How to convice my girlfriend that there is nothing wrong with psychedelics

[For the Dead]

So my girlfriend is against psychedelics and drugs in general, because of her ex meth user brother. How can I convice her that there is nothing wrong with using psychedelics? She has never tried any drugs before but she does drink.

 

[Jackal]

Bill Hicks & Popcorn.

 

[wizekrak]

There are inherent risks involved with any drug use, even psychedelics.

 

[drklnk]

You really can't. The last thing you should do is force her to think it's ok. Perhaps invite her to babysit you while you are on a mild trip to show her that it's nothing crazy.

 

[LostandFound]

slip some ground up shrooms in her tea lol, but seriously you cant, but with a good speach you might be able to rearange her opinion for your benefit

 

[Edvard Munch]

Spike her drink with LSD. Problem solved.

 

[lurkerguy]

It is impossible.

Just hide it from her.

Don't be surprised if she snitches you out.

 

[Strawberry_lovemuffin]

You really can't. The last thing you should do is force her to think it's ok. Perhaps invite her to babysit you while you are on a mild trip to show her that it's nothing crazy.

That'd be my only suggestion.

Seriously, psychadelics aren't for everyone. I don't like them; I was wary but tried anyway, but was completely underwhelmed. Don't assume she'll fall in love "if only she tries". I hope you've got more in common than just drugs that you can bond over.

 

[lady grey]

I hope you've got more in common than just drugs that you can bond over.

^^my thoughts exactly. And as wizekrak siad, with ANY drug there are inherent risks. She sounds like she has her head screwed on, i dont know why you feel the need to convince her otherwise.

She has these feelings towards drugs for good reason, people are allowed to make up thier own minds. Free will and all that.

Is she on your back about it?? or just not interested in trying them??

 

[elfdancer]

For the dead, what is your goal?

Do you a) want her to accept that you use psychedelics? or b) try them herself.

The latter goal is probably going to be an awful big change in her philosophy, so there's really very little advice that I can give you..

As for the first goal, you might want to sit down and answer any questions she has about your drug use frankly. You could also point her to some introductory reading selected from erowid about LSD, Mushrooms, psychedelics in general... If you sound mature and responsible about what you're into, and it's obvious that you're safe and thoughtful about it, it might just sway her outright.

If not, it might be appropriate to suggest that she be along for a time when you're tripping. (A concert might be a good excuse for this.) If she sees for herself that you act considerably different than a person who abused meth, her opinion might change.

 

[Samadhi]

That'd be my only suggestion.

Seriously, psychadelics aren't for everyone. I don't like them; I was wary but tried anyway, but was completely underwhelmed. Don't assume she'll fall in love "if only she tries". I hope you've got more in common than just drugs that you can bond over.

Totally agree. I don't get into them at all anymore, i'm far too sensitive to the world to want to exacerbate that, and like you, i became underwhelmed with it. Back when i first tried it, i liked it, but that was because i didn't give a shit about anything. I also find it very tedious. The first few hours can be fun, but then i find myself thinking "JUST STOP ALREADY". Good times.

Back on topic ... The only thing i can think of has already been suggested. Ask her to babysit you... and pray to god that the time she does isn't the time that you've competely underestimated what you've taken and wig the fuck out. Seriously though, don't try to force it. I don't like psychedelics, my husband does, it's his choice to do it, etc. Your girl choosing not to take a drug that you do isn't the end of the world. If, however, you fancy yourself a bit of a psychonaut and she's dead against all drugs (understandable if she is ), then that could pose a bit of a problem...

Hope it works out for you.

 

[college_dropout]

Best way to do it is by leading a healthy lifestyle and if she is ever around you tripping just try to act natural and talk straight. I've been around people on acid before and they couldn't believe that I had actually ingested LSD because of how normal I looked and was acting.

And pscyhedelics are for everyone. Absolutely everyone. It all comes back to set and setting. Some people try and say it's not for them but they're just not really engaging in the experience as they should, ie. their mind isn't properly prepared or the setting isn't right.

 

[Samadhi]

See, i completely disagree with that, and to be honest, i take slight offense to it too... just because i don't enjoy the feeling of LSD doesn't that i'm not engaging it as i should... I used to enjoy it, now i find it tedious. End of story.

Set and setting play a huge part in the LSD experience (just like any psychoactive drug), but i've been in the bests settings with a decent mind-set (ie, nothing on my mind) and i've just not enjoyed it. It's like when people say that people who don't enjoy LSD have weak minds, only strong-minded people can "handle" it. Not true at all.

