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Should I seek therapy for bad acid trip?

J

jackhunter24

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Jan 7, 2015
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So a little more than a month ago, I did acid for the first time. I had an awful trip. I got stuck in a thought loop, and didn't come down until a few hours after my friends did, which freaked me out. Since the bad trip, I haven't felt myself. I have been feeling anxiety, stress, and depression for no apparent reason. Some days its worse than others. Sometimes I feel like I'm still on acid. I have an anxiety disorder, but it has never been this bad. I also take prozac for this anxiety disorder, and I was on it at the time of this trip.

I have done a lot of research online, and many of my symptoms fit those of somebody with PTSD. Is it possible that I developed PTSD from a bad acid trip?

Im starting to think I need some kind of therapy. The problem is I am away at college, with no car. There is a counseling center on campus. Do you guys think they would be helpful? If not, what should I do?

I have told my parents I haven't been feeling myself lately, but they don't understand how bad it is. I have not mentioned that I took acid to them, and I would really not like to. (They are not the type of parents to be ok with something like that).

I just really want to feel like myself again. This has been the worst few weeks of my life. I would do anything to go back in time and stop myself from doing acid. My life was fine before this. Now I just feel like a lost crazy person. Any help will be appreciated, thanks.
 
I would seek some therapy, if it really is causing you stress.
A bad trip is definitely enough to cause nightmares and PTSD, bad trips can be very scary and traumatizing experiences.
Also, don't trip again, unless you took the acid in a horrible set-and-setting when you tried it, acid probably isn't a drug you should be using.
 
Yes, PTSD is certainly possible from a single bad trip, as it is from any traumatic experience. I'm sorry you felt that way. Consider that your condition is a matter of perspective. I too have had horrifying trips where I got stuck in a negative thought loop, in fact on one I serious considered killing myself. But when I came down I chose to see the positives of the experience (they were there in retrospect) and I now think of it as one of my best and most valuable trips. You had a negative experience, but you came back.

If you can't clear this on your own, then yes, talk therapy would probably be valuable. Try not to focus too much on the negative as it will only reinforce the perceived trauma.
 
So you guys think this is something I can come back from? Im just concerned that its been over a month and I still don't feel myself. I almost feel like a shell of my former self. Ive also read posts that sound similar to my case, and they say they still don't feel themselves after over a year.
 
a good combination of counseling and medication can do wonders for PTSD. also, consider watching documentaries about LSD so you can reassure yourself that what you experienced was just the result of a really powerful drug
 
Therapy or counseling will do you no good. Basically all you're doing is sitting there yakking. How is that going to change your brain chemistry? Telling somebody that you did acid will only make you seem like a druggy and they will probably be dismissive. The problem is that you took acid while on Prozac. You aren't the first to report this. I think we can conclude that acid and Prozac are not a good combination. Will youi get back to normal? Who the hell knows. Have to wait and see I guess. I think they're prescribing Prozac for just about anything these days. Must be handsome kickbacks involved I guess. Or maybe when they have no other answer to aproblem they just throw Prozac at it. I wouldn't take it myself but I'll leave it to you to do the research and decide for yourself. Maybe it helps you, maybe it doesn't, maybe the help it does isn't worth it, I don't know. I've just read a lot of bad things about it.
 
^ To the above poster, you shouldnt suggest that therapy wont work it very well may. In some cases maybe it wont but if he is suffering from PTSD from a bad trip talking to someone and trying to work through it may be exactly what he needs. You may be right about the prozac but it doesnt really do any good to make it sound like nothing will make it any better and he needs to sit and wait. As true as that may be its kind of a defeatist attitude to take.
 
If you concentrate on something being negative more than you should, it will consume you. This leads to your situation becoming worse, especially in your mind. You have to understand that your bad acid trip doesn't define you, and concentrating on what went wrong won't help you either. Especially a bad acid trip, because that's a part of the psychedelic experience for most people.

