Why are some people scared to take psychedelic substances?

[Kl519]

I enjoy psychedelics more than most people I've ever met, and I find them terrifying.

My idea of extremely altered perception is not something you can just wait out like it's no big deal. The last trip I had that I would describe as "too much" was on 4-HO-MiPT. The sensory overload was causing my vision to zoom in to where it felt like I could watch individual visual distortions forming at near-microscopic levels on the surfaces around me, and it was so intense that I felt like they practically grinding into me. I had the sensation that I could consciously feel my entire skeletal structure and muscle patterns because my senses were so acute that every possible sensory receptor in my body was at the forefront of my awareness, and when I did something like swallowing or breathing I was hyper aware of every action my body was performing to complete the process each time, and it was exhausting. The stimulation caused by it all was also causing my body to be constantly gassy and feel all twisted up inside and giving me a lot of head pressure, neither of which was very fun alongside the level of sensory perception either. And of course, there was extreme time dilation for all of this as well, so it just went on and on....

It probably would have been amazing if not for all of that bodily junk, but for that reason it was pretty difficult to handle for a lot of it, and given that it resulted purely from the perceptual overload I don't consider it to be connected to set or setting or anything like that. I was able to handle it well enough partially because of past experiences and partially because I had alcohol to help me as well, but I would never, ever want a newbie to have that kind of experience.... They'd probably be scared away from psychedelics forever.

I don't think it's a bad thing for people to have some fear about psychedelics, especially when they don't yet know how they'll respond to them. It shouldn't be a matter of not understanding them, it's just about respect. They're really, really powerful, and for some people much more than others. I will admit though that most people probably really do not have much to fear from as you say reasonable doses of normally fairly easygoing psychedelics like those.

I might just be a weird example as well. Personally, I have also had my most dysphoric and most euphoric drug experiences period on cannabis alone; not psychedelics nor the combination of psychedelics and cannabis has touched either for me.

Haha, well, hello again Kaleida.

Hmm, so personal preference again? I hope that I didn't come across as not respecting other's choices, and ironically enough it was about understanding them lol, but I do have a hard time seeing my posts as coming off that way? I even gave many examples of why fear may not even be a factor. =/

Yeah, for real, bad trips are really horrible once you get semi-stuck in one. I remember it too, and if I were to describe it in detail, it would be much worse than what you've described or even the little bit that I elaborated on a while back; not only was it gory, it caused me the sensation of physical pain and I felt extremely dysphoric to the point that I kept regretting taking lsd at all whatsoever. I mean, I guess some people would be turned off by this and then stop tripping entirely afterwards, so that's true. However, personally, I just shrugged it off. I knew it was just the lsd doing it and when the trip was over and those effects completely disappeared, I felt like I had inadvertently overreacted and so I actually thought my own reactions/feelings/wails were quite humorous. Lol.

So, this is true. It's just a fact that some people will not take trips this way particularly. Many thanks for your input, especially since you have a lot of experience with the 4 subs. Mushies (and their analogues) are definitely up there in terms of powerful psychedelia.

 

[burn out]

Well, as for it being definitely over when its over I agree there is a point when the main effects pass but you certainly cant count on feeling normal in 6 hours. Ive had mescaline trips that lasted 18 hours with a day or two of recovery following and I had one high dose LSD trip that caused me to feel weird and trippy (with slight visual effects) for a week.

But further than that, in my experience you can't always just marginalize the trip, nor does not being afraid of having your perception changed necessarily mean that wont be a profound, difficult and even terrorfying experience when it actually happens.

That's what I did and it worked perfectly, since some of my bad trips really didn't make much sense and had everything to do with things I couldn't control (eg. losing loved ones to an accident). That was a major theme of one of my terrible trips, unfortunately.

Yeah its easy to marginalize the trip when it doesnt make sense. I have done that with traumatizing trips before, just said oh well lets forget about it. The difficult ones are the ones that do make sense, the ones that show you something about yourself or about reality itself, that you cannot just forget. Maybe you havent had that experience yet.

 

[Kaleida]

Haha, well, hello again Kaleida.

