, the trip will end, and they will be okay>
tell them the time with their sense of time distorted, bad trippers often feel caught in eternity. Give them a schedule for when they will feel better
relaxing and breathing the fear is often heightened by the tensing and trying to resist. Letting go will make them feel better. Breathing will relax them and give them something to focus on
don't leave them alone but don't crowd them either

Got it from ez test website - probably for most of you is basic, but maybe not all.
Click to expand...

Your right, but I've found that not even talking to them about tripping is the best way to go. Talk to them about other things, things that are happy, like a girl they might like, their hobbies, put in a CD they might like. I kno when a friend is there talking to me about other things, it makes me feel good to have friends like that just knowing that their trying to help you by talking about other things. That right there just puts me in a happy mood. I think having other friends who are tripping with you is a must!!
 
the best thing that gets rid of a bad trip is to strip your cloths off and run around screaming through your neighbors yard
 
If this accumulates a wealth of helpful advice (unlike the previous post), i would suggest making it sticky.

I've been in situations which would've been infinitely assisted if something like this were easily found.

The best advice i can think of is:

a) don't do anything
b) it's only a drug, so just wait it out
 
Its only good to let the drug take hold, you are going to be like this for just some hours and its gonna be a great experience if you let it bring you where it wants to bring you. Make sure you have a good place to chill out at, switch atmospheres if you start feeling uncomfy. Always good to have a sitter thats good with it.
 
"a) don't do anything
b) it's only a drug, so just wait it out"

this is how i feel as well. however, i do understand it is hard for others.

but lets remember, like someone (or two) said above:

Bad Trips Can Be Good Trips.

Psychedelic drugs, in my opinion, are far more than mere pleasure drugs. I have a friend that doesn't seem to like coming down, because the drug is wearing off. What does this mean, or point to?

It points to his fundamental world view, and ultimately his inability to recognize that things go away, and this is what life is.

That is not to say anything about his character or his personality, both of which are great, he's a good person. But having such feelings should make you see that maybe something is amiss with your perspective, and something needs can be reconsidered. This is why I take the substances in the first place--to open to what I haven't thought of.

Jung and psychedelic figure-heads like Ann Shulgin and Stan Grof talk about embracing the shadow, this darker side. When it comes out because of a psychedelic, it is important to realize the nature of this experience-you aren't just not feeling good, its something much more, deeper and more personal.

And I think its funny that bad trips only occur because so many people have the conception of a 'bad trip' stuck in their brains, and that drugs are bad, etc. Before 'bad trips' there weren't many bad trips, just learning experiences.
 
bad trips don't exist...just difficult experiences. every trip is "good" in that there is something to be discovered

in my earlier experiences i would bring along with me a small token that had a special significance to me and if you ever feel like you are losing it (your ego, your mind, reality) your special object would be the link back to reality

changing setting. go for walk, switch music, etc.

focus your energy into something. meditation, breathing, writing, drawing, looking at some interesting art

i'm not a vocal person so i don't know about this, but for some talking with a friend would probably help

go with the flow, lose control let the spirit guide you, realize the kind of things that are meaningless in the overall scheme of things.
 
Breakbeat_Child said:
I think the best advice for people is to just change the setting. You might have to change the music, the place your at, maybe even the people your with. Somehow every time I change the setting, I somehow manage to get out of a bad trip without even trying to get out of it. Because when you sit there and fight it by trying to makeyourself come out of it, you just make matters worse. LSD has a way of expanding the crap out of your mind!!
Click to expand...

that is correct! if you fight it, or the be exact if you try to fight it and add unexperience to that fight you will for shure loose, and than it will turn over you in ways you can't imagine. LSD is especially hard to control substance, and what I have learned from years and years playing with it - do NOT fight it, just go with the flow. Imagine LSD as a big wave and yourself as a surfer...you just have to roll on it and have fun.

One thing that tricks unexperienced LSD users especially on higher doses is their expectations of fear. By this I mean that people are pre-afraid of halucinations, therefore setting their minds into great base for a bad trip. What people should know that the halucinations aren't the ones you should be afraid of and the ones you should pay attention to...the thing that will get you fucked up are you thoughts...high doses of lsd literaly create tornado of thoughts in you head and that is the thing that gets you into "crazy" state, the thing that makes you do crazy stuff, act crazy and behave crazy...your thoughts...

so...just relax and ride that wave...
 
My problems began when i wasn't even aware of being depressed. Suddenly what i enjoyed countlessly as enhancement of life became an delusional escape from life trip, which are traumatic to say the least.

