Getting over a bad trip

[badrobot114]

Hey everyone,

three weeks ago me and my girlfriend were at a big massive, we had a lovely lovely time ourselves, but one of the people in our group wigged out badly on suspected psilocybin(he got it off a stranger and his reaction was quite atypical to mushrooms, he has also tripped numerous times in the past and always enjoyed him).

He started asking us if he was alive or dead, couldn't remember how to sit down, thought every action he did was negative and became a little violent as well as very hyperactive. he also suffered severy dehydration and would aggressively try and grab any water bottle in his vicinity(including those held by other people).

In addition, we ran into someone else who was having a bad one on a very large dose of acid(according to him) and after trying unsuccesfully to help him reconnect with his group we had to reluctantly take him over to the paramedics(which aren't very nice and don't know how to handle bad trips as we all know).

Lastly, she saw a man being dragged away naked by security later that day.

These three occurences have left her quite traumatized with psychedelics despite having very pleasant and spiritual experiences with mushrooms, 2cb, acid, mdma and a 2cb+mdma combo. she's currently unsure if she will want to ever trip again for fear she'll remember seeing those people wigging out and having a bad one herself, i can't stress enough how deeply this affected her after having only good experiences and not being able to imagine how a trip can be a bad experience.

I've explained to her those people took too much in the wrong setting, and for all intents and purposes we can't even be sure what they actually took. I've explained to her the person from our group took the mushrooms while being drunk and couldn't possibly have expected any other outcome than what happened(in other words - he was a fucking idiot and rightfully paid for it). I've explained to her that bad trips aren't the end of the world, told her about a few i've had myself and how they eventually turned into meaningful and positive experiences and i've also reminded her that no matter how bad things get, you always come down in the end.

Nothing seemed to work i'm afraid. I've no problem giving her all the time in the world to forget what happened to feel more comfortable to trip again, but i'm afraid this might have deeply scarred her and scared her off psychedelics entirely because it happened to her very soon in her psychedelic "career". I'd be very sad if this is the case, as tripping together has been beneficial to us as a couple and to each of us individually and seeing her swear off psychedelics just because a few assholes didn't respect what they were taking is just sad and unnecessary.

Any advice on how to handle this?

 

[kittyinthedark]

It sounds like you've done as much as you can for the moment. Bringing it up again too much/too soon is likely to reinforce her memories of the unpleasant experience. Has she done any reading here on Bluelight? It would probably benefit her to read some of the stories here, both positive and negative, to get some more perspectives than just yours and hers, so it might be worth suggesting as "I'll stop bringing this up, but here's a great link...". Ultimately, though, I'm sure you know as well as I that you have to be comfortable with it to benefit as much as possible from psychedelic experiences, so it may be best just to wait it out until she's ready again. And if that's never, that's okay too. I presume that would be disappointing to you, but there's no real need for you to worry about it. Stick with being happy and enjoying the company of a lovely girlfriend, tripping or otherwise.

 

[my3rdeye]

Try tripping at home for a few. I love the community but there are some real nutballs at parties. And bad trips are contagious too. She just saw the dark side, there are a lot of people who deny it exists until they get the fear themselves. And a mellow 1chemical at a time reintroduction might not be bad idea. Be careful, you don't want to scare her off them for life, and that happens a lot. Oh the drunk hobo in the gutter is not the same as the rich people in a club even though they are using substance if you want a comparison. Every substance has a down side.

 

[any major dude]

Definitely second the advice from Kitty in the dark. Just give her plenty of time & she'll probably come around. & certainly don't harp on the issue, though sharing proper information is never a bad idea.

 

[pmoseman]

I think it is great you are with someone who is not willing to risk it, and knows when they have had enough.

 

[CrimpJiggler]

Just tell her that fast acting benzos rapidly end bad trips and turn them positive, so if she has some, shes nothing to worry about. Also antipsychotics and trazodone end trips altogether, its reassuring to have failsafes like that.