Hmm, so personal preference again? I hope that I didn't come across as not respecting other's choices, and ironically enough it was about understanding them lol, but I do have a hard time seeing my posts as coming off that way? I even gave many examples of why fear may not even be a factor. =/

Yeah, for real, bad trips are really horrible once you get semi-stuck in one. I remember it too, and if I were to describe it in detail, it would be much worse than what you've described or even the little bit that I elaborated on a while back; not only was it gory, it caused me the sensation of physical pain and I felt extremely dysphoric to the point that I kept regretting taking lsd at all whatsoever. I mean, I guess some people would be turned off by this and then stop tripping entirely afterwards, so that's true. However, personally, I just shrugged it off. I knew it was just the lsd doing it and when the trip was over and those effects completely disappeared, I felt like I had inadvertently overreacted and so I actually thought my own reactions/feelings/wails were quite humorous. Lol.

So, this is true. It's just a fact that some people will not take trips this way particularly. Many thanks for your input, especially since you have a lot of experience with the 4 subs. Mushies (and their analogues) are definitely up there in terms of powerful psychedelia.

Why hello again.

I did not get that feeling from anything you said. I was not meaning to imply that I did, so I'm sorry if it seemed that way.

To be clear, I did not consider the 4-HO-MiPT to be a bad trip; it was resoundingly positive in every way except for the sheer mental and physical exhaustion of having to deal with its extreme intensity. That alone is enough to give me fear, not even really just for what it was, but because of the potential: having seen much of what psychedelics can do, I realize that even this intensity is only the tip of the iceberg.

That sensation of physical pain on psychedelics really is horrible. I'm not saying that people should be completely dissuaded by that either, just that I wouldn't really blame them if they were if they got that as one of their first experiences without being prepared for it. I should note that I may be overly aware of these risks as well because I have many friends who are highly sensitive to psychedelics by weight; though what I described was on 50 mg of 4-HO-MiPT, a friend of mine experienced something similar to both what I described and what you described from LSD together on a mere 15 mg. The first time I was ever offered 4-HO-MiPT I was given 30 mg and told to expect a moderate experience, and it turned out to be mild for me, but the same dose would have completely and utterly destroyed my friend.

Personally though, I'm also not really bothered by gory visuals, even in the moment. Some of my most blissfully happy trips ever have been accompanied by paradoxically twisted and bizarre visuals; I like a good dark trip to shake things up every now and then. But, I think in this case your reaction will vary quite significantly based on your own life experiences and so on.... I have definitely met some people in this life who I believe would likely be traumatized for some time by too many visuals like that.

For me, the only thing that I've found that can really make a trip "bad" is delusion, though I really don't get this very easily from psychedelics myself. On the other hand, I have indeed had cannabis trips that felt nearly traumatizing, and probably would have been had I not had a lot of past experience to back me up. My worst ever I would describe as experiencing a fate worse than death, an extremely personal and horrifying realization that truly put any impending death anxiety I have ever felt to shame, and incorporated the most severe insecurities and fears that I've ever had and made me seriously question all of the personal progress I have ever made in relation to them. And it was from one bong hit.

Anyways, yes, I'm glad to contribute... and indeed, 4-substituted tryptamines are definitely quite powerful. I suppose might have formed a different opinion by now I suppose if I had focused on, say, the 2C-x family as my core psychedelics.

 

[ahint]

A lot of my friends who wouldn't try psychedelics won't try them because they're mentally ill and don't want to risk it, which is pretty sensible. I guess a lot of other people are scared of the unknown, or a bad trip (which is why I won't take them anymore - unless I ever run into some mescaline, then all bets are off).

 

[Kl519]

Burn out-Haha, I like how you said not to always marginalize a trip, and then right after you explain how you had to marginalize a trip after a traumatizing one.

I get it though, and neither would I think they are contradictory; some situations demand opposite reactions, for sure. And that's pretty accurate too. I don't think I've had a difficult trip per se, but only good or decent ones, and then those terrifying trips. It really has been the good trips where I have learned the most, particularly my +4 trips and mdma epiphanies.