No matter how experienced with psychadelics one is, unfavourable changes in one's life cross with a sudden seemingly threatening situation while under the influence can easily alter the mood of subsequent trips, which increase in severity each time.

My point being, a bad trip guide would be an invaluable resource in the safe shell of bluelight. Potentially antagonising posts should be removed. No matter how silly or ridiculous the suggestion, a fragile mind can be convinced of anything.

more advice

c) You can stop it with very high concentration. STRONGLY Focus on something simple and familiar.

This worked the last time my trip took a downward turn, but left me with a headache.
 
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c) You can stop it with very high concentration. STRONGLY Focus on something simple and familiar.

This worked the last time my trip took a downward turn, but left me with a headache.
Click to expand...

I'll bet it was a tension head ache, i.e. the strong focusing generated muscular tension.

a) don't do anything
b) it's only a drug, so just wait it out
Click to expand...

This is true. But I think its more a matter of conceptually understanding on a deep level that 1) you don't really need to do anything at the present moment, and therefore 2) at the present moment you can let your mind go.

It sounds like the reason you needed to strongly focus in your case above was because of a part of you that felt it needed to do something. If you take the time (while not tripping) to learn some relaxation techniques, such as simple yoga, breathing, etc., you might find ways to focus your energy while you are tripping that doesn't generate as much tension.

Or you can simply ask your self "Why do I have all this energy that needs to focus? What for?" And realize that you don't need to do or even be anything.
 
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any ideas of what to do in the case of someone experiences serious depersonalization/loss of self? in my experience this is what causes the truly bad trips where people have to be restrained.

when people who aren't ready or don't know what to expect start not recognizing their friends and forgetting who they are they can really start to panic
 
We're going to be making an actual guide for bl but this thread will be looked over and parts of it used since i know people are going to post good info here. We are going to avoid the "bad post" problem by simply taking the relevant info from here and adding it to the sections written by others working on the guide.


Ways one can prepare themself and tools one can use on their own, can be the most powerfull ally in this case is knowledge, knowing what could happen is a very powerful tool. As well there are a number of things one can do to influence their mindset and the direction they are being taken in the trip.

The problem with that is if one experiences total loss of self you wont have any of that to help you. As far as i know memories such as that dont remain, but i am not sure because all of the incredibly intense trips ive had that were capable of doing this, didnt seem to.
 
I'll contribute as soon as I gather my thoughts. I've definitely evolved personally from having many difficult/bad trips to being able to avoid them easily.
 
i keep hearing about these bad trips..but have yet to have one? maybe my set is just perma right? i have no idea..i almost want to have one, just to see what its like.
 
I would say a bad trip is when you are so entirely fucked up that you don't even know you took a drug, you don't what who/what/where you are, and there is no purpose to the mindset. These drugs are not our friends. They're just chemicals. They do what they do. They have no "intentions". Sometimes what they do is neither ecstatic, spiritual, insightful, or anything. Sometimes they just fuck us up, causing a psychotic episode or schizophrenia-like symtoms. That is a bad trip - not because you were nessesarily panicy or worried or scared - but because you realize it was all so pointless and you were a fool for believing it.
 
^^That's how I felt about salvia the first time I did it. It was a very bad trip, in that fear was the predominating emotion, and there was no sense of, "oh, I just took a drug." But in retrospect it is quite amazing to think about. I've done salvia since, but have never crossed the threshold quite like I did my first time.
 
i dont know whats more bad. the fact that it dosent have one, the fact your making a thread about it or the fact that i replying a post to you thread about it
 
A trip is all about how you're able to deal with it personally. I've had several hellishly intense and terrifying trips that I wished would end and that during, I often thought to myself "why did I put myself through this again??" But in the end, in each case I realized that I learned something about myself, whether it was the way that I talk to myself inside or the experience of no longer being me. If you're able to look into yourself and realize that you've experienced something worthwhile, then I think the term "bad trip" is misleading, because ultimately, it was useful.

However, some people truly have had bad trips which have left lasting, scarring impressions on them. From what I can tell, this usually happens when someone takes a psychedelic drug not knowing the depths that they can travel to and not expecting or wanting that kind of experience. Then, when their ego is brutally destroyed and they find out that their ego and entire life is an illusion, they reject the idea completely, leading to confusion, terror, and so forth. The difference is that after they come down, instead of thinking that they're glad they had the experience and seeing existence in a new way, they deny and suppress it. But meanwhile, they're torn, because the experience they had seemed so real. So bam! they're stuck in an existential crisis when all they wanted was to get fucked up and party.
 
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