What it boils down to is that i really just enjoy being sober/straight nowadays, i value my sleep patterns, and i love waking up first thing in the morning fresh as a daisy, with the knowledge that i'm not going to waste 1/2 a day coming down.

 

[Dyno_oz]

It sounds like you are at odds on this one.

If I were you, I'd be careful saying there is nothing wrong with psychedelics period.

A fair share of otherwise stable people end up going to psych hospitals, as illicit drugs, including psychedelics, increase the risk of latent mental illness becoming manifest.

I know this may sound like anti-drug bullcrap. If you don't believe me, please go see for yourself. Ask the psych nurses at your local hospital.

The term 'drug-fucked' is appropriate here. People don't get 'drug-fucked' unless they take these drugs.

While you are welcome to do as you please, I say don't pressure her at all.

She may have sound reasons for her opinion.

 

[Doppelganger]

I don't trust psychedelics at all.

Acid fucked my mental health right up for a loooong time, and all I had was the occasional solitary tab.

The 33 hour bad trip was one thing [I nearly admitted myself into a psych ward there and then] - the after effects, something different entirely. I had a flashback/ psychotic episode... I don't even know for sure what the fuck it was, when I was out one night on the piss. Yes, all I'd had was alcohol. This was while I was still grieving my awful acid experience, btw...

For about 3 months, I saw things out of the corners of my eyes... just little flickers, not giant gorilla's or anything completely horrifying . Still though, there was fear in the wondering of 'will I ever go back to normal?'

I started having panic attacks to the point where I struggled to pronounce a word properly...

I had what I've decided were hypnogogic hallucinations... I don't know for sure what they were, but every night when I was trying to get to sleep, I'd hear a little voice in my head say stuff similar to 'you're already dead.' For those who don't know, hypnogogic hallucinations are common, occur amongst sane people, and only happen whilst falling asleep and waking up.

It took about 6 months for all these effects to go away, and for me to return to [nearly] normal. I have no lasting or prior mental health issues, and would be described by just about anyone who meets me as 'very strong minded.' And also, believe it or not, as someone who's got my shit sorted.

Throughout all this torture I put on a brave face, and I'm just so happy to say it's well and truly over :D. I will never take acid again.

So, basically... there's plenty of things wrong with psychedelics. You're just lucky enough to have not experienced any of them.

 

[Nihilist]

So my girlfriend is against psychedelics and drugs in general

GOOD FOR HER!! She's obviously on the right track then, isn't she?

there is nothing wrong with using psychedelics

Oh my Lord. Are you for real? Do you actually actually believe that??

NEWSFLASH: there's plenty wrong with using psychedelics! So you might handle them fine. That doesn't mean that there's nothing wrong with them. I can't speak from personal experience since I've never tried them and have absolutely no desire to do so. But DO pay attention to what other people have posted on here; everything from "I find it tedious" to they "fucked up my mental health for a long time". Seriously.

You can argue about the 'wrongs', 'rights' and 'in betweens' of psychedelics and other drugs until the cows come home. But what I find way more disturbing is the fact that you're trying to influence her to use illegal drugs when she clearly doesn't want to. Or pressure her into using is probably a more accurate way to put it.

Firstly, YOU DO NOT GIVE A CRAP ABOUT HER FEELINGS.

Secondly, YOU ARE BEING TOTALLY FUCKING SELFISH AND INCONSIDERATE by forcing YOUR own wants on HER. Be honest, you're utterly convinced that YOU will have a much better sex life and/or relationship if your partner is under the influence. You do not give a continental whether or not she enjoys the experience of being on psychedelics.

Thirdly, THE DECISION IS ENTIRELY HERS - NOT YOURS - TO MAKE! Deal with it. If you so desperately want to be in a relationship with a fellow drug user, then GET A NEW GIRLFRIEND. This shouldn't be hard on you because by the sounds of things, you really don't care about her much, so breaking it off wouldn't be too difficult. There was a good thread on here awhile ago, i think it was called 'could you date a non-drug user?' or something like that. You should do a search for it and have a read.

She has never tried any drugs before but she does drink.

Then leave her be. She has her reasons, and she's obviously content with the relationship as it is, without having to use psychedelics. If she wants to try them in the future, that's a different story.

Seriously dude, dont you see the advantages of having a girlfriend who isn't on drugs? Please tell me you do, because I'd hate to have to spell them out.

* * *​

And as for those of you who jokingly suggested that the OP do things like spike her drink etc, you should bloodywell be ashamed of yourselves. If the OP is as immature and selfish as his post suggests, then he'll probably go and take your suggestions seriously.

