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How can you tell if someone is ready...

KingBlueTwista

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for the dissolution of their ego and the expansion of their consciousness?
Or if not that, then to trip on a moderately strong psychedelic?

I know it is ultimately up to them, but you really don't wanna be responsible if their trip goes badly and I think certain mindsets make that much more likely. This happened to a friend of mine who I met about 3 months ago, he had never done psychedelics before and really wanted to do some, so we tripped on aMT together. We both took 50mg, which in retrospect (I wish it had been foresight) was a bad idea - I'm not sure how much he weighed but he was pretty damn small. Normally this dose is completely fine for me, but stupidly I wasn't thinking that I should make adjustments in accordance with his size. Nevertheless I don't think it would have made a massive difference.

It went smoothly for the first 4-5 hours then he started freaking out and saying 'I'm not in this situation' and he seemed really out of it. Then he started spinning around like a fucking cyclone and bashing into random shit. When I asked him what he was doing he replied 'I'm trying to center my gravity', so I guess in his mind some force was misaligned with his body or something like that. I was trying to comfort him because I know how it can be when a trip goes sour. Then I looked into his eyes and saw the most exasperated look of primal fear I've ever seen and he kept whispering 'get me out of here, man'. Naturally this freaked me the fuck out as I was tripping too and emotions are infectious, especially in such a state of suggestibility. Plus I realised the crushing possibility that I might have inadvertently destroyed his mind. Fuck. I should have taken into account his psychology as he was the kind of guy that dissects everything he does negatively and has really low self-esteem and ever since then he's been even more reclusive than he was. Now we have both learned a lesson the hard way.

I will never ever introduce anyone to psychedelics unless I know they are mentally equipped/prepared for them, but my question to you is how can you know this? Or maybe more importantly how can you tell if they are not ready?
 
I don't know how you can tell if a person is ready or not to take a psychedelic. But I do think that even if they're not ready, and they have a difficult experience, it will probably be that experience that makes them more ready for next time.

Let me quote from maps.org

A true psychedelic experience, even a so-called bad trip, is sacred. In earth-oriented, shamanic cultures, even a psychotic breakdown, induced by a psychedelic, is part of the initiation.

So remember the way of the ancients: this is a process, a process of awakening, healing, and ultimately celebrating life.

I believe this is important to understand before a person uses a psychedelic. And so I wouldn't let the experience you had with you friend put you off too much. Instead, research the best ways to deal with a friend having a "bad trip" as it may ultimately be rewarding to them in the end.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I'd like to hear what other people say about this as well.
 
I don't think it's really possible to decide for another person if it is something they are ready to experience or not. If somebody wants to try it, they will ask. We may think that they will benefit from it or not, but this is just our own judgment.

Having a difficult experience does not mean that a person was not prepared, that may be what he or she needed to experience at that particular point in time for their own growth. Labeling an experience based on its external appearances is not always an effective way of understanding the purpose it served.
 
You have to get to know the person even then you cant predict if they will have a psychotic break on psychedelics. My cousin had one but his just slightly off normally, nothing crazy but the warning signs were there. Basically you have to look for phobias, hang ups, level of stress, how they act around people, ect. There is no concrete way to determine if they are right for them. You probably shouldn't trip with him in the future.

There is a huge difference between a bad trip, which is savable or a psychotic episode, with is manageable. The difference is a bad trip the person is still there just "in a bad place" A psychotic person will scream and do abnormal stuff and will have no connection to reality. They will say things that dont make sense and will seem to interact with you but will often look terrified. I've witnessed 2 breaks at my own hands and both times i felt bad but the only thing you can do is try to talk to the person like they are 2 and make sure they dont hurt themselves. These are the people you hear about running around naked, nothing can fix it not changing music or anything all you can do is "log hours in the mental institution" as i call it.

Basically the more laid back and not concerned with other people they are the more likely they are to not fall into this. Again there is no way to possibly know but 3 months is barely enough time to know someone in my eyes.
 
Totally agreed, a bad trip aint always a negative thing.

i always found psycadelics make you think about yourself, and i have had bad trips on dmt which later made sense in a way, lke some1 was being blunt with who i actually am!
 
Psychedelic drugs should never be pushed on people imo. It doesnt take much for a good trip to go bad, and it'll go bad fast. Ultimately the only person who knows if they are ready for a psych or not, is the person taking the drug.
 
I wrote this in some dmt thread the other day but I think it fits here well...

"Honestly, I dont think there are many who arn't ready for (immersive psychedelic experiences, ego death), well maybe put it like this, I dont think there is any one who is ready for (that kind of thing). I know I wasnt when I first tried it, but I still had one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. "
 
this is something ive definitely struggled with. on one hand i know that psychedelic drugs could really really help some of the people in my life.. but on the other hand, like the OP said, i do not want to be responsible for what could possibly go wrong.

i usually just talk it up to people and let them decide on their own.. lol. make them think theyre choosing it! haha
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Btw I would never push someone into psychedelic use, I'm talking about if they express a desire to watch reality melt and I happen to have a chemical that can do just that. I believe that willingness doesn't necessarily show that someone is ready, but then again maybe no-one is really ready until they dive into the experience.

I agree that bad trips can be harnessed to a positive end, but surely there are some people that can't handle them at all? I mean I've been at the end of my tether to this realm before, floating in the void with chaos infecting my mind and somehow maintained sanity but I can easily imagine how something so earth shattering could crush those who are psychologically unbalanced.
 
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