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Why are some people scared to take psychedelic substances?

I looked. I am the only person who has created a topic specifically on handling difficult experiences before they happen in the past 5 pages.

How to work through and benefit from difficult psychedelic experiences



The following were examples of people who had difficult experiences with negative outcomes asking advice after the fact in the past 5 pages.

Took multiple drugs last week question - Will I be Ok?

I think I'm never coming back from my acid trip ???

Bad trip aftermath. Trip report inside. Need tips

Help lsd

Help with sorting out a bad trip(s) please

Anxiety from lsd use

Dealing with breathing difficulties and anxiety on LSD

HPPD not much visuals but severe anxiety

Still don't feel right two days after awful acid trip

Our recent efforts aren't effective. We should work on preventative techniques with these issues.

Our goal is harm reduction. We can't expect these novices dig through hundreds of results. Obviously the guides on properly protecting psychological health weren't visible enough. Let's at least make an active effort in protecting psychedelic users psychological health and preventing these experiences preemptively.

Any option, Mega Thread, or Sticky Thread, y'all choose.
 
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The Big & Dandy First Time Tripper Thread
The Big & Dandy Beginner Psychedelic Thread
The Big & Dandy-Set-and-Setting-Thread

And others. They're linked to in the PD Index (which has a big announcement at the top of the forum to look there first). Perhaps we can have some other announcement at the top, but sticky threads tend to get ignored if there are more than a few (and some harm-reduction/"be careful" threads are already stickied such as the NBOMe blotters warning thread). Most of the way down the PD Index in section V.2 are a bunch of set & setting/etc mega-threads.

The main issue is what I described above. Lots of people, especially young and reckless people, don't bother to even seek the information or come here until something bad has already happened. I appreciate your concern though and I share it, I just don't know what else we can really do except to continue to make good replies and encourage people to seek information.
 
Personally in this day of Internet drug vendors and many people living in almost social isolation, I don't believe a check list on a forum is enough to help first time users.

I remember my first few experiences with psychedelics, and I'm grateful that I had an experienced guide to introduce me to the nuances of tripping. Set and setting is just too easily ignored when you can buy a substance like 2c-e from the Internet, then decide to experiment in your teenage bedroom while your parents are asleep. Or decide that the best adventure to try psychedelics for the first time is at a crowded festival or worse yet a shopping centre.

At least in Dutch smart shops you are exposed to a human face to face, who can explain the different experiences that each product and advise on the most suited to your level of experience. I always appreciated my first time tripping on mushrooms with my wife there, and I'm glad we chose to spend the peak holed up in our hotel room rather than wandering the streets like maniacs. Years later I would happily explore the city while tripping.

Unfortunately there is no amount of reading online that can truly prepare a person for their first time on psychedelics. A healthy sense of trepidation isn't a terrible thing.
 
Solipsis said:
But the less I trip / the longer I haven't tripped anymore... the more anxious I start to get about it once again - the more irrational and illusory my thoughts about it can become again, having nothing to go on. Fading memories, and faded novelty. But in return, the chance for novelty in the trip are excellent again (more magic!), and I don't think that's *just* tolerance / up or downregulation, but also the purely psychological matter of feeling like you have something to lose again. Which is strangely new and exciting.
Click to expand...

Wow, I only trip a few times per year nowadays, and this is the only downside imo. On one hand I love the increased magic, on the other hand the come up/pre-trip anxiety is SO much worse! I usually just have 2-3 beers before dosing, but I don't prefer to drink while tripping, as I find that that makes me want to fight the experience instead of submitting to it. But loved the way you put that!
 
reply to: Why are some people scared to take psychedelic substances?

There may be some aspects of the experience that don't appeal.

Like being easily prone to anxiety, having unstable emotions, or having perceptions dramatically changed.

The experience being variable may also be a factor. Some may not want to risk a awful trip to have a good one.
 
I'm moving this to psychedelic discussion.

Some people have no desire to take them, have had bad experiences on them, have known people who had bad experiences on them, have mental issues, are not into drugs at all or prefer other drugs, and there are lots of other reasons.
 
Because it is a possibly life changing experience, while these drugs might not ne dangerous they hold far more weight than your average recreational drug experience. It is the people who aren't even a little acared of them that you have to worry about, they are the ones who end up in trouble.
 
Edit: great to hear. I'm going to edit this all out, but what's important is that you and I know what's up. Remember it man, because I know I will, and keep your head up!

PD mods, feel free to move this to the appropriate thread. :)
 
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