Basically, shit happens to everyone in life. And I'd like to think that bad acid trips are one of them. So, instead of wallowing in your problems, do the opposite and focus on what you can do to get better. Do things that make you happy. Eat well. Be productive. Spend time with your friends. Think positively. All of those things will help get your mind off of this and eventually become strong again.

Your problem all started within your mind, so you gotta solve it within your mind as well.
 
jackhunter24 said:
So you guys think this is something I can come back from? Im just concerned that its been over a month and I still don't feel myself. I almost feel like a shell of my former self. Ive also read posts that sound similar to my case, and they say they still don't feel themselves after over a year.
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I know this is something you can come back from. It can take a long time, but I think this is largely determined by how you approach the situation. Having been there myself, I can offer advice which I didn't have at the time.

If you sit and dwell on the problem then it will get exponentially worse, because psychedelic induced PTSD is like a snowball rolling down a hill.

You need to work at healing your mind and body, so that you can have a healthy, positive outlook.

Some of the things that I recommend:

Yoga
Meditation
Walking in nature
Music
Eating healthy
Speaking to friends who understand
Therapy can help. I recommend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Beware though, they will probably try to give you drugs, mainly SSRI's (or even benzos if you're in the USA). These will not help you to overcome your problems, they will just momentarily mask them and create new ones. Doctors can be quite pushy. If you need a non-addictive drug for anxiety which isn't psychoactive and comes with minimum side-effects, then I can recommend propranolol. Just don't take it long term, there are other options (like those I just posted above).

There is a book called The Power of Now which is a brilliant start to meditation, and gives an intriguing insight into the mind. One of the most important things that you can know is that thinking is an option. Like I said above, if you sit dwelling on stuff, it will get exponentially worse. I'm certain that I have mild psychedelic induced PTSD and I have a huge list of additional worries which are purely constructs of my own mind. We trick ourselves into thinking that indulging ourselves in this self inflicted fear porn is a good idea, BUT IT REALLY ISN'T. Your mind will be a breeding ground for negativity at the moment, but doing that is largely a choice. You can't change the past, but you can alter the way you spend your time in the present.

You're in a very significant period in your life right now, and the way with which you approach it is paramount to the outcome. In a nutshell:

Do healthy positive positive things = Feel positive
Do unhealthy negative things = Feel negative
 
you need time to let yourself integrate the bad trip ...one time I took a giant bong rip of Salvia 20 X and followed it with some nitrous and had a scary ass trip that left me on unsettled / disturbed for about 4 months ..... your world view has been flipped upside down you're not sure whats up aynd what's down and who you are anymore. That's how it felt for me anyway but in the end it ended up being a good thing
 
Trying to communicate your existential crises without being able to say how, or why, or have a frame of reference is going to be very difficult. If you can not find someone who could understand, that you can just honestly relate the experience to, you will need to integrate and understand it yourself.

This is not easy, but is do-able. You will need to confront the fear that you have found and lay it to rest. Builds character they say ;).
You will recover, and once you understand, will be a wiser person for it.
 
I suppose counseling couldn't hurt. Some people respond to that sort of thing. You may need to go to a doctor and get tranquilizers or something like that. Anyway, I think it's reasonable to conclude that taking acid on Prozac is a bad idea. Probably the acid downregulates the serotonin receptors and then the Prozac suddenly can't do its usual thing by inhibiting reuptake of serotonin. It may be inhibiting reuptake but the downregulation of the receptors may mean that the serotonin has little effect. So it may be like stopping Prozac cold. You wouldn't think it would last a month or more, but maybe it does.
 
Jason your theories on Prozac and acid are null and void I ate a lot of acid as a teen for years while taking 60 mgs of Prozac every day and had no negative side effects. I have seen you in other threads talk about this exact subject and all you're doing is spreading misinformation. Please be quiet.

