psychedelics bomb the mind

[Nephtys]

I noticed a lot of the psychedelic trippers get run down by an opiate/amphetamine/alcohol addiction.
Everyone agrees psychedelic drugs are rather hard on the mind.
Do you find it hard to live with the knowledge you acquired from tripping?

 

[cannibalsnail]

Not if you stop treating psychedelics as some mystical tool of wisdom and knowledge and accept that its just a safe and non-addictive way to get fucked up.

 

[Jesusgreen]

Everyone agrees psychedelic drugs are rather hard on the mind.

Everyone? Are you referring to during the trip or in the long run? I've yet to see any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, to suggest that tripping is bad for the mind, other than temporary impairment when used in excess over a short period of time. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point though

I didn't acquire any knowledge as such from tripping either, just explored a little more of myself than I had before. I guess it opened me up to some of my flaws, which was hard to deal with at first, but overall I've seen it as a good thing.

I wouldn't think that trippers are any more likely to become addicts than anyone else - but someone who's prone to addiction might be more likely to try and abuse psychedelics too, no?

 

[Nephtys]

I guess it opened me up to some of my flaws, which was hard to deal with at first, but overall I've seen it as a good thing.

That's exactly what I mean. It's hard to deal with at first...
I'm referring to during the trip. example 400 mics of lsd aren't soft on the mind

 

[Help?!?!]

I actually find LSD fairly soft on the mind in comparison to say the way mushrooms/4-AcO-DMT might savagely rape mine. If you have something to fear, then of course the knowledge won't sit well with you. The main proportions of knowledge I acquired were simply about myself and the things I had learned pertaining to the outside world were always pretty much floating around my head before, I probably just wasn't as able to make/establish the connections before/etc.

 

[iROLL22]

i think if you over-do the psychs (crazy binges) then that could lead to other addictions to deal with all the mindfucking you put yourself through but also people that binge on psychs are people with the addiction gene so they are already wired to get addicted and opiates/amphetamines/booze are pretty fucking addicting w/o having the personality tendency. I had two friends in their late twenties, one who started doing acid when he was 11! and has been a iv heroin user for 5 years and another who one summer had sheets of acid and was in drug corps where lsd wouldnt show up on a drug test so he ate hits every weekend all weekend and now is on and off, mostly on with oxys and other opiates. they both described using acid sooo much it led to major depersonalization. the oxy user described it like what he thought a lobotomy might be like, not completely void of personality but defiantly feeling "unhuman". they both havent fried in years. now the acid is not what i think drove them to become addicts but in their case it sure didnt do anything to make them not addicted either.

 

[✰hyperobjects✰]

I find it more difficult to integrate highly dissociative experiences into my every day experience than psychedelic ones.

 

[Cyanoide]

I find it more difficult to integrate highly dissociative experiences into my every day experience than psychedelic ones.

I have the same experience. I learn a lot about myself on psychedelics and can integrate many things into my life. Especially on introspective trips I've made many realizations about myself (also very painful ones). But dissociative trips are very elusive. I'm often left very confused after a dissociative trip. I find it hard to puzzle together what I've experienced. Especially when entering "holes" reality is so warped, when I come back to reality I often don't know how to interpret the experience. It feels like a was in a dream. Also, the memories from dissociative experiences are hard to digest.

 

[sandozeme]

I actually find LSD fairly soft on the mind in comparison to say the way mushrooms/4-AcO-DMT might savagely rape mine.

Its kind of ironic you say this because I have personally always agreed with that being the case but some of my buddies always try telling me that LSD is harder on a person than psylocibe mushrooms or 4-aco-dmt. Have you had anybody ever try saying the same thing?

 

[lolusername]

I consider dissociatives to be more of a high, rather then a trip. Any insight I've gained on dissociatives don't mean much in real life, like the ones I get on psychedelics.
Although dissociatives can be a rather trippy high.

 

[JBrandon]

I've never had any phen or LSD punish me as hard as mushrooms can. The trypts can go either way for me but it's almost always to one extreme or another. LSD and the phens as a whole have been much more recreational for me...

 

[Biovail]

DXM did a dandy job ravaging the depths of my mind, revealing some truths that probably weren't meant to be uncovered. But the only small insight I've found that remotely relates to every-day real life is in the knowledge that although my life may be pointless and insignificant when viewed as an event over the course of the universe's history, I really don't need a reason to exist. I'm living for the sake of living, just as every other animal/plant in the universe does.

Dissociatives usually reveal deep truths hidden in the depths of the mind that have no use or practical meaning in our lives. But I'm certainly keen on seeing what true psychedelics have to offer in the way of insight.

 

[Ismene]

Everyone agrees psychedelic drugs are rather hard on the mind.

The only people I've ever heard agree with this are policemen or others involved in the enforcement of prohibition.

The whole point of psychedelics is the peace of mind and bliss they give you.

I'm referring to during the trip. example 400 mics of lsd aren't soft on the mind

What's "hard" about pure bliss and total euphoria?

Is LSD that much harder on the mind than getting up at 4 in the morning and going to work digging coal for 12 hours?

