tips for keeping your head on a psychedelic

[Sweetbeefaerie]

I have a history of rather easily losing my head when tripping. It hasn't happened in years, but last night I ate a pot cookie and nearly lost it. It wasn't that I was giving into delusions or anything like that, it was more that i was having a very intense experience which made it nearly impossible for me to interact with anyone. If I had to be in a situation where I needed to talk or listen to someone I couldn't have done it successfully, and if you were watching me you'd think I had completely gone insane, but I was completely aware of my surroundings, and I was overly aware of the fact that I couldn't interact and that was making me self-conscious which would increase the lack of interaction skills. It's like I go all the way to the line between sane and insane but I don't actually cross it. I've crossed it before in the past I think, though and that also scares me.

I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to prevent this or minimize it... because I really love to use psychedelics to work out things in my mind that need working out. I would really love to not freak out everyone around me when I trip. I'd trip alone, but that scares me a lot too. I'd rather have someone around to help me if I need it.

 

[Solipsis]

Choose a different setting (if your mindset is otherwise fine), make sure you are not in a situation where you are expected to do anything that is too hard or stressful to do when tripping. I would say it is even smart to turn off your phone to prevent getting unexpected messages. Or if you can handle making the decision on the spot, leave it on to be able to get text messages... I personally have experience with getting a difficult call whilst tripping on LSD and it threw me off for like half an hour, not cool.

Other than that, don't resist the trip... that is futile. Just accept what is happening with trust in your heart and confront anything that comes up.

Pot edibles are notorious for being tricky to dose well, and overdoses can be panicky, paranoia-ridden and socially beyond awkward. Or if even stronger, you may experience dissociation and a dreaded fear or feeling of dying. At that point it is best to ride it out in quiet, although not sensory deprivation situations... those feelings are all part of it, it is important to remember that none of it is dangerous and to try and relax anyway.

 

[Sweetbeefaerie]

Yeah that was actually how the intensity started-I felt like I was dying, like I was going inside my body and traveling all the way into my cells and beyond and I kept having to remind myself that nobody has ever died from marijuana and that I was physically safe. My poor boyfriend came in sort of at the peak of the intenseness and I could very strongly feel that he had no clue what to do. I could feel that he wanted to comfort me but didn't know how he'd be received so he was just nervously laughing (he had eaten one too, so he was probably very stoned as well). I always feel very comfortable and safe with my boyfriend, but feeling that he didn't know how to handle my non-interaction really made me feel uncomfortable and awkward. We haven't been dating for very long, and are a lot closer than you'd expect after 8 months of dating but there are still random moments like that where there are walls up between us. That is the main reason I want to be careful tripping with him because on mushrooms or something, I really don't want to experience that uncomfortable of a feeling...

 

[Thomas Davie]

OP; I've always had a 'safe' thought, rather like someone would have a safe word if they were into bondage or S&M games. If you can do that (carry a safe thought with you at all times) it might help. Or not.

This might not be the same for you, but I've also found that having one intense, hellish experience (in my case, on Salvia) made everything else seem like, uh....puppy dogs and kittens.

And then there is a tolerance issue as well. When my pot tolerance is low (or non existent) I usually end up pulling a tighty whitey when I get back on the wagon. If my tolerance is sky high then all edibles do is put me to sleep and kill aches/pains.

Tom

 

[Help?!?!]

Always remember that your simply fucked up on a strongly mentally curving substance but that in a given time period dependent on what's ingested you will be back to baseline. Whenever I'm in turbulent waters and think this the only thought that usually arises is, "Aww damn I better quite wasting time and have some fun whilst it's still applicable!".

 

[bridgesii]

Practice meditating on it in nature some time until you feel you will be able to control your mind and body, or dose lower

 

[Sweetbeefaerie]

Thomas Davie---I've had a monumentally hellish experience on LSD at a very crowded music festival of all places. You'd think that'd be a safe place to have an experience like that, supposedly surrounded by others of the same mindset, but this festival had cops on ATVs riding around like an infestation and it was honestly the most terrifying experience of my life. I barely remember any of it-only flashes of memory here and there and over the years more and more pieces of it have started coming back to me. I've ever taken it again years later and been fine, but the fact that this sort of thing has happened to me and can quite possibly happen again really freaks me out.

Do you have an example of a safe thought? "thought" is such a broad word haha and I really like this idea. Maybe I could even tell my boyfriend the thought so he could remind me of it if I look like I'm losing it. Or if I'm not losing it and he says it..I guess it could cause me to lose it because I hear it. ughh brains are so complicated!

