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Psychedelics and depression

SensiblyReckless

SensiblyReckless

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 15, 2013
Messages
60
Hey guys.

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience using psychedelics when they have depression, and did it help you work through issues or did it result in a bad trip?

I tripped on shrooms about a year ago. The trip wasn't what I'd call bad, but it was a difficult and very introspective trip.

In the trip things seemed to be highlighted, things that I needed to change in my life. Long story short - I ended up changing those things and as a result I'm now happier.

Anyone ever had similar trips? I'd just really love to hear some similar stories of psychedelics helping people with depression as I'm thinking about getting some 1P-LSD for an introspective night alone.

My interest here is of a medicinal nature, rather than tripping balls for recreation.
 
tripping balls is no recreation. Tripping has always been used by me for clarity and cleansing. I "wash" myself with acid from time to time.

Overall Acid helped me become a positive, happy person because it showed me that I am in control of my reality. I used to be dark n depressed before LSD.
DXM gave me an appreciation for emotions I lost during my times with opiates and benzos.
DMT showed me that no matter what I will be happy in the end(death) so never to fear it. I welcome death and destiny now.

I'm actually doing acid and DXM on saturday. A trip has been long over-due for me.
 
Psychedelics helped me recover from depression (and an eating disorder). Ever since I started tripping (around two years ago) I've felt much better emotionally. Of course this depends on the person, but I think if you genuinely want to get better then psychedelics can help a lot.
 
I've found psychedelics very beneficial for depression. When taking it for addressing issues that are causing depression it's not always a smooth ride, but it's always worked out for the better in the end. Occasional recreational trips are also fantastic for dealing with ennui.
 
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

PotatoMan - I agree 100% and don't see psychedelics as recreational drugs. I really like the term "wash yourself with acid".

hypnagogic - your post really speaks to me. I used the shrooms to address issues that were causing the depression. And boy did it address them. Emotionally it was very difficult to face these issues but afterwards I felt clarity and knew exactly what I needed to change in my life.

I feel it's time I cleansed myself again as issues in my life are causing significant depression (and I certainly won't touch SSRIs ever again due to horrible side effects and being about as useful as a sugar pill).

Reading these positive stories has really helped me guys, so thank you.

I'll be doing some soul searching this weekend. I know it's going to be a difficult trip, but I feel that I need it right now.
 
I am a 'high functioning' clinically depressed individual according to one specialist and my ex GP - in that I keep to myself, generally don't trust people, prefer the company of animals and overly fixate on what I am interested in. Yeah that's true.

The use of mushrooms (I am sure the abuse of mushrooms most non drug users would say) allows me to see that there is still beauty and novelty in the world. That feeling of peace and contentment generally lasts for a few weeks, which probably explains my tripping schedule of every 2-3 weeks.

Crawling back inside one's own mind and exploring is how I explain it to non judgemental non drug users.

Tom
 
I think psychedelics in general can be very helpful in that respect (dealing with depression), they can give you a different outlook on things, or allow you to make changes in yourself. But, I'd also mention a couple of things...

First, you should be prepared in having the darkest sides reflected to you during your trip, and that can be hard to deal with, or to accept. i'd really consider the possibility before taking anything.

Second, while I feel psychedelics can do a lot of good, there is also the possibility they can make you worse. For example, if your motives are to find a quick fix to your problems, then you're probably not going to come out of the experience better for it. My advice is to keep your dose small and to try and have a companion (preferably sober) to 'group' you. I've had trips where I was damn glad I wasn't alone.

Finally, if something does go wrong, I think it helps to remember that a 'bad' experience is only bad if your outlook on it is bad. For example, a bad experience first seen as needless suffering can take a new form if your outlook on it changes. You can see it as something you went through and conquered, making you stronger for it.

Hope it helps.
 
Sophere said:
I think psychedelics in general can be very helpful in that respect (dealing with depression), they can give you a different outlook on things, or allow you to make changes in yourself. But, I'd also mention a couple of things...

First, you should be prepared in having the darkest sides reflected to you during your trip, and that can be hard to deal with, or to accept. i'd really consider the possibility before taking anything.

Second, while I feel psychedelics can do a lot of good, there is also the possibility they can make you worse. For example, if your motives are to find a quick fix to your problems, then you're probably not going to come out of the experience better for it. My advice is to keep your dose small and to try and have a companion (preferably sober) to 'group' you. I've had trips where I was damn glad I wasn't alone.

