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How is it possible to have bad trips? I don't understand this

I've had that exact same bad trip / thought-loop before!

Man you did totally the wrongest possible thing by asking him more questions like that or trying to reason with him. The bad-tripper just gets more and more paranoid and distressed that they cannot understand what you are trying to say and so there must be something wrong with themselves, etc. etc. They feel inside like they are being interrogated.

Well we didn't sit there and interrogate him lol. Once we saw that he was having difficulties we just started telling him that everything was OK and that there was nothing to worry about. We told him that he was doing exactly as he should be. It didn't stop him from asking over and over again though.
 
This is what all my difficulties have ever sprung from. I've never had like a "I'm not ever going to be sane again!" or "What are those crazy monsters?!" type thing happen. It's always just this thought that I can't escape from. It might not even a bad thought, it's just confusing to always come back to that same though no matter what else you try and think of.

Most of my friends and I don't really get bad trips but it does happen from time to time. I remember one of my friends was caught in this thought loop of "what do I do?" That's all he could think. We would try and reason with him asking "You mean like right now, or something with your life?" and he was just so confused. You could tell he would try and process it but he would just come back to that thought of "What do I DO?!".

Well we didn't sit there and interrogate him lol. Once we saw that he was having difficulties we just started telling him that everything was OK and that there was nothing to worry about. We told him that he was doing exactly as he should be. It didn't stop him from asking over and over again though.

I only said the tripper FEELS LIKE he is being interrogated, not that you actually were.

Anyway, sounds like you did good then. Sounds typical, he kept asking that over and over., LOL. In such cases you are probably best off doing as you did saying everything is perfectly allright and trying to calm them down.

Leading them through a posture and "paying attention to own breath" exercise can help. Also helpful can be changing the environment in some radical way... different music, lighting, incense, location, etc. But sometimes nothing helps but waiting it out.
 
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On shrooms/acid is there a chance that whilst tripping with your mates that you will be too honest and tell them secrets that you intend not to share sober?

Actually, yes. IME psychedelics really change my personality. Normally I'm very cautious and sparing with conversational contribution, but LSD completely opens me up, and has me saying almost anything that comes to mind. I can still filter plainly stupid or offensive thoughts, but that's about it. It's definitely something to be aware of.
 
a bad trip can be induced by a variety of things.

Bad setting

No good trustworthy friends

Mental instablility (depression/anxiety)

Sub concious fears that you've never faced before...

(i'm sure there are more , but i can' t remember right now)




I had some bad trips amongst the first times i tripped, or partly bad, once i had my drink spiked and had a near manic episode interrogating everyone at the party to find out who did it... i still think it was my ex GF, but gradually i started to realise what were the causes of the bad trip, or the triggers that can be controlled, and since try to stear clear from these triggers... that said it doesn't mean i won't ever have a bad trip again, i'm just putting odds on my side, also i have benzos and neuroleptics if it reaaaally goes bad....
 
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I've got a variety of mental issues, and I have had some REALLY REALLY REALLY fucking bad trips. Actually, the folks of BL had to calm me down once. ;) But in general, I think that unless it brings out schizophrenia, it doesn't do tons of damage...

or perhaps I'm resiliant like you.

But more so, I mean... if you trip enough, eventually one will go bad. Kind of a matter of odds. I mean, I guess it's not necessary... But one of the main things I do to avoid bad trips is write on my hand when I dose, and know when I should be coming down. So, if I freak out, I can say... okay, only a few hours to go, and this will stop.

The only bad trip I've ever had was my third one ever. Once I started tripping more psychedelics became MUCH calmer and more friendly. And even that one "bad" trip was just an intensely uncomfortable hell where I analyzed all the bad things I was doing in my life over about 5 hours, feeling like absolute scum and worthless... but I came out of it a stronger person. My 2 friends and I all had bad trips that night, but all of us started to come down as the sun was coming up and we stayed up all the next day in the most fantastic mood... we felt like we had been reborn and were being given a new chance to make things right. :)
 
never a bad trip

Ive tripped on a couple different things and never had a bad one myself. Given, i make sure to have a good mindset before and through the trip and if any bad stuff happens (like demons coming out of the wall) then i realize that im tripping and they usually go away or and least become less threatening. I believe that you have a bad trip when you are scared to take the drug or uncomfortable about your surroundings.
 
A great way to prepare to help avoid a bad trip if you are tripping by yourself or with one or 2 other people is to write notes such as "dont worry, your just tripping" and "remember, you took 2 hits of acid tonight at 9 will be over at 5 or 6" "do what feels right" "We all Love you as much as you love us all" and various other positive things as well as reminders of reality, and make sure to sign all of the notes with your signature so you know its real lol.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, write these notes on "post-it" notes and stick them in places you will see them if you are having a rough time (bathroom behind the toilet (so you can see it if you throw up), the kitchen , on the fridge, both sides of the door of your bedroom or whatever room you are chilling in as your homebase etc)

I tend to have a problem always forgetting that I took acid, so durring the come up I am always like "wtf is going on... this is so.... familiar.... I cant quite put my finger on it, its very interesting.... and I know this has happenned before..... Am I dreaming? no, wtf is going on..... OH SHIT!!!!! I TOOK ACID, AWESOME, IM TRIPPING!!!!!!"

the post it notes method has helped remind me of my dosing before getting any anxiety about whats happenning on several occasions.
 
A great way to prepare to help avoid a bad trip if you are tripping by yourself or with one or 2 other people is to write notes such as "dont worry, your just tripping" and "remember, you took 2 hits of acid tonight at 9 will be over at 5 or 6" "do what feels right" "We all Love you as much as you love us all" and various other positive things as well as reminders of reality, and make sure to sign all of the notes with your signature so you know its real lol.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, write these notes on "post-it" notes and stick them in places you will see them if you are having a rough time (bathroom behind the toilet (so you can see it if you throw up), the kitchen , on the fridge, both sides of the door of your bedroom or whatever room you are chilling in as your homebase etc)

I tend to have a problem always forgetting that I took acid, so durring the come up I am always like "wtf is going on... this is so.... familiar.... I cant quite put my finger on it, its very interesting.... and I know this has happenned before..... Am I dreaming? no, wtf is going on..... OH SHIT!!!!! I TOOK ACID, AWESOME, IM TRIPPING!!!!!!"

the post it notes method has helped remind me of my dosing before getting any anxiety about whats happenning on several occasions.

This is a pretty interesting idea, I actually considered it myself this week. My biggest fear is just forgetting that I took something. A reminder that I am in fact going to come down would be reassuring.
 
I've read through some of the replies and I figured I'd throw in my .02.

The way I've always thought of it was, psychedelics affect everyone the same way so the only variable is the person. Before I tripped for the first time, I knew that some weird things would happen but I was looking forward to them. One of the other people I was tripping with was worried about those things.

Once we all started tripping, it was clear who was going to have a bad trip and who was going to have a blast. I, along with 2 out of the 3 other people tripping with me, went down to the lake and just sat in awe of everything. Meanwhile, the same guy that was worried about having a bad trip was sitting inside of the house talking to his mom on the phone. I don't want to go into detail but as the trip went on, his started to get progressively worse.

Basically, the mindset you have before the trip will just be amplified during the trip. There were a few moments during my trip where I started to panic but I just kept reminding myself that it was beyond my control and all I could do was sit back and enjoy it.
 
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