I think it's because I have a very positive attitude and it's super difficult to get me into any other state. I mean, someone has to be trying really hard with all of their might, and then MAYBE I'll start to crack, or maybe not. All I know is that people have told me it is really hard to do, lol. It's also very difficult to get me offended by anything, and my automatic reaction is to become genuinely emotionless. It's not that I enjoy this kind of process or suffer any less than anyone in my place, but perhaps I just have the know-how and perseverance to come out of it okay every time. I also don't like it because I know myself and if I get too angry or fed up, and/or the person goes too far and doesn't control themselves, I become a different person. After all, we all have our own limits. But I feel like I go through a lot of things that aren't particularly normal because I can handle suffering with a certain amount of grace. I also used to wonder, "Hey, if I were doing to this guy what this guy has been doing to me, I wonder how he would take it? Would he be able to genuinely preach about love, forgiveness and have the strength to be happy and smile despite all that was done, even including the perpetrator himself?" I don't see many people doing this, in fact I see the opposite where people will condemn you for something they do themselves. But all of the above may also be why I'm now impervious to things like depression, negative thinking, mood swings, etc, and eg. that's probably why something like mdma-induced depression from total serotonin depletion literally has no effect on me. Otherwise, I don't see why else.

But I only mention all of this because that may be why I haven't experienced the type of trip that you mentioned. I've only had trips that were good, learned something and two of them changed me on the spot. Then I've had terrifying trips where I pondered why and how, and then searched for the answers only to be told that the best thing to do is to forget about it, and that there was nothing to learn except I got overloaded with sensory input. Looking back on it after 7 years, that is definitely true. I'm just like everyone else, angry/sad and joyful/happy like everyone else, except I suffered a bit more than most and then became stronger for it. It's how I approached my life, including my substance trips, as well as my sober life too.

I know that there is so much more to experience though, and even though my tripping days are over, I feel like all of us still have much to learn. Especially me, because as knowledgeable as I'd like to think I am, I also see so much room for improvement that it's kind of overwhelming to think about. Haha.

 

[Kl519]

Why hello again.

I did not get that feeling from anything you said. I was not meaning to imply that I did, so I'm sorry if it seemed that way.

To be clear, I did not consider the 4-HO-MiPT to be a bad trip; it was resoundingly positive in every way except for the sheer mental and physical exhaustion of having to deal with its extreme intensity. That alone is enough to give me fear, not even really just for what it was, but because of the potential: having seen much of what psychedelics can do, I realize that even this intensity is only the tip of the iceberg.

That sensation of physical pain on psychedelics really is horrible. I'm not saying that people should be completely dissuaded by that either, just that I wouldn't really blame them if they were if they got that as one of their first experiences without being prepared for it. I should note that I may be overly aware of these risks as well because I have many friends who are highly sensitive to psychedelics by weight; though what I described was on 50 mg of 4-HO-MiPT, a friend of mine experienced something similar to both what I described and what you described from LSD together on a mere 15 mg. The first time I was ever offered 4-HO-MiPT I was given 30 mg and told to expect a moderate experience, and it turned out to be mild for me, but the same dose would have completely and utterly destroyed my friend.

Personally though, I'm also not really bothered by gory visuals, even in the moment. Some of my most blissfully happy trips ever have been accompanied by paradoxically twisted and bizarre visuals; I like a good dark trip to shake things up every now and then. But, I think in this case your reaction will vary quite significantly based on your own life experiences and so on.... I have definitely met some people in this life who I believe would likely be traumatized for some time by too many visuals like that.

For me, the only thing that I've found that can really make a trip "bad" is delusion, though I really don't get this very easily from psychedelics myself. On the other hand, I have indeed had cannabis trips that felt nearly traumatizing, and probably would have been had I not had a lot of past experience to back me up. My worst ever I would describe as experiencing a fate worse than death, an extremely personal and horrifying realization that truly put any impending death anxiety I have ever felt to shame, and incorporated the most severe insecurities and fears that I've ever had and made me seriously question all of the personal progress I have ever made in relation to them. And it was from one bong hit.

Anyways, yes, I'm glad to contribute... and indeed, 4-substituted tryptamines are definitely quite powerful. I suppose might have formed a different opinion by now I suppose if I had focused on, say, the 2C-x family as my core psychedelics.

It's all good. Once again, it is extremely difficult to offend me. Probably because I'm able to laugh and talk crap about myself without remorse, lol. I really don't care in that way.

