Depression + LSD

isabelladenyst

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Australia
Hey,

I've been suffering from clinical depression for about 8 months, I see a psychologist regularly but I'm not on any medication.

My friends and I have been able to get our hands on some acid, and we're hoping to drop it soon, I've read up about bad trips and such but there isn't a lot telling me about what can happen if you have a bad trip while suffering from depression. I think I could get myself out a bad trip if it comes up, I'll be around close friends and in a secure environment. Is there anything I should be really worried about??
 
The vast of majority bad trips are user-generated.... either bad company, bad setting, bad timing, or bad expectations.
With LSD, especially with first trips..... you'll need a really comfy and healthy spot, a large chunk of time with nothing to do, people who are supportive & drama-free (an experienced psychonaut guide is best), and a clear mind.
Just roll with it, and remember its not permanent. LSD can even be used to treat certain cases of depression, given the right controls and oversight...... it works a charm for me.

But since you're already inclined to naturally see the dark side of things, I wouldnt suggest doing LSD. Wait until you can approach it without apprehension.
 
My girlfriend and i both suffer from depression. We have both tripped numerous times, some better than other. LSD is a beautiful thing, get excited about it an forget about the bad shit. Be in an environment that invokes love and excitement into you. The bush is a great place. If your around friends that you trust an have fun with you should have a great time. I felt the love from my first trip for a month after. Good luck and forget about the bad shit.
 
LSD can have incredible anti-depressant power but make sure you have some kind of benzo or opiate on you just in case things go bad. Only use it if you absolutely have to, its much better to deal with a bad trip without additional drugs. After I tripped my first time I had zero depression and anxiety for about 2 weeks and I was still in the middle of recovering from a harsh roll.
 
Tranquilizing somebody in the throes of a bad trip is NOT something you want to do, and sedation left to the medical professionals. Guiding someone out of a bad trip is a lot more healthy, and entirely doable.
 
i agree with the BLer that suggested you have someone you trust and who is experienced with this substance nearby (in the event that you fall into a negative train of thought, and with the aid of your trip-sitter can easily dig yourself out of that mindstate/environment and into a more positive one.)

id also recommend doing as much research of the substance as possible, taking care of your diet a week or two prior to the dosing; and spend some quality time mentally training your mind to appreciate the positives that this experience will have on you to avoid negative instances (remind yourself of how mentally able you are to control your state of feeling when strong and why you are choosing this experience to awaken that ability.).

good luck OP. if utilized correctly, lsd can be a beautiful and long overdue awakening experience.

wishing you the best on this journey. keep us updated. <3

...kytnism...:|
 
If you've never done any psychedelics then it's hard to predict how you will react. Some people handle them fairly easily while others are more prone to have difficult experiences.

I certainly don't suggest purposely make it painful, but sometimes difficult trip are what you can learn a lot from if you are in a safe and environment.
Unconscious thoughts and fears can be brought to the surface and force you to face them. This offers an opportunity to work with them and potentially decrease their power over you, although this is not always the outcome.

I'm not suggested you do it or not, but a "bad trip" is not necessarily something that you can't prevent from happening with certainty. There are some people who claim to have lasting negative effects, although I suspect this is a small minority.
 
My friends and I have been able to get our hands on some acid, and we're hoping to drop it soon, I've read up about bad trips and such but there isn't a lot telling me about what can happen if you have a bad trip while suffering from depression. I think I could get myself out a bad trip if it comes up, I'll be around close friends and in a secure environment. Is there anything I should be really worried about??

Hi isabella, I've also suffered from depression for most of my life, and I LOVE acid. I've never had a bad trip, although I generally accept the fact that for the few days after I trip, I am usually a bit depressed. This is due to the serotonin levels in the brain being depleted from the drug's action (the same thing with MDMA). That is probably going to be the most likely repercussion from you taking acid. If you are really aware of this for the week after you trip and prepare for it, you should be just fine.

As others have said, you cannot predict if/when a bad trip is going to occur BUT you can do certain things to make the setting as comfortable as possible. All the things that Ixchellian and xenocat have said are great suggestions. I would also strongly recommend that you only take a reasonably small dose for your first time, even like a half or quarter of a tab or something like that. There is no reason to start out with a large dose when it comes to trying acid. Always remember that you can always take more, but you can't ever take less once you've already had it ;)

IF the trip starts to turn bad, it's actually pretty futile to try to "get yourself out of it", in fact that can make you feel even worse if you try to fight it. IF you start to feel bad, the best thing you can do is to just relax and ride the trip out, and to always remind yourself that it's just the drug, and the feelings won't last forever. It always wears off :)

However, having said all of that, chances are you are going to absolutely LOVE it, and it won't turn bad at all. You are going to have a great time :) <3
 
Thanks, it's something I've wanted to do for ages, but been really wary about, this is a real assurance, I'm sure everything will be fine :)
 
I've found the phrase "It's just a drug" to be quite helpful during the worst of trips. Then you can laugh it off once you grasp the phrase and its meaning.
 
