What's your trick to get out of bad trips quick?

[Kl519]

I'm certain Xorkoth has been around and is knowledgeable enough to know what terrible trips are like, especially psychedelics themselves. I have a difficult time believing BL's PD mod wouldn't know of it, as I'm sure he's seen many posters experience it and tell it like it is from their perspective. But he does say that he never had a bad trip like that, and even questions why they do or don't occur to those people.

I question the same, and for my part I do not understand it either. We could all just point to the fact that there is a huge variance in SET between users, but if possible, I would like a better explanation than that. And, relatively speaking, this is assuming all subjects have a healthy mind.

I believe those that don't get those terrible, and nonsensical (as Pontius Pilate described, which has happened to me on many of those) bad trips are pretty much shining examples of those fortunate enough to have the mental fortitude, discipline and experience to be able to negate them. That's my guess, as I wouldn't know since I have gotten them at least 10 times out of ~200 trips of acid, which really can be brutal and a bit on the cold side. Acid was the only psychedelic I had taken well over 20 times, so I'm very familiar with it.

The reality is that most of us have been through hard times, and they will certainly manifest in some kind of way if one takes a strong psychedelic enough times. In my case, the same hopelessness revealed itself to me, which I had long forgotten how it felt like. Though I have been pretty traumatized as a kid, in which I skipped so many details, it's certainly not as bad as those living in third world countries or even all those tragic stories on the news. And the many others that are NOT in the news.

The objective part of me rationalizes the nonsensical bad trip phenomenon with the fact that some do, and some don't. As to why? Hell if I know. Even these well studied psychedelics are not fully understood, and probably for that reason there aren't as many conclusive answers as we would like. The brain is just that complicated.

So I'm with PP at this junction. No one can tell me the fucking demon lion jumping at me from both sides is a symbol of some inner crap that I haven't dealt with yet, or it has some deep meaning I have yet to discover. When I had that trip, I had gotten way past my depression "era" and I could easily stand up to anything that I needed to in real life. In this fast-paced world, stress is inevitable and taking a psychedelic like acid on a bad day was a great way to punch myself in the face with a terrible trip.

I would definitely love to not have those terrible, nonsensical trips. I think those who don't get it, and odds are there are some who really don't, are lucky because those trips really suck man.

Not that I get all twisted over them, but still...it made me quit acid. It just wasn't worth it anymore, especially because it was no longer fun and I got tired of it. Just being honest.

 

[PeaceOfPast]

Obviously taking antipsychotics or benzos works well but i mean if you don't have access to other drugs.

My main method is putting in fear and loathing in lv because it reminds me that i'm just on drugs and all the bad thoughts are just from the drugs.
then i go right back into a good trip and have a blast the rest of the time.

Fear and Loathing makes so much more sense on acid. It doesnt even feel that disorganized like usual.

For bad moments just let go. One time on mushrooms i felt the infinite time dilation thing, but this time it was really wigging me out.

I just spent some time realizing how interesting that this drug could make me feel it. Seconds felt like hours lol.

 

[PeaceOfPast]

Whenever I "abort" a trip using benzos, I always feel like I've kind of wasted money, even if I'm having a "bad trip". Like, I bought the ticket, may as well ride out the whole trip...

Ive done it. I dont think its always so bad. I mean, if uve never rode one out its a cheat ya, but sometimes flipping into a new vibe is a lot of fun.

It can change the tossing and turning for sleep into an interesting morning instead if u go back out.

 

[guyanapunch]

Meditation, deep breathing, I find bilateral stimulation to be extremely helpful…slow, even, gentle tapping with my fingers (left, right, left, right) on my thighs, or my personal favorite is "the butterfly"- arms crossed over your chest, tapping just below the shoulders (left, right, left, right):

http://anxietyreleaseapp.com/what-is-bilateral-stimulation/

And as others have said, a change surroundings…change in music, or just walking around for a few minutes, can make all the difference.