Yeah, I had to word the title in such a way to make my point succinct, but it was really a question just filled with wonder. I feel like a good chunk of the ones that fit into that equation would change their minds about how they feel about psychedelic use. A person could theoretically take an allergy dose, and then take a subthreshold dose to see if they like it. But it's not like I'm trying to encourage them, and I don't think they'll ever see these posts anyway, yet I now understand this a bit better since there are very valid reasons for not tripping, whether or not I'm aware of those reasons or their mindset. I wouldn't ever be too dense to not know that there are a lot of things that are true in this world which I'm not even aware of.

Indeed, that is why I chose those particular examples, since they have been light and happy trips for me every time. I would always encourage those wanting to start with psychedelics to start with those class of substances, particularly the ones that don't have such a mind-fucky headspace. Even DOPr got dark at times, where my mind would wander to paranoid-type of thoughts and subsequently my vision would get slightly darker too. And then in an instant, my field of vision would get brighter when I reverted back to positive thoughts, and in that way I knew the effects could get dicey like it was when I took a couple of lsd tabs at a time back then. It didn't last long because I became so used to steering trips back to safety, and that was near the latter part of the plateau which seemed to last forever, but I was grateful for those bad trips because it prepared me for that day.

Yeah, weed is really strong when you first start out, and when your tolerance is really low. It is muddled instead of being clear-headed, so I guess that's why people don't like the feeling of that. And haha, that's funny, I don't even like dark trips whatsoever, so it's cool that you can handle it like that. I don't exactly flip out, but I'll definitely be sitting or laying there, and not enjoying even a second of it. I'll be thinking, "Fuck, this is not what I dropped the acid for. This sucks." But haha, that was pathetic me.

Damn, bong hits are so clean though! Sometimes I feel like blunts and pipe hits are too heavy. Yeah, I'm really afraid of the death of people I care about. That scares me like nothing else. As for myself, idk, ultimately I can care less. If I die, then I die. Whatever, lol. I'd save my dog's life before I'd save my own. She's too innocent and naive for me to not put ahead of myself.

But yes, thanks for your contribution! Heh.

Ahint-Yeah, those are valid reasons. As well as personal preference, specifically the fear of the unknown, hearing about bad trips or after having one, not wanting to delve too deeply in the psyche, the propaganda, too intense and loss of control. And that's after everything fitting into the equation that I set up with detail. Seems like I got the answers now! Thanks everyone.

 

[nuube]

Psychedelics are a life altering drugs and you may be fit to wait out the trip proper but the after effects can linger and then some!

I use Salvia occasionally. Its never what you would call a pleasant experience as it takes off like a rocket and goes far further than any of the psychedelics I normally take, (4-Ho-MET, ETH-LAD, AL-LAD, etc). I use it as a development tool. I thought one night I was going to die. As you can imagine it was a little frightening Long story short I 'went' with death and it got easier and had a life altering ++++ which took months to integrate and over a year before I even looked at Salvia again! Another time with 4-HO-MET I decided to push the boat a bit and after about 85 mg and several joints over a couple of hours I got caught in a loop of near hysterical laughing followed by weeping and round and round. I eventually took myself out of the loop through breath-work as I was afraid I would wake the house - (kids and wife upstairs asleep and if my kids came down and seen me crying it would have freaked them out - I'm from the school that 'men don't cry'!).

Only that I had plenty of experience tripping and was well read on the matter and in a place of safety things turned out good. Had I been in a strange pub or club when this happened it would have been terrible. A n00be into psychedelics would most certainly be left traumatised from these experiences. I'm not calling them bad either as they were enlightening, just remember enlightenment can be an abrupt and challenging thing!

I think a healthy fear/respect for all drugs is important. No drug is absolutely harm free and some cause more harm than others. In the psychedelic groups a mouthful of shrooms or acid isn't likely to kill you, Nbomes or Datura and you have a different ball game. I would love to trip with my other half but they are too afraid to try anything and I can fully understand why, (I've recounted some of my hairier moments and I don't think it helped ).

 

[Draven26]

A lot of my friends are scared of tripping because they don't want to have a bad experience or a really bad trip that they can't escape which is understandable! I've had some bad trips.. but I enjoyed the shit out of it personally! It was an experience.. and something most people don't get a chance to do! Shit I haven't done psychedelics in years and I was even thinking I wish I knew someone who has DMT or LSD so I can take a trip by myself! I don't mind trippin' with people but I've found taking trips with just myself in solitude out somewhere is bad ass! On LSD that is! I don't know! Good times good times!