I've found the phrase "It's just a drug" to be quite helpful during the worst of trips. Then you can laugh it off once you grasp the phrase and its meaning.

yuppers, this closer what I mean with helping someone "get out" of a bad trip. It's more like just helping them stay grounded, rather than escaping.

When guiding for a trip, that guidance can be like a PA system for rationality in the halls of a bad dream, or as subtle as the ringing of a cellphone.
Sometimes it just takes a bit more helpful push to snap someone out of a bad thought cycle.

Let me reiterate..... please.... never try using sedatives or opiates to mediate a bad trip, or a trip going bad. Benzos and opiates are things that can easily make a bad trip trivial.....
If someone is out of their mind on acid, are they really responsible and rational enough to properly administer the right doses..... or possibly even remember if they'd dosed two minutes prior?

If one absolutely must have something to calm the nerves, keep chocolate, soothing teas, safe music, and even maybe a little hash handy to take the edge off.... but not enough to smoke into oneself to new levels of anxiety.
 
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Let me reiterate..... please.... never try using sedatives or opiates to mediate a bad trip, or a trip going bad. Benzos and opiates are things that can easily make a bad trip trivial.....
If someone is out of their mind on acid, are they really responsible and rational enough to properly administer the right doses..... or possibly even remember if they'd dosed two minutes prior?

If one absolutely must have something to calm the nerves, keep chocolate, soothing teas, safe music, and even maybe a little hash handy to take the edge off.... but not enough to smoke into oneself to new levels of anxiety.

Excellent advice :)

and even maybe a little hash handy to take the edge off.... but not enough to smoke into oneself to new levels of anxiety.
True, however it is a very fine line between just enough to take the edge off, and too much so as to exacerbate the problem (as you said).
 
Your own mind, or the friendly intentions of other's, is really all you need. Acid doesn't need to be squelched under a blanket of tranquilizers, no matter how bad you think it is...well I feel like I might be getting ahead of myself by saying that because I can understand if a person is like totally going psycho, then they should be tranked. I see nothing wrong with using opiates or benzos responsibly in this case to try and induce sleep, or at least take a large portion of the edge off, but that should be seriously a last resort measure if you feel like jumping off a building or something crazy. There's a difference between simply having a "bad trip" and going psycho. Having intensely personal and frightening self reflection and being disappointed with your lot in life is one thing, but trying to put your head through a wall is another thing altogether.
 
i suffer from depression, and i find that acid helps with my mind set as well as my migraines. i have taken acid in a depressed or negative mood, and have never had a problem. i have come close to having a bad trip, once when i was candy flipping and i was coming down from the molly, but its really quite simple to talk yourself out of it.

ive tripped a hundred times, and ive never had a problem. no matted what state of mind im in, ill take acid. so i think you'll be fine. just relax and let it roll.
 
Bad trips???

I manage my depression with communication. I ran the gambit with all of the ssri, snri, maoi, ***i, etc antidepressants and have had success with some of them. Now, I take only Mirtazapine 60mgs for sleep at night.
Lsd has never once placed me in a frame of mind that I would call, "bad." I find that opening up that part of consciousness can be shocking, defeating and sometimes even scary. However. with so many minds in the world, all of which have a form of consciousness, in one way or another, there is an seemingly endless resource for expressing and receiving what it is that need to simply be shared. Pain shared is pain lessened. Sharing joy with someone puts an exponentially higher amount of joy in the collective consciousness.
We create our own reality... We create the concept of a bad trip. I have taken lsd upwards of 300+ times and I have never had an experience that I would call bad. I think it was Terrance McKenna who said something along the lines of if you didn't take enough of whatever hallucinogen you may have taken to think that you're dying... You haven't taken enough. If any one has the correct quote verbatim, please comment. Ive felt as though the drug could have been killing me before in my life, from that feeling I acquired a sense of serenity that words will never do justice if i tried to explain it.


Amphetamine Psychosis may be my only exception. But from that, terrifying as it was, I grew
 
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