 

[college_dropout]

See, i completely disagree with that, and to be honest, i take slight offense to it too... just because i don't enjoy the feeling of LSD doesn't that i'm not engaging it as i should... I used to enjoy it, now i find it tedious. End of story.

Set and setting play a huge part in the LSD experience (just like any psychoactive drug), but i've been in the bests settings with a decent mind-set (ie, nothing on my mind) and i've just not enjoyed it. It's like when people say that people who don't enjoy LSD have weak minds, only strong-minded people can "handle" it. Not true at all.

What it boils down to is that i really just enjoy being sober/straight nowadays, i value my sleep patterns, and i love waking up first thing in the morning fresh as a daisy, with the knowledge that i'm not going to waste 1/2 a day coming down.

Ahh but there's a difference Samadhi between experiencing acid and walking away when you feel like you've done it enough, to just completely writing off pscyhedelics altogether because your frist couple of experiences mightn't have been all that great.

And I wasn't saying that people who like LSD have strong minds, that type of attitude pisses me off to the max. No-one should ever think being a pscyhonaut puts them in a special elitist group. What I was saying was more geared towards those who have made their minds up on psychedelics without giving them a real good go.

Candy flipping will show just about everyone the fun side of tripping.

 

[lurkerguy]

The whole "psychedelics bring out mental illness" is a huge stretch.

If you are that mentally ill, anything could bring out your illness, a break up, losing your job, you name it.

If you are teetering on the edge of insanity like that, you might as well be in a hospital under doctor's care, because every day life could bring on your insanity.

I know at least 50 people who use psychedelics at least once a year, at least 15 of those people have been diagnosed with one disorder or another, not one of them ever ended up in a mental hospital after taking psychedelics.

Going into a trip with the idea that your going to be permanently crazy from taking some shrooms or acid is probably what pushes most people off the edge.

My philosophy is if your scared of psychedelics, don't take them, because you probably won't like them.

If you realize they can't kill you, and you won't be high for anymore than 24 hours, have your fun.

Taking psychedelics while believing they are the big bad wolf that will make you permanently crazy is NOT a good idea, talk about a bad mindset for a trip.

Everyone knows someone who has a cousin, who's brother, knew a guy, who dated a girl who's ex-husband thinks he is a glass of orange juice after taking shrooms/LSD once.

It is all superstition and folk lore, the people who tell you that you go permanently crazy from shrooms/LSD are the same people who tell you to water your herb plants with food coloring to change their color.

Most of them are under 18, and never even used psychedelics.

 

[Samadhi]

*EDIT : For college dropout**

^^ Fair enough. Having said that, though, i would never say that to someone who has watched a friend or family member go through a psychotic episode due to psychedelics. My ex boyfriend's mother suffered severe schizophrenia and we'd visit her every second weekend, spend a few hours with her, buy her lunch, that kind of thing. I got talking to a few of the nurses there, and one of them said that 80% of the patients in the 18-24 year old age range are were in there due to psychotic episodes from taking LSD or methamphetamine. I could TOTALLY understand why their loved ones may not like the idea of trying it.

Regarding what you said about writing off the drug due to a couple of bad experiences... the problem with that, is that if the first couple of experiences were terrifying; either from what was going on in your mind or from an external source (people fucking with your head - that's happened to me), then it's very hard to let that go, and not have "baggage". It has the potential to taint your future experiences. Especially if you're with a group of your peers who have no understanding of how to guide someone out of a negative trip.

I've had a couple of horrid, horrid LSD expereiences, but that was due to nasty, nasty people... BUT i did try it again, more than once, with my husband and close friends. I just didn't get out of it what i used to.

My husband is reading "The Politics of Ecstacy" at the moment (great book) and Dr Leary states the same thing as you, that everyone will get something out of LSD, with the right set and setting, and guide. Now, i'm not the most trusting person, as a rule, but i can guarantee you that there is NOONE i know (including my husband) that i trust enough to guide me through an LSD trip... unless maybe Dr Sasha Shulgin or Dr Leary want to come to Australia and do it. This is the problem. People take LSD so willy-nilly, thinking they're psychonauts and end up fucking themselves up, because they're essentially left to their own devices.

I'm sure that things like alcoholism, drug addiction, etc can be treated with psychedelics... clinical evidence points to that... but in controlled conditions, with a qualified guide. Not at a rave or doof, or sitting around with a group of mates playing PS2, or at a house-party.

 

[lurkerguy]

And as for those of you who jokingly suggested that the OP do things like spike her drink etc, you should bloodywell be ashamed of yourselves. If the OP is as immature and selfish as his post suggests, then he'll probably go and take your suggestions seriously.

For a Nihilist, you have a very strong sense of morals.