 

[Sweetbeefaerie]

Always remember that your simply fucked up on a strongly mentally curving substance but that in a given time period dependent on what's ingested you will be back to baseline. Whenever I'm in turbulent waters and think this the only thought that usually arises is, "Aww damn I better quite wasting time and have some fun whilst it's still applicable!".

yeah very true--I really enjoy the experience and all the cool things you can do while in that mind state. I think my main problem is when another person is around or worse, when they suddenly appear while I'm in the midst of that experience. my boyfriend hasn't ever seen me in that space, and to my knowledge he sees tripping as this purely recreational thing, and that's just not how I see it. I see the recreational aspect of it but I have a lot more fun actually taking advantage of the head space. I really want him to understand that he shouldn't be worried or feel awkward when I'm in that space, but that he should just let me be. I think the other night when I ate a pot cookie with him and accidentally went into that "crazy" mind state he felt a need to comfort me but didn't know how so he just ended up feeling awkward and uncomfortable. And I could feel that very strongly from him and it turned into all I could feel and I just wanted him to go somewhere else or stop feeling that way because it was making me feel like i was going to spiral into a bad trip.

 

[Solipsis]

Have you tried telling him that? Because it could help a lot to talk about things like what psychedelic trips mean to you or do to you... and most of all, to let each other know that you care for each other unconditionally when it comes to experiencing altered states of consciousness.
There are reservations (some things you just don't do, even when tripping - unless it is a case of psychosis, then that is another matter), but apart from that I think it is important to realize that being affected by a psychedelic drug can be unpredictable and people may react strangely. Especially when things don't really go as planned. When you are unexperienced it is very very hard to actually plan a trip because you are relatively unfamiliar with the complex consequences.
Whatever your experience level, when that happens, you need people you care about (and care about what they think of you) to be understanding, their understanding ought to be implicit really.
I'd say that goes doubly so for people who are particularly empathetic, emotional and socially reliant.

 

[Sweetbeefaerie]

Have you tried telling him that? Because it could help a lot to talk about things like what psychedelic trips mean to you or do to you... and most of all, to let each other know that you care for each other unconditionally when it comes to experiencing altered states of consciousness.
There are reservations (some things you just don't do, even when tripping - unless it is a case of psychosis, then that is another matter), but apart from that I think it is important to realize that being affected by a psychedelic drug can be unpredictable and people may react strangely. Especially when things don't really go as planned. When you are unexperienced it is very very hard to actually plan a trip because you are relatively unfamiliar with the complex consequences.
Whatever your experience level, when that happens, you need people you care about (and care about what they think of you) to be understanding, their understanding ought to be implicit really.
I'd say that goes doubly so for people who are particularly empathetic, emotional and socially reliant.

I'd mentioned to him several times before that I have experience with losing my mind on psychedelics and he always has said something to the effect of, "I don't understand how people can lose it. I always feel in control of myself". He doesn't say it to make me feel bad, it's just really how he sees it. He doesn't understand how someone could lose it, and even though I've lost it several times, I can't even seem to understand how it's possible. I feel so in control of myself and my mind all the time, and even when I'm on the brink of losing it I still feel like I have total control of at least the inner workings of my mind. I think the thing I more often have lost control over is interaction skills-Not being able to communicate with anyone around me. During the pot cookie experience the other night I attempted to explain to him that I kept having these almost waking dreams but they were more like nightmares and that it was scaring me, but the only words I could get out were: "I keep having nightmares" and then I repeated the word nightmares over and over again by accident just because I was trying to push out more explanation than my mouth could keep up with. That's when he got all uncomfortable, and I think I would have too if I were him because it's really a scary thing to be the only one around when someone starts going through something like that.

I plan on talking to him as soon as possible...just need to find the right time and say the right things...

 

[phuckingnutz]

Try tripping alone...your headspace...your trip.

 

[anniegram]

Try tripping alone...your headspace...your trip.

I whole heartedly second this. There was only one time where I was overwhelmed by an edible and the entire time I was tripping out, the one reassuring thought I kept having was "thank goodness I am alone for this and nobody is awake to see me."

 

[Thomas Davie]

Thomas Davie---I've had a monumentally hellish experience on LSD at a very crowded music festival of all places. You'd think that'd be a safe place to have an experience like that, supposedly surrounded by others of the same mindset, but this festival had cops on ATVs riding around like an infestation and it was honestly the most terrifying experience of my life. I barely remember any of it-only flashes of memory here and there and over the years more and more pieces of it have started coming back to me. I've ever taken it again years later and been fine, but the fact that this sort of thing has happened to me and can quite possibly happen again really freaks me out.

Do you have an example of a safe thought? "thought" is such a broad word haha and I really like this idea. Maybe I could even tell my boyfriend the thought so he could remind me of it if I look like I'm losing it. Or if I'm not losing it and he says it..I guess it could cause me to lose it because I hear it. ughh brains are so complicated!