 

[St3ve]

I always tell people they just need a distraction from whatever is occupying their mind when they feel themselves "going bad". As plenty of other have said this can be anything from going outside, into another room, putting on music/changing it, or sometimes it can be as simple as telling your friend(s) that you aren't feeling so great. Simply by expressing your fear/anxiety you can sometimes make it go away...

Most psychedelics severely impair your short term memory, so use that to your advantage! Overload it with new bits of information so you forget what it was that made you freak out in the first place x).

 

[xammy]

“Use them with care, and use them with respect as to the transformations they can achieve, and you have an extraordinary research tool. Go banging about with a psychedelic drug for a Saturday night turn-on, and you can get into a really bad place, psychologically. Know what you're using, decide just why you're using it, and you can have a rich experience. They're not addictive, and they're certainly not escapist, either, but they're exceptionally valuable tools for understanding the human mind, and how it works.”

― Alexander Shulgin, Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story

 

[Kl519]

That's interesting, and kind of humorous. Most of my trips were fine and I had a lot of fun, with my psyche just a little bit improved overall AFTER taking psychs. But almost all of my mental growth occurred before I ever got into them, so...yeah.

Still, nice quote from the big boss. RIP.

Edit: Heh.

 

[88James]

Weed gives me the worst trips. I never did any drugs until I tried weed when I was 17. The first time I tried it I fell in love with it. For about four months I continued smoking it more and more until my parents caught me. My dad was an ex cop and very staunch against drugs. Alcohol was alright, I've always been allowed to drink with my family in moderation since I was 6, but any kind of illegal drugs was a no-go as far as my father was concerned. The first time my dad caught me wasn't that bad. He'd gone through my desk drawer when I was at school and found rolling papers with a print out of instructions on how to roll a blunt lol. He just lectured me and I agreed to stop. About two weeks later though he caught me again and shit hit the fan. I'd come home from a friend's house extremely baked and there was no hiding it. That was the first time ever that I'd been high and felt uncomfortable at the same time. He yelled at me for the longest time and made me feel extremely guilty. My mom even cried. Ever since then weed's never been the same for me. Even now, 11 years later, I can't enjoy it like I used to be able to before that day.

Shortly after getting caught that second time I bought an eighth. I went out into the woods by myself and rolled a joint. After taking about 4 hits I became overwhelmed and more scared than I'd ever been in my life. I can't explain it. At first I started having flashbacks of my parents crying and yelling at me. I thought that my dad was going to pop out from behind any bush or tree and explode with rage. For about 30 minutes it was like I was frozen stiff while my mind jumped from one horrible thought to the next. It was terrible. At one point I was sure I had cancer. I could see myself being diagnosed and told that I only had a few more months to live. I was sure that after dying I would go to hell for eternity. It was so real I can't explain it but I'm sure some of you other trippers know exactly what I'm talking about. After a little bit I heard someone yelling in the distance. It was probably a construction worker because there was a work site close by. Whatever it was it got me thinking that it was the police. I spent the next four hours running from the "police" through thorn bushes and all kinds of other nasty shit. I ended up burying the rest of my weed somewhere and never finding it again. When I got home I was covered in dirt and bug bites.

For the next few years I continued smoking weed. I was always chasing the way I used to feel before my parents found out but no matter what I could never enjoy it. By forcing myself to continue smoking it every day I got over the panic attacks but I could never shake the edgy feeling. It always put me on edge and I could never relax. Whenever I smoked it at parties or even with one close friend I would always become extremely self conscious. I'd become really really quiet and whenever I did talk my voice was always so monotone which would make me even more self conscious. If people were smoking though I could never refuse it. One time I went to a party with a friend. I didn't know anybody there. Everything was alright until we started passing around a bowl. After that I didn't say anything for the next two hours. I just sat on the couch pretending to watch the TV while dreading the thought of anyone talking to me. Finally this one kid Shaun laughed to my friend Cory saying something about me not having said one word the whole night. Everyone looked at me and I wanted to disappear so badly. Eventually one of the girls took pity on me and tried talking to me which made it even worse. The next day my friend was embarrassed because of me and told me that I freaked everyone out.