Time heals everything OP perhaps counseling is something you have needed all along. Looking at it from my perspective if you have the insurance and the time it can't hurt. And yeah maybe you need to just take some time to process/digest whatever it is is that has troubled you so. Either way I have been in your shoes and it does get better man hang in there and keep talking about it.
 
acid can have some long term consequences but i would harldly think of it as permanent, one time isnt going to mess you up man just take some time and it will get better. fyi if you decide to do it again within the next couple years at the very least expect a couple shadows from your bad trip to pass over you, i had a similar experience which more or less led me to give it up for almost 15 years...but then i did it again ac couple years ago with a bunch of charlie and K and it was pretty awesome
 
By the way, just in case you don't know yet, going to therapy isn't as big deal as it might seem. :)

As you get older, you realise that literally everybody has issues, it's just that most people do a superb job at hiding it, and a lot of people will never admit/discuss their issues.

I'm in the latter end of my twenties now and as people are becoming more open minded everybody just kind of gradually divulges that they've been suffering all along (I do have a very open/connected friend group, largely attributed to MDMA/psychedelics, but I know this to be widespread).

A lot of people go to therapy/take medication for anxiety & depression at some point in their lives. Even the most confident/outgoing amongst us are masking deep insecurities. A lot of people just end up ambling throughout life without ever really addressing those insecurities.

If you're going to go to therapy, then just consider that you're facing up to your own issues. A lot of people never do.

I really can't stress enough how important it is that you take this period in your life and change it.

This may seem to be a sweeping statement, but I think that I could make a fairly informed assumption that you probably don't practice a healthy lifestyle.

The cornerstones are meditation, exercise, eating healthy (green smoothies are good for this) and yoga.

I can't stress enough how much being good to your mind/body will reward you. With youtube being about, there is really no excuse not to do this. Have you ever met somebody who really practices these things? They absolutely glow.

Consider this a wake up call, IMO. Psychedelics show us that we're worth far more than just ambling through life being average.

:)
 
Cosmic Giraffe said:
Jason your theories on Prozac and acid are null and void I ate a lot of acid as a teen for years while taking 60 mgs of Prozac every day and had no negative side effects. I have seen you in other threads talk about this exact subject and all you're doing is spreading misinformation. Please be quiet.

Time heals everything OP perhaps counseling is something you have needed all along. Looking at it from my perspective if you have the insurance and the time it can't hurt. And yeah maybe you need to just take some time to process/digest whatever it is is that has troubled you so. Either way I have been in your shoes and it does get better man hang in there and keep talking about it.
Click to expand...

Just giving my opinions. I don't think I'll stop doing that just because you don't happen to agree with them. Maybe my last theory was wrong. It was just a theory. All I know is that Prozac has unpredictable effects which are sometimes very tragic. I suppose I could just let everyone find out for themselves, if they get it prescribed, but then the people on the receiving end of the murders are innocent vics so I feel I should at least make an attempt to save them from the wacked out Prozac takers.
 
hi jack, I know the feeling. Tranced gave you great advise already
but you should look deep into what was the thoughts loop and their content.

I suggest you to relax, not think too much about who you were before. you should look into what you are right now? thinking too much probably...
 
I think you have the potential to be fine, man.

don't obsess over it, distract yourself with exercise and constructive activities like a hobby of some sorts that you enjoy. Stop taking drugs. If you are anxious even a morning coffee can really exacerbate things. Meditation helped me a lot with some similar issues- i would recommend looking into it, but most importantly don't let this define who you are- don't constantly analyse it.

There are thousands of people who have had negative LSD experiences (can come with the territory), the majority of them are fine.

If you think talking it out with a professional that is trained to listen will help, go for it. However, in my experience the therapist will most likely be unfamiliar with the psychedelic experience and could just misinterpret or misunderstand what you feel are key issues- or worse, judge you simply based on drug use.

Having said that, it is mostly dependant on the individual therapist and could be a worthwhile experience. My 2 cents, gym and being sociable did more than therapy for me. You could be different though obviously. Cognitive behavioural therapy is also great for recognising where your anxiety comes from and addressing the (often irrational) situational triggers. If you do see therapy, consider mentioning it.
 
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OK some people will probably call me crazy for suggesting this, but IMO and from previous experience, the best possible remedy for a bad trip is a good trip (or better yet, a few of them).
 
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