 

[Clocktower]

Did I really come off as finding it as a fault if people are scared of them?

Nah, I just used 'you can't fault people for...' as a turn of phrase, sorry for the confusion.

 

[Kaleida]

It's all good. Once again, it is extremely difficult to offend me. Probably because I'm able to laugh and talk crap about myself without remorse, lol. I really don't care in that way.

Yeah, I had to word the title in such a way to make my point succinct, but it was really a question just filled with wonder. I feel like a good chunk of the ones that fit into that equation would change their minds about how they feel about psychedelic use. A person could theoretically take an allergy dose, and then take a subthreshold dose to see if they like it. But it's not like I'm trying to encourage them, and I don't think they'll ever see these posts anyway, yet I now understand this a bit better since there are very valid reasons for not tripping, whether or not I'm aware of those reasons or their mindset. I wouldn't ever be too dense to not know that there are a lot of things that are true in this world which I'm not even aware of.

Indeed, that is why I chose those particular examples, since they have been light and happy trips for me every time. I would always encourage those wanting to start with psychedelics to start with those class of substances, particularly the ones that don't have such a mind-fucky headspace. Even DOPr got dark at times, where my mind would wander to paranoid-type of thoughts and subsequently my vision would get slightly darker too. And then in an instant, my field of vision would get brighter when I reverted back to positive thoughts, and in that way I knew the effects could get dicey like it was when I took a couple of lsd tabs at a time back then. It didn't last long because I became so used to steering trips back to safety, and that was near the latter part of the plateau which seemed to last forever, but I was grateful for those bad trips because it prepared me for that day.

Yeah, I mean, aside from things like having mental conditions that you don't want to stir up or whatever, I'm not saying that people should have so much fear for them that it prevents them from trying them. I just think it's healthy to have respect for the potential consequences of overdoing it with such powerful tools. Some people may just genuinely not like psychedelics ever though, but, I have to say I'm skeptical of that.... I doubt that there are people who couldn't enjoy at least a dose of euphoria, pretty colors, and cognitive stimulation if they just loosened up a bit.

I love the way that stuff happens, like how you were describing your vision getting brighter and darker corresponding to your thought patterns lol. That is good that were able to steer it back though, I sure wouldn't want to be stuck in a negative trip for that whopping duration and with all that time dilation too.... I am anticipating it having some of the dark visuals like I like though. DOC felt fairly dark for me in a way like LSD as well, which is to say that it was dark in a down to earth and edgy way, as opposed to like alien or demonic like some tryptamines can be for me. Either I enjoy, but the latter mostly as a novelty, whereas the former I think actually works quite well with a positive trip, especially a very sexy one which does wonderful things with that dark vibe. Every single one of my LSD trips has that dark feeling though, whether they're positive or negative, and they're overwhelmingly the former, so maybe that's why it just doesn't really bother me. To be fair though, I was also a fan of darker things before I ever tried psychedelics....

Yeah, weed is really strong when you first start out, and when your tolerance is really low. It is muddled instead of being clear-headed, so I guess that's why people don't like the feeling of that. And haha, that's funny, I don't even like dark trips whatsoever, so it's cool that you can handle it like that. I don't exactly flip out, but I'll definitely be sitting or laying there, and not enjoying even a second of it. I'll be thinking, "Fuck, this is not what I dropped the acid for. This sucks." But haha, that was pathetic me.

Damn, bong hits are so clean though! Sometimes I feel like blunts and pipe hits are too heavy. Yeah, I'm really afraid of the death of people I care about. That scares me like nothing else. As for myself, idk, ultimately I can care less. If I die, then I die. Whatever, lol. I'd save my dog's life before I'd save my own. She's too innocent and naive for me to not put ahead of myself.

But yes, thanks for your contribution! Heh.

It was actually after years of being on all day every day stoner lol. I really am just that sensitive to many of its perception-altering effects. My high tolerance allows me to smoke normally without being hit too hard usually, but every now and then one of those really strong trips breaks through. That particular bong hit was actually from a very large bong as well. Do you really find blunts and pipes to be heavier than bongs? That's so interesting, as I'm the exact opposite. I almost always smoke out of a bong, but I'll go with a pipe or something if I feel like I don't want to be as out of it or heavy.