Every since I started smoking weed I've been doing it on and off. Sometimes I'll smoke it all day every day for months where I'm used to it but I still can never truly enjoy it. I've learned that I can never smoke it unless I'm alone or I'll get crazy and self conscious. Also, if I haven't smoked it in a while I'll have a panic attack if I smoke more than three hits when I start again. Like I said I've spend years chasing the enjoyment it used to give me when I first started smoking it only to be very disappointed. I've had many panic attacks and bouts of paranoia. One time I was paranoid, hiding from nobody, and I cut through someones yard where I was almost torn apart by two dobermans. Another time I broke into a random shed and hid for five hours. The list goes on and on but thankfully I've never gotten caught by the police or gotten hurt. Until I was about 23 I really hated my parents for ruining weed for me. Now I've learned to just accept the fact that I'll never be able to enjoy it the way most people can.

 

[Xorkoth]

Perhaps you have not been exposed to pure LSD or Dimethyltryptamine before, because of all people (myself, my dealer, and everyone i know who has used real tested LSD) has experienced a "bad trip", LSD has the tendency to bring out the best and also the worst in you at the same time and that can have a profound effect on the inner consciousness... maybe someday you will too have the privelage of experiencing LSD-25 in its purest form as i have, and then you will surely retract your statement...

if you get pure DMT (dimethyltryptamine) as well you will exceedingly open your mind.

I definitely have had pure DMT and LSD. I haven't had a terror trip on LSD but I have on DMT. I also have on mushrooms, and on 2C-E. My 2C-E terror trip was one of the most important trips of my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything but I did consider killing myself at the time because I was convinced if I died before I fully deconstructed that my soul would continue to exist, but if I didn't, I would be utterly annihilated forever. Fortunately I had just enough willpower remaining to let it play out.

What I was really trying to say is, it's all a matter of perspective. I'm responding to your mentioning of these kinds of trips leading to PTSD. I'm willing to consider that I'm just lucky, but I just really believe that your experiences in life are largely the result of how you frame those raw experiences... if you decide that an experience was traumatic and focus on how damaging it was to you and fear that you'll be affected negatively by it, then you might be affected negatively by it. If you decide that it was a difficult experience and that now it's passed, then you have room to let in whatever wasn't negative about it, even if that's just some learning about yourself, or about taking drugs, or whatever. When you're in an experience, if you stop to take stock and let the negativity wash over and through you, it's amazing how possible it is to lift yourself out of a negative thought loop. And you can learn something, even if all you learned was that it's possible for you to reframe your mental set and that you're stronger than you thought.

All I'm saying is, consider that bad trips, rather than something to fear and abort, can be something that can help you to be a stronger person. No one wants them, but if you find yourself in the middle of one, the end result is largely based on how you handle it.

 

[Dawglaw]

Mushrooms and/or THC can take my mind to some weird places with a lot of self consciousness/anxiety during the trip. I really try to avoid them these days.

Best thing to remember if you (or someone else) are struggling- you are on drugs, your thoughts are being affected by those drugs, you took the drugs for a reason, no matter how much your mind focuses on "being stuck forever" - no one ever has. If your mind is focused on something negative in your life - tell yourself that you are glad that the drugs brought this to the surface, think of plans for dealing with this when you are sober. Ask yourself, what life changes is your consciousness (by way of the drugs) asking you to be aware of and make? Come up with a plan on how you will implement those changes.

Take 20 deep breaths - inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. A change of scenery can really help too, be it moving away from a crowd, going back to your tent, or going into a dark room.