Finally, if something does go wrong, I think it helps to remember that a 'bad' experience is only bad if your outlook on it is bad. For example, a bad experience first seen as needless suffering can take a new form if your outlook on it changes. You can see it as something you went through and conquered, making you stronger for it.

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...

good first post
 
Depression is relative. Psychs can only show you the beauty in the world; they can't make the sorrow and the pain disappear, for there is no black and white... There is no cure for depression, because it is a manifestation of the human condition. Mankind is destroying itself, and we experience it in our souls and our very beings, and we cannot simply separate ourselves from the black and the white... we are grey. Between the shadow, and the stars.
 
240sxLover said:
Depression is relative. Psychs can only show you the beauty in the world; they can't make the sorrow and the pain disappear, for there is no black and white... There is no cure for depression, because it is a manifestation of the human condition. Mankind is destroying itself, and we experience it in our souls and our very beings, and we cannot simply separate ourselves from the black and the white... we are grey. Between the shadow, and the stars.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I agree and disagree. I do agree in that they can allow you to see the beauty that exists (they can not create beauty though), whether it is through removing mental blocks or obstacles that had previously hindered your perception of them or just opening you up to new experiences. I disagree that they can't make pain and sorrow disappear. I'm a pretty somber guy, I tend to avoid people because of OCD (that is one of the reasons I went into a technical field/line of work and excel at it). But it doesn't bring me happiness; it's just what I do that pays the bills and puts food on the table). At work I'm mostly by myself and do best when I'm left to do what I'm supposed to do.

For me, psychs erase, albeit temporarily at least, my OCD. They *do*make the crippling pain of OCD go away, and usually the larger the dose the longer the period of feeling less constrained/confined persists. A 12.1g dose of mushrooms put me in a good mood for about a month.

Yeah, I know the bit about depression being a symptom of the human condition (philosophy degree which doesn't put food on the table....Kierkegaard, Nietszche and others). I think that to be human means you *can* be depressed, but not necessarily so. Being human means you can also become undepressed.

You call it a world of grey; I like that. But I love when colour comes around every now and then too. Psychs put colour in my life for short periods, and that's good enough for me.

Tom
 
PotatoMan said:
tripping balls is no recreation. Tripping has always been used by me for clarity and cleansing. I "wash" myself with acid from time to time.

Overall Acid helped me become a positive, happy person because it showed me that I am in control of my reality. I used to be dark n depressed before LSD.
DXM gave me an appreciation for emotions I lost during my times with opiates and benzos.
DMT showed me that no matter what I will be happy in the end(death) so never to fear it. I welcome death and destiny now.

I'm actually doing acid and DXM on saturday. A trip has been long over-due for me.
Click to expand...

I can relate to everything you said minus the DXM part, not that I do not enjoy it just that I have better access to MXE. Acid always could pull me out of a deep depression. It really puts things into perspective for me making whatever it was at the time that was causing my depression appear as small as it truly was, leaving me with the ability to just let go. I do suppose it may all depend on the severity of the depression and/or situation that may have caused it. Conditionally speaking the benefits are there. I miss being able to enjoy LSD but know that I am forever touched by the experiences it provided me with through all those crazy memorable times.
 
Grey was simply a metaphor, something that is neither black nor white, but rather a homogeneous mixture of all things.
 
Mushrooms were the only thing that helped me over deep depression and greif. Acid doesn't quite have the same anti-depressive effect as psilocybin for me but it's certainly helpful. One thing to try is splitting your dose and taking it 30 minutes apart - that'll make the acid a lot more Ecstasy like, fluffier and more positive.
 
Idk, depression is all relative. At least what's what I learned after taking psychs. That I'm not perfect at all, nor did I ever try to be in the first place, but I valued the way it deconstructs your "original" idea of everything, and replaces it by looking at the bigger picture, and how full that picture is, and what's truly important or not. In the end, I ended up deciding to just control what I can, and whatever happens happens as a result from that.

Psychs have definitely given me great insights into my anxiety, and now I'm pretty much able to do get over them. It helped me see that this journey never ends unless you want it to.
 
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This is very interesting to me because I've tripped countless times on LSD, AL-LAD, and aMT but it was only the mushroom trip which had lasting positive psychological effects on me.

Mushrooms took me much deeper into my own mind. Forcing me to face my demons. Forcing me to see things as they truly were.

LSD and its analogue felt very stimulant-like, and as a result I was not able to go as deep.They were much more visual however. And aMT just wasn't introspective at all, it's psychedelic MDMA really, very social, very stimmy.

I'm in two minds now... I may wait for mushroom season for my soul searching.
 
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