And it's not pathetic.... I know very few people who would enjoy a trip like that. Honestly, I kind of feel like I just don't have a very strong fear response to visual input, I've suspected that for most of my life for a number of reasons. Like I said though, other trips can still throw me for a loop.... I've had lesser versions of that one terror cannabis trip pop up again since then and it's just as horrible every time, but luckily I catch it before it goes all the way now. It hasn't actually happened in a while now, so that's nice....

Well, those are great priorities. I don't really have death anxiety anymore, but I used to mostly because I was trapped in a situation where I felt like I wasn't even really getting to live in the first place and I wanted more, and so whenever I thought the end was coming already I wasn't going to go down without a fight. Luckily I do not feel that way anymore... and I also really haven't had any of those worries in some time now.

 

[momjrr]

It's pretty obvious why.

You don't know exactly what's going to happen or how you're going to handle it.

It doesn't haapen to most people, but have you really not seen the stories about people getting violent, running in the street naked, having panic attacks or having derealization and apathy for a long time after?

 

[Erikmen]

Bad tripping to name one. HOWEVER, you only get really get scared after you have your first experience.
Because until then, it's all theory and you can and will always imagine that you could obviously + simply wake up, so to speak.

It doesn't work like that at all! You can't get out of those trips so easily without some serious help. Besides, we are talking about 8-12 hours experiencing life in some deeper levels of your conscious, including visuals, so that you may be 'out of reach' for sometime.

Unless you do this with experienced people you can trust, in a calm environment and with plenty of time to recover, you risk spoiling your experience for the first time and then be really concerned whether you want to do this again or not.

 

[mydosfriendgeorge]

lots of people aren't very strong willed. They do what ever everyone else is doing to try to be normal and are afraid of the unknown. IMO that is why people believe in religion, and why people are afraid to take psychedelic drugs. People should challenge everything that is put in front of them and told to be correct. I was raised to think that way, but most people weren't, and it becomes very hard to change your opinion on something (weather it is correct or not) after you have believed it your whole life.

 

[burn out]

lots of people aren't very strong willed. They do what ever everyone else is doing to try to be normal and are afraid of the unknown. IMO that is why people believe in religion, and why people are afraid to take psychedelic drugs. People should challenge everything that is put in front of them and told to be correct. I was raised to think that way, but most people weren't, and it becomes very hard to change your opinion on something (weather it is correct or not) after you have believed it your whole life.

That may be why some people believe in religion, but in my experience there is a supernatural reality and psychedelics can help you contact it. I was atheist before taking psychedelics, now I believe religions are attempts to map out the metaphysical or artchetypical realms.

 

[Kl519]

Yeah, I mean, aside from things like having mental conditions that you don't want to stir up or whatever, I'm not saying that people should have so much fear for them that it prevents them from trying them. I just think it's healthy to have respect for the potential consequences of overdoing it with such powerful tools. Some people may just genuinely not like psychedelics ever though, but, I have to say I'm skeptical of that.... I doubt that there are people who couldn't enjoy at least a dose of euphoria, pretty colors, and cognitive stimulation if they just loosened up a bit.

I love the way that stuff happens, like how you were describing your vision getting brighter and darker corresponding to your thought patterns lol. That is good that were able to steer it back though, I sure wouldn't want to be stuck in a negative trip for that whopping duration and with all that time dilation too.... I am anticipating it having some of the dark visuals like I like though. DOC felt fairly dark for me in a way like LSD as well, which is to say that it was dark in a down to earth and edgy way, as opposed to like alien or demonic like some tryptamines can be for me. Either I enjoy, but the latter mostly as a novelty, whereas the former I think actually works quite well with a positive trip, especially a very sexy one which does wonderful things with that dark vibe. Every single one of my LSD trips has that dark feeling though, whether they're positive or negative, and they're overwhelmingly the former, so maybe that's why it just doesn't really bother me. To be fair though, I was also a fan of darker things before I ever tried psychedelics....



It was actually after years of being on all day every day stoner lol. I really am just that sensitive to many of its perception-altering effects. My high tolerance allows me to smoke normally without being hit too hard usually, but every now and then one of those really strong trips breaks through. That particular bong hit was actually from a very large bong as well. Do you really find blunts and pipes to be heavier than bongs? That's so interesting, as I'm the exact opposite. I almost always smoke out of a bong, but I'll go with a pipe or something if I feel like I don't want to be as out of it or heavy.