 

[kingme]

I noticed a lot of the psychedelic trippers get run down by an opiate/amphetamine/alcohol addiction.

really? i think its quite different the case, most people find their class of drugs and stick to it in the end. they might dabble in others but most times come back to their favourites... there are of course many polydrug users but those are a real minority (tough on this site it might not seem that way)

and like Ismene said, what means to be hard on the mind? isnt day to day life in society at least equally demanding?

knowledge that comes form tripping... it all depends on what you get from substance use. most people just get a good time and perhaps relaxation. true knowledge comes from your own mind, and psychs just help one dig for them, if one chooses to. i dont really think theres intrinsic knowledge one couldnt otherwise find in the substance themselves. so really, the question becomes, is it hard to live with what you know? well, thats where the expression comes ignorance is bliss. take your side

 

[nopipesdfw]

Not if you stop treating psychedelics as some mystical tool of wisdom and knowledge and accept that its just a safe and non-addictive way to get fucked up.

Psychs may not actually turn you into a wizard, but asking others to accept that they are only useful as intoxicants sounds pretty stupid. Also yes, I am aware that psychs can be highly intoxicating.

I am confused to those who have posted that after so many mind blowing trips, that many people would be lead to using harder drugs to cope with their experiences. I have never heard of that, although it doesn't surprise me that a lot of heavy drug users have also tried psychedelics.

 

[swilow]

Psychedelics are not dangerous to the physical aspect of the mind (ie. the brain) but can certainly cause some metaphysical difficulties. Its not all "about pure bliss and total euphoria". The mind is a mysterious place, easy to get lost in but beautiful to map.

 

[Ismene]

Its not all "about pure bliss and total euphoria".

But like anything it all depends on the person. I personally find getting up at 4am in the morning and going to work harder on the mind than any psychedelic. The sheer, numbing, blind terror of waking up on a freezing morning, knowing you have to go and slog your guts out for 12 hours is far beyond anything psychedelics could ever do me.

And I've taken psychedelics hundreds of times in doses sufficient to stun a charging rhino.

 

[Survived Abortion]

It's funny you posted this thread. I had a 2C-T-2 trip two nights ago which was so utterly profound and devastating that I feel it is very hard to deal with what I learned and re-learned. It is the kind of stuff I seem to need to keep learning again, and again, and again. It is my own sticking point, my personal apocalypse.

I believe you are correct in saying that some people will turn to tranquilizers or opiates to help deal with the raw shock of such a rude awakening. One of the recurring elements of my introspective trips is my battle with addiction to benzodiazepines. I was using benzodiazepines for 10 years straight (almost continous, bar afew withdrawals) until December 2010, when I quit cold-turkey. However, I have since taken a few doses in the intervening year for various reasons. I have been training myself during the 2011 year to trip hard without using benzos. As a consequence, one of the recurring themes during my difficult trips is that of my weakness and desire to take the 'easy way out'.

This of course uncovers all the reasons why I have been using benzodiazepines in the first place, and that is where the hell is. The whole thing can turn in to an endless causality loop: [guilt, shame, fear, anxiety] > [desire to use benzos] > [benzo use] > [psychedelic realization of character flaws covered up by benzo use] > [guilt, shame, fear, anxiety] : loop complete. This loop can last after the trip has ended, and that is why I believe you are correct in what you say.

I will say though, that it is also my revelations that make me want to completely be free from benzodiazepines and pharmaceuticals in general. So in that sense, psychedelics are also catalyzing within me a fight back against the entire cycle of use and live a fulfilling and healthy life, and try to evolve as a spiritual being.

 

[<SpaceHead>]

i have have seen this happen to several people and myself to some degree. In m experience it was ketamine that opened the way to harder drugs. After years of tripping I tried ketamine, it was the first drug I have ever snorted. I think ketamine can be very insightful about the nature of self awareness, taking your mind apart you can sometimes place it together in a more intentional way. Allthough dissociatives are far more addictive than psyches so extreme caution must be used in regulating their frequency or they will lead to dangerous and irrisponsible behavior. As for the theory of psychedelics leading to harder drug use, I think people who binge on psyches looking to just get really fucked up or see some crazy shit will be more likley to feel uncomfortable with the information they are left with. Your intent in taking the drug is definitely part of your set/setting, andbif you go in thinking its going to be all fun and games and get slamed with some heavy universal perspective or introspective hellhole it will likley be very traumatizing, and if the person is already a wre kless drug user as the are if they are using psyches in this way, are probobly likley to turn to opiates and other addictive escapist drugs for an "easy way out". I've used things like kratom or phenibut like this sortof thinking they are less dangerous than harder options but they're still really habit forming andbpotentialy problematic.

 

[Venrak]

Meditation on psychedelics has been used as a tool by me and many others for spiritual growth. You analyze the world around you and draw connections that previously were never made. You come to realize things about your environment and the nature of reality, and you destroy previous perceptions and philosophies in order to erect others; the destruction/construction of reality can be hard to cope with, especially when you're stuck in between.