I dabbled with pain pills for a while, nothing serious but enough to call a minor habit. I took some mushrooms and freaked out about my useage and instead of panicing, I deleted and blocked my dealer's number and came up with a plan to quit. I went from a dark place to a good place quickly, and more importantly I made a big decision that has positively affected my life to this day. I avoided an opiate problem.

Always look for ways to turn a negative into a positive.

 

[emingos]

15-30mg midazolam (iv/Im) if i have it else whatever i have and what i need to stop, breathing exercise like said above can help some situations, but is it the last option i would use a very fast acting benzo

 

[Trying2Iso]

i've had the "i'm gay" trip before.
Afterwards, i (rather open-mindedly) kissed a guy to see if it amounted to anything, using the excuse "Don't knock it till you try it"
I felt nothing.
so i come to the conclusion that LSD does not turn you gay.

 

[murphythecat]

its all a thought. you need to understand that you need to stop to be the thinker and only be the observer of the thoughts.
when you observe a thought, it vanishe.but if you think about it, you feed that thought over and over and over.

you need to establish your consciousness and awareness somewhere though.
you can either learn to observe your thoughts. theres many many thoughts, but most of them if you dont feed them will vanish
observe a part of your body. this is much easier. be super aware of one part in your body. and if you move, be aware of every movement your body makes. this is call mindfulness basically.

talk to your mind. tell him: are you in this present moment? likely not. you are in the past, the future, fears, all sort of silly stuff that isnt happening right now. right now, you are breathing, your butt is on a comfy sofa and im going nuts trying to solve my thoughts rather then let them go and look at whats happening NOW. so if you walk, look at each steps, when you sit look at all the muscle that needs to react for you to sit. fascinating stuff and quite beautiful.

to get out of a bad trip, be in the present moment and dont try to change your thoughts, accept them and let them go.
its all impermanent anyway!

 

[Pontius Pilate]

What I was really trying to say is, it's all a matter of perspective. I'm responding to your mentioning of these kinds of trips leading to PTSD. I'm willing to consider that I'm just lucky, but I just really believe that your experiences in life are largely the result of how you frame those raw experiences... if you decide that an experience was traumatic and focus on how damaging it was to you and fear that you'll be affected negatively by it, then you might be affected negatively by it. If you decide that it was a difficult experience and that now it's passed, then you have room to let in whatever wasn't negative about it, even if that's just some learning about yourself, or about taking drugs, or whatever.

.........

No one wants them, but if you find yourself in the middle of one, the end result is largely based on how you handle it.

^Best advice in this thread, and not just regarding drug freakouts.

Trust me, I know firsthand psychedelics are serious business.. but framing is everything. My childhood was bad. Really bad. Like, actually traumatic. Your perspective decides your entire experience though. When I actually understood, like when I really felt the truth of that, my whole life changed.

I think our culture has neglected emotional intelligence. You control how you feel. People don't seem to get that though.. I mean, when I'm sad and notice, I just, be happy instead. Nike yo!, 'Just Do It'.

 

[Kl519]

^Best advice in this thread, and not just regarding drug freakouts.

Trust me, I know firsthand psychedelics are serious business.. but framing is everything. My childhood was bad. Really bad. Like, actually traumatic. Your perspective decides your entire experience though. When I actually understood, like when I really felt the truth of that, my whole life changed.

I think our culture has neglected emotional intelligence. You control how you feel. People don't seem to get that though.. I mean, when I'm sad and notice, I just, be happy instead. Nike yo!, 'Just Do It'.

Indeed. That's pretty much how I ended up seeing it too. Life is short, so just enjoy it. We'll never know when we're gonna go.

Ya, Xorkoth knows what he's talking about. That's for sure.

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

I think a lot of people in the general population see these drugs like any other and when they use them for the wrong reasons you end up with the classic "bad trip". Most commonly used drugs can be used for escapism, to forget about ones problems and enjoy the ride. They offer a break from the everyday turmoil in return for a high price to be paid later if one uses them too often.