And it's not pathetic.... I know very few people who would enjoy a trip like that. Honestly, I kind of feel like I just don't have a very strong fear response to visual input, I've suspected that for most of my life for a number of reasons. Like I said though, other trips can still throw me for a loop.... I've had lesser versions of that one terror cannabis trip pop up again since then and it's just as horrible every time, but luckily I catch it before it goes all the way now. It hasn't actually happened in a while now, so that's nice....

Well, those are great priorities. I don't really have death anxiety anymore, but I used to mostly because I was trapped in a situation where I felt like I wasn't even really getting to live in the first place and I wanted more, and so whenever I thought the end was coming already I wasn't going to go down without a fight. Luckily I do not feel that way anymore... and I also really haven't had any of those worries in some time now.

Haha, that was my train of thought too. It's not like we're in some alternate universe or whatever, it's just everything as it is except some visual distortion, body and head buzz, euphoria, etc. Well, at least for the substances I chose as examples.

I see. I guess we'd have to define "dark," right? I mean, I've had dark visuals and my 2C-P trip is a great example; the headspace was neutral and I spent the peak in the dark, which contributed to seeing objects and shadows that weren't there, as well as a honey-comb type of visual net that became more pronounced in the dark. I still remember it being around 4am, and instead of the night sky being blanketed with darkness, the whole sky had a purple-reddish hue that it made it seem like it was just after sunset. That really put me in awe and amazement because it wasn't the type of visual that changes in an instant, rather it was constant and made it seem completely real the whole time I was outside. I knew it wasn't though, and that made it a joy to experience knowing that the trip was really heavy and causing effects like that. That kind of dark trip is really enjoyable for me too.

The other kind of dark trip, well, it was just shitty and my emotions were completely negative, along with feeling dysphoric through and through. So much so that I did the one thing you're not supposed to do; regret tripping and trying to find a way to stop it and/or lessen it. That has NEVER worked for me, and I heard it never will, but instead that starts the spiral downwards so I did my best to go with the flow and calm all of my thoughts after making to my friend's backyard and smoking some weed. It's funny because I've heard so many stories here about things getting worse after having some cannabis, but for me it calmed me down internally and literally all of the negativity left in a puff of smoke. Yeah, visuals got crazy and so did the body high, but everything turned positive again so it was much more welcoming than not having any and continuing that dark trip.

Yeah, you do get more with less if you take bong rips, and the high is a bit different. But with blunts or J's, one is kind of pressured to smoke more and faster so as not to waste the herb by just letting it burn off. At least that's my mentality when I choose that method, so it gets me a lot higher, haha. Pipes too. If you take a big enough hit to make a cherry, then we'd hardly take a break between hits so as not to let the herb get wasted and burn off without inhaling it. I think it's strictly about how I approach it though.

Haha, ikr? I thought my priorities were in their perfect order too. (Speaking of which, I won't be very active here until Thursday night again because I have to focus on productivity). Ahh, I see. Even for myself, it's weird because I've kind of "lived" a life in which it seems like I've done all of the "crazy" things that I've always wanted to do, but in the end a lot of it (not all) was meaningless and a waste of time. So, I kind of regret it and wish I could take back the time I wasn't doing anything truly productive. A few of those adventures gave me great memories though, haha.

But yeah. Death? Come get me. It won't be so easy though.

 

[Willydog155]

I have the same question, Kl519. I really don't know. I think it must stem from the fear of going insane.

What really baffles me is why cannabis is so much more popular than the classical psychedelics like LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Cannabis derails me into paranoid thinking more easily; it feels more intoxicating, as it more readily impairs short-term memory and general cognitive functions; and it took much longer for me to begin to appreciate the effects of cannabis. Serotonergic psychedelics, on the other hand, are more easily controlled, more clear-headed, and instantly rewarding.

I must be the weird one.