Sweetbeefaerie; my 'safe' thought is so mundane and trivial that I am actually embarrassed to mention it. I tip my hat to you for actually having the courage to trip at a festival. I've only been able to trip outside of my home once (that didn't go so well and I was in a rush to get home), and I've only tripped in the presence of other people once; otherwise my tripping companions are 3 dogs and 2 cats.

At home, it is really easy to totally control my environment. Food and beverages ready if I want them. Music preselected and ready to go. Movies prechosen.

Sorry I don't have anything else.

Tom

 

[Sweetbeefaerie]

Sweetbeefaerie; my 'safe' thought is so mundane and trivial that I am actually embarrassed to mention it. I tip my hat to you for actually having the courage to trip at a festival. I've only been able to trip outside of my home once (that didn't go so well and I was in a rush to get home), and I've only tripped in the presence of other people once; otherwise my tripping companions are 3 dogs and 2 cats.

At home, it is really easy to totally control my environment. Food and beverages ready if I want them. Music preselected and ready to go. Movies prechosen.

Sorry I don't have anything else.

Tom

I totally understand I would actually I think love to trip alone. The thought scares me, but I've never gotten to before and I have a feeling I'd really love the experience. I've only ever tripped with one other person in a romantic-ish sort of setting or at a festival in a group or just with a group in general. I really should try it alone some time...

 

[Mr.Trees]

Sometimes i feel like being around other people can actually ruin a trip, especially when your much higher than the people around you. It can be disheartening not being able to communicate with anyone and you can become increasingly paranoid and quite upset and self conscious. I think everyone who has used psychedelics has experienced being self conscious and paranoid before. Psychedelics are great tools for self discovery and having a great time, just dont let your thoughts about how other look at you affect your trip. Just try to be yourself and do what you want to do and youll have a great time!

 

[dakaen]

Sometimes i feel like being around other people can actually ruin a trip, especially when your much higher than the people around you. It can be disheartening not being able to communicate with anyone and you can become increasingly paranoid and quite upset and self conscious. I think everyone who has used psychedelics has experienced being self conscious and paranoid before. Psychedelics are great tools for self discovery and having a great time, just dont let your thoughts about how other look at you affect your trip. Just try to be yourself and do what you want to do and youll have a great time!

Can't agree more. Nearly all my most terrible trips occurred when I was around people - people who were either no tripping at all or tripping much less then me;
In contrast nearly all if not all of my solo trips have been quite peaceful if not at times slightly overwhelming but still manageable.

Recently I tripped with my brother and a friend who has only tripped once; we hiked into a nearby forest on the night of the full moon. I took between 2-3 drops of LSD and then a few bong rips (bear in mind I hadn't smoked weed in nearly a month!)

Suffice to say that by the time we reached the part of the hike where the vegetation began to close in all around us and the spiders and fire ants were everywhere including on us I completely lost my shit.

If you're interested in the full story I posted it in the Trip Report forum;
http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/729133-(LSD-2-5-drops)-XP-LV3-5-The-Heart-of-Darkness

But yeah I'd say from the experience of all my other trips that set and setting are so important; but perhaps even more important or just as important is you state of mind going into it as well as the people you choose to bring with you. I made the mistake of bringing along someone who was nowhere near prepared for what can go down when psychedelics go dark and we all paid the price because of that (well partly because of that)

Lol now I feel bad for that guy because even though I was the one that lost my shit I probably scared the living hell out of him too. xD

 

[pmoseman]

You can function in several parts of your brain simultaneously while they are not communicating with one another.

 

[Clocktower]

Really, if you feel like your trips have been too intense, the solution is to take a lower dose.

 

[Smugglerr]

I totally understand I would actually I think love to trip alone. The thought scares me, but I've never gotten to before and I have a feeling I'd really love the experience. I've only ever tripped with one other person in a romantic-ish sort of setting or at a festival in a group or just with a group in general. I really should try it alone some time...

Being alone during a trip is pure bliss because you can actually surrender to the experience and not feel ashamed of what you do or how you react to things. Things like LSD bring out everything that makes you up as a person and lays it out on a table for you to see. All your fears, all the things that you love, all your vices and all your flaws are exacerbated, and having all these things made apparent while someone is around can make it hard to give in and let your mind take over. But it's really satisfying when you do give in and see everything for what it actually is.

 

[Sweetbeefaerie]

Being alone during a trip is pure bliss because you can actually surrender to the experience and not feel ashamed of what you do or how you react to things. Things like LSD bring out everything that makes you up as a person and lays it out on a table for you to see. All your fears, all the things that you love, all your vices and all your flaws are exacerbated, and having all these things made apparent while someone is around can make it hard to give in and let your mind take over. But it's really satisfying when you do give in and see everything for what it actually is.

honestly the more and more I read these responses the more I want to experience this. I tried taking mushrooms alone once but at the last second I chickened out and only took a tiny bit and it ended up barely working. I basically just took a really enjoyable, slightly paranoid shower. haha