LSD, Mushrooms, and all of the others aren't even on the same planet. They can offer a lot of good things but when used for escapism they tend to bite, and hard. If I have money problems, or a raging opioid addiction, or ideas about suicide and hopelessness they will become a large part of the trip. I will dwell on them, I will think about them, and I will end up in a bad place. I've been in that bad place multiple times and have come out the other end a better person for going through it so I consider my "bad trips" to be as valuable as the good.

Over time I learned that taking psyches for the wrong reasons wasn't the best idea. For me is was mostly a desire to escape my problems and I'd turn to them when other things weren't available or not desired. I've noticed friends that do the same thing. If I turn someone on to something (be is LSD, Shrooms, or an RC) and they have a good time eventually they will come back around and want another taste. A lot of times I will turn them down...and trust me they hate me for it. But I know the time isn't right to indulge. I don't win many popularity contests and trust me I don't think I know better than they know themselves...but if I _know_ they're seeking the substance just for an escape I know better than to give it to them.

I guess this is my round-about way of saying you're best off avoiding the situation where possible. Sometimes it does just happen and in those cases I advise riding it out if you feel you can. If not my go-to would be a fast acting benzo (the hammer) or anti-psych (the sledge hammer), however I must stress that these are band-aids that will not help the underlying issues that caused you to end up in that bad place.

 

[PeaceOfPast]

i've had the "i'm gay" trip before.
Afterwards, i (rather open-mindedly) kissed a guy to see if it amounted to anything, using the excuse "Don't knock it till you try it"
I felt nothing.
so i come to the conclusion that LSD does not turn you gay.

Not sure if yer joking, but reminded me of Jeffery Lewis- the last time i did acid i went insane

 

[maddiemax]

Talk to somebody. On bad ketamine trips I need to know I'm still on Earth and that I'm gonna come down from it. Literally just hearing somebody else talk can help a lot. Doesn't matter what you say or what they say just something that's calming. Of course this will only work if you are with other people... If not I try to feel around me like the floor or the chair, wherever I am. Just things to get you back in touch with the world.

 

[Kl519]

I think a lot of people in the general population see these drugs like any other and when they use them for the wrong reasons you end up with the classic "bad trip". Most commonly used drugs can be used for escapism, to forget about ones problems and enjoy the ride. They offer a break from the everyday turmoil in return for a high price to be paid later if one uses them too often.

LSD, Mushrooms, and all of the others aren't even on the same planet. They can offer a lot of good things but when used for escapism they tend to bite, and hard. If I have money problems, or a raging opioid addiction, or ideas about suicide and hopelessness they will become a large part of the trip. I will dwell on them, I will think about them, and I will end up in a bad place. I've been in that bad place multiple times and have come out the other end a better person for going through it so I consider my "bad trips" to be as valuable as the good.

Over time I learned that taking psyches for the wrong reasons wasn't the best idea. For me is was mostly a desire to escape my problems and I'd turn to them when other things weren't available or not desired. I've noticed friends that do the same thing. If I turn someone on to something (be is LSD, Shrooms, or an RC) and they have a good time eventually they will come back around and want another taste. A lot of times I will turn them down...and trust me they hate me for it. But I know the time isn't right to indulge. I don't win many popularity contests and trust me I don't think I know better than they know themselves...but if I _know_ they're seeking the substance just for an escape I know better than to give it to them.

I guess this is my round-about way of saying you're best off avoiding the situation where possible. Sometimes it does just happen and in those cases I advise riding it out if you feel you can. If not my go-to would be a fast acting benzo (the hammer) or anti-psych (the sledge hammer), however I must stress that these are band-aids that will not help the underlying issues that caused you to end up in that bad place.

Personally, I've never used drugs to escape anything. I mean, if one thinks about it, how can doing something completely unrelated to the problem end up solving it? The best way to solve problems is to do something about it directly. It sounds obvious, but that's exactly why I didn't use them that way. Some exceptions are if the person wants an easy way to delve into their psyche to fix whatever mental/emotional issues that they want to examine, or if they've tried everything else and it didn't work.