I have been a daily marijuana smoker for years and I have never expierienced the paranoia and short term memory loss feeling as strong as I did on acid and mushrooms. This also happened to be my first time tripping on both which could possibly be a big factor. I also happen to be one of the people who get a strong fear when taking a dose of anything pretty much. For me when I start to get nervous I believe my nervous state is going to throw me into a bad trip and with that mindset nothing is going to go good. It's a very annoying and bothersome loop I have been trying to break. Thinking about taking a high dose of vistirile (50-75mg) before dosing my next LSD trip. I read somewhere it increases carefreeness and should not negatively respond with LSD.
I am very interested in phycadelics and wish I was a lot more comfortable doing them, it would make the experiences a lot more adventures and interesting.

 

[Solipsis]

That everyone would eventually like psychedelics if both the whole setting picture is right, incl dose, as well as - like Kaleida aptly said - if they would loosen up a bit... that is an ideal. Much like every human being eventually wants to be safe, comforted, loved etc. Despite all the shit that goes on in the world, I really doubt there is that much evil will, like the truly sadistic kind. So much comes from insecurity and lack of empathy/compassion > selfishness.

In an ideal world everyone would have enough peace of their own to have little to object to tripping, out of naievety almost.

Even so, people weigh pros and cons of things all the time, a lot of it unconsciously. Curiosity is one of the things to attract us (some of us are much more experimentally or adventurously wired than others), as well as the promises of beautiful potential. That depends on whether you have heard mostly horror stories in your life or mindblowingly positive stories.
I think if a person is wired in a very worrying (also overcaring) way, and especially lacking types of intellect or intelligence (there are many kinds) that lie at the bedrock of curiosity and the need for stimulation, self-development, understanding, etc... they would have a pretty hard time feeling the pull to tripping. If one of those pushing or pulling factors is strong, it's hard to convince a person otherwise. And neither type of person should judge the other... a healthy balance is probably best to avoid the extremes of unreasonable fear or unreasonable risk.

Me, I have hangups / issues that are in a way the opposite: I underestimate/undervalue risks or potential consequences making me not worry much about experiencing new or intense things, and I am attracted through curiosity and thrillseeking. It's a great recipe for loving psychedelics but it hasn't proven so ideal either really.
Plenty of things have gone wrong... but I don't blame psychedelics for it, if anything how I have handled myself with them over the years and why. But of course the experiences together are priceless!

 

[TheBlackPirate]

I agree with Solipsis. Our community has progressed significantly in reducing the potential harms involved with psychedelic drugs. Guides including our NBOMe warning topic and dangerous combinations topic protect peoples lives.

These efforts increase the balance between "unreasonable fear or unreasonable risk" and most importantly protect people invovled in drug use.

Our community could improve. If you're interested in keeping people healthy read more.

When people utilize our recommendations and consume reagent tested classical psychedelics physical safety is nearly guaranteed. The risk with classical psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin is psychological distress resulting from difficult experiences. Honestly, psychological health and physical health are nearly as important as each other. This is where we could make progress.

Just look, almost everyday on this forum I notice topics with people discussing how traumatizing the difficult experience they had was. Our members console them and are compassionate. Regardless the damage was already done. Most of those experiences could be avoided if those people had accessed guides on how to work through and benefit from difficult psychedelic experiences when they were looking at our warnings on NBOMes and dangerous combinations.

Now, imagine if our society only gave people driver education classes once they had the first car wreck... This is how our community acts with psychedelics. Difficult experiences on psychedelics are inevitable and with proper guidance are often the most beneficial. People should view guides on working through difficult experiences before rather than after the actual experience. Hence, I advocate our community including guides on working through and benefiting from difficult experiences in easily visible places on the Psychedelic Discussion main page.

Any thoughts?

 

[Clocktower]

Now, imagine if our society only gave people driver education classes once they had the first car wreck... This is how our community acts with psychedelics.

This isn't true at all. For every thread about someone's difficult experience, there's at least one other thread full of advice on how to establish a good set and setting and prevent a bad/unpleasant trip.

Frankly, there is only enough room for a handful of sticky threads. The NBOMe and dangerous combinations threads are there to warn people about the risk of death.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah these resources do exist on here and are quite easy to find, unfortunately a lot of people don't seek them out. A lot of people don't even attempt to research anything about it until they have already had a bad experience, instead just relying on "yeah man, take this, you'll laugh a lot and see faeries". Mostly the bad trips we see posted about on here are from young people who are unprepared. You can't force people to research before they try something but if they do, they can easily find the information.