Anxiety on Psychedelics

[Zalo]

Hey BlueLight,

I've been having issues with psychedelics (mainly just LSD, and my recent MDA trip) over the past few months in that I have been experiencing a lot more bad trips than good. My bad trips tend to revolve around the thought of losing my mind, which seem to surface from feelings of anxiety. When I first started doing LSD I've had no issues, it was my favourite substance for quite awhile.

My confidence in doing psychedelic drugs is non-existant now and my anxiety for using psychedelics has gone up. A few bad trips here and there has put my thoughts in the negative and I can't help but feel and think anxious thoughts when doing psychedelics.

I'd like to note that my anxiety when sober has not changed, if not gotten better ever since I started using psychedelics, though I am naturally an anxious person, but I can no longer seem to enjoy my favourite class of substances.

I would appreciate any advice on this topic as well as reports of those who have experienced the same things that I have.

 

[Ballz_Trippington]

Bad trips seem to come about because something from your subconscious bubbles forth that might be disconcerting or because your mind becomes fixated on (fill in the blank- it could be anything).
The technique that I have found very useful to bring 90% of people out of bad trips is to get their mind off whatever is bothering them and changing as much sensory input as possible.
For example, the first thing if do is take the person who's having a bad trip out if the enviroment their currently in ( just take them to another room. ), get them a fizzy drink ( the bubbles help take your mind off of whatever is bothering you) , then hold their hand and get them to take slow, deep breaths and focus their attention on their breathing for a few minutes.
Steps should be taken to be VERY reassuring that everything will be ok. In a few minutes they'll be talking to you about something else and have usually forgotten that they were having any trouble.
This works almost everytime!!

 

[HazelCloud]

OP, I suffer from anxiety while sober and have experienced exactly what you're talking about. After a string of bad trips and most notably a panic attack on 2000ug of 25i-NBOMe (a MASSIVE dose if you are unaware) a year ago I lost all my confidence in psychedelics. I was not able to trip without anxiety overwhelming and souring the experience. I ended up stopping my psychedelic use completely for 8 months. It wasn't because I didn't want to trip, it was because I was too afraid to.

However, a few months ago I decided to make a change after craving a good psychedelic experience for too long. I am now able to take moderate to high doses of most psychedelics without any issues. Some of the steps I took were this:
-Environment. When I reintroduced myself to psychedelics I ensured I had at least 12 hours alone and a house to myself. Authority figures or people unaware of your state of mind can especially disturb a positive psychedelic experience. Tripping around friends is OK, as long as they are close to you and are comfortable with you tripping.
-Anxiolytics/benzos. This I believe was the most essential part of my 'recovery'. I acquired a stash of xanax and valium to take in case I had a severe panic attack or needed to 'jump ship'. In fact, to this day I refuse to take a psychedelic without them. However, this is not to say you should be railing xanax everytime you take acid. The idea is to have them just in case and use the safety net to train yourself to tolerate the experience; I only ended up taking mine once in the past 10-15 trips.
-Dosing. I initially started with very low doses and worked my way up slowly(1/4 tab>1/2 tab>3/4 tab etc). This allowed me to guarantee a positive experience every time and rebuilt my confidence. I now prefer lower doses in general, however; I noticed I'm more sensitive to psychedelics than most because of my susceptibility to anxiety.
-Distractions. Having activities planned like a certain game, movie, art etc. helps a lot with anxiety. Being absorbed into something really increases the quality of a psychedelic experience. Activities that flood the brain with feel-good chemicals like music, excersize and sex are great distractions as well. In addition, make sure all your needs are tended to before tripping, like hunger, thirst, hygiene etc.

Anyways, that's my experience with psychedelics and anxiety. It can be overcome, but you also must understand anxiety is a part of every psychedelic experience as well. It's being able to pass through those moments that is the key. Hope this helped, and happy tripping

 

[Zalo]

I appreciate both your replies.

Ballz_Trippington your post will help me when I trip sit my friend who wants to try psychedelics again, but is prone to negative thought loops like myself.

HazelCloud your post was extremely helpful. It's nice hearing that someone who's gone through the same experience as I have was able to fully enjoy psychedelics again. I do have benzos on hand, but I always try to ride out my bad trips. I think I'll give myself some time away from psychs then get back into it starting with very low doses.