I've always treated substances as a recreational activity. Instead of going to Six Flags, clubs, watching a movie, playing sports, going to a bar, rock climbing, snowboarding, concert, playing video games, building a motor, making chocolate covered strawberries, I mean the list goes on. Then just add substances to that list. That's how I always saw it and treated it. None of those things are really productive.

If those are considered escapes, then I don't have a leg to stand on here. Yet every single person would be guilty of escaping if it's viewed that way. I truly don't believe psychs have to be used one particular way, and in real time I've never met anyone who have used psychs for those particular reasons either. I guess all the people I've met aren't really into all that spiritual and mental growth through the use of psychs. They're mostly like me where we've grown and matured our psyches without them. There are a ton of good hearted and successful people who have never used them for that benefit, or even at all. So why is it frowned upon if they're not used for those "right" reasons?

Idk, I just have a hard time believing someone who is about to drop acid is purely doing it for spiritual growth, with no fun involved at all, or any desire to get pleasure out of it. I'm sure that happens, but I bet it's rare and it doesn't really justify using them too often, if someone is going to claim they only use it that particular way. How many times does one trip only and exactly when they need spiritual/mental examination? I'd also argue that people who DO use them for the "right reasons" make that choice because they find that spiritual growth to be "fun" in the first place. People improve themselves because they want to and they enjoy it. In my mind, that reason is what fun is all about.

Tbh, I think the definition of fun really gets a bad rap and becomes equated to all those teenagers trying to act cool, get high and tell "bad ass" stories to their friends. That's not the kind of fun I meant. -_- It's fun to me because I enjoy the effects that they give me, and I'd rather do psychs at a friend's house than go to a bar and get wasted.

I've thought deeply about this before, ironically, while tripping on a psych a while back. Like why I do them, why they really interest me and if I'm really just using them for "fun." I realized that what's fun to me is really anything that just interests me, or causes me to act upon a desire. And what interests me about psychs is its ability to change my perception of everything in a way I didn't think was possible, in my mind adding another perspective and dimension to everything I think and feel. It doesn't fill a void, but it does add to all of the experience that life has to offer.

I guess I'm just tired of the fun and recreation label being misunderstood, especially because I think this certain point of view is never elaborated upon here on BL. I know I'm not alone with these sentiments. Maybe not here, but definitely my friends see it this way too. Probably not exactly though.

And to end it here, I truly applaud those who do use psychs for real and useful benefits. Considering my set, I've never been able to use them for the "right" reasons, or be in the kind of situation to use them that way. I just don't think I should be labeled as using them the wrong way because of that.

 

[AA357]

I'm pretty hard-headed and I don't take my experiences seriously at all (this is why I still have my sanity).
One time I freaked out and had a bad panic attack on LSD. The cause: a messy flat. Since then, I have become more diligent with my housework.

As long as my flat is clean and tidy and I have plenty of sensory stimuli to avoid boredom then it's pretty much guaranteed that I have a good trip.

I always tell people they just need a distraction from whatever is occupying their mind when they feel themselves "going bad". As plenty of other have said this can be anything from going outside, into another room, putting on music/changing it, or sometimes it can be as simple as telling your friend(s) that you aren't feeling so great. Simply by expressing your fear/anxiety you can sometimes make it go away...

True. Boredom is a major cause of bad trips/thoughts.

Most psychedelics severely impair your short term memory

Dafuq have you been taking???

One of the most unique things I've noticed about psychedelics is how they DON'T cause anterograde amnesia.
Cannabis, benzos, alcohol, opiates and dissociatives can all wipe or severely cloud your memory.
If anything, psychedelics enhance short term memory... when I wake up the next day I am always able to remember my experiences with crystal clarity (unless I was also drinking or smoking heavily).