Severe violent psychosis from bad trips on LSD (otherwise mentally healthy)

[rolodex propaganda]

So there's a guy who had a severe psychosis from LSD, twice in a row. He had occasionally taken it several times over the course of several years, starting when he was 22. This occurred when he was 25. He has no history of mental health problems except for typical teenage angst/depression, which went away after puberty, and these two bad trips.

He took LSD at a small party with some friends. Nothing he hadn't done before. The dose was two tabs, which he had done before on multiple occasions. The LSD was tested by bunk police ehrlich reagant and it was LSD for sure. Not an RC. Nobody else had any problems with it.

About 2-3 hours into the trip he started to manically repeat the same nonsensical phrases over and over again. Then he started to scream like he was being tortured or something.... He became violent. Two people got punched in the face. He also hit his head on a tree. He was a serious danger to himself and everyone around him. It took four men to restrain him. This went on for at least 4 hours. He was okay and lucid the next day. Fortunately he was with friends who were able to do as much as possible to keep him safe.

Then a week later he took LSD again (just one tab) with friends who were not as accommodating. They called an ambulance. He was taken to the hospital and was very lucky not to have been charged with assaulting a paramedic or something crazy.

He took LSD one more time about 18 months later and had a fine normal trip. He has not taken it again, at the urging of all of his friends. On occasion he would still smoke DMT... Never had any problems with that. I don't know if he still takes any psychedelics, but I do know his mental health is decent enough to maintain a respectable job in a management position and take care of his family. Other than these two awful trips, his history of mental health is fine.

So many people say LSD is "safe". No fucking way. I used to think it was. I was able to find many other reports of violent psychoses from LSD in a google search. This is rare, but it happens. If you trip with a lot of people there is a good chance you will eventually witness something like this.

I believe LSD can be a useful entheogen but it can really be playing with fire. Instead of encouraging people to take LSD, I now warn them and advise them to be cautious... But no matter how cautious you are, I don't know how to prevent something like this. He had no history of mental health issues. How could he possibly have prevented this? Set and setting were fine, as was the dose... nothing new for him.

I would say BE CAREFUL WITH LSD but I don't know how being careful could prevent something like this. It is rare, but if you trip with a lot of people over many years like at forest raves, there's a good chance you'll see the same thing happen, if not worse

Edit: He was released from the ER in the morning without any residual psychosis. I see another thread here where people are talking about extended stays in mental hospitals, but those seem to be people with a history of mental health problems.

TLDR: A male in his mid-twenties had an extremely serious and dangerous violent reaction to LSD twice. The set and setting were carefully controlled. IF they were not, he could have ended up in prison for assault and/or seriously injured. He's lucky not to have been charged with assaulting a paramedic. He has no history of mental health problems. He had taken the same LSD before on multiple occasions, in higher doses that what caused these two reactions. The blotter was analyzed and was definitely LSD

 

[Ismene]

So many people say LSD is "safe". No fucking way. I used to think it was. I was able to find many other reports of violent psychoses from LSD in a google search. This is rare, but it happens. If you trip with a lot of people there is a good chance you will eventually witness something like this.

LSD is safe. Cases like this are vanishingly rare. And just because one guy can't handle his high doesn't mean no-one else can.

Getting your research from google searches isn't really the best way. You often find people claiming they were on drugs during court cases because they think it will work as mitigation. Instead of saying "I'm fucking batshit crazy" you say "The LSD made me batshit crazy but otherwise I'm fine".

 

[terarc]

I do agree, it's just an intuition but from the feel of LSD mentally I can tell, or at least it seems to me, like it has a much higher propensity to cause mental breaks.. It has a manic feel to it, which can linger afterwards, and can make daydream like thinking seem real rather than the simple pondering that it is. Myself and friends thought 2C-B had a similar issue but with generating lasting anxiety. My tripping buddies agree with all of this, so I at least know it's not just my experience. I still love LSD as a psychedelic but am going to be more careful with it in the future, I think it's just slightly less sensible to use with high regularity than say, Mescaline and Psilocybin which have never even hinted at such problems and in fact seem to have a grounding quality.

 

[rolodex propaganda]

LSD is safe. Cases like this are vanishingly rare. And just because one guy can't handle his high doesn't mean no-one else can.

Getting your research from google searches isn't really the best way. You often find people claiming they were on drugs during court cases because they think it will work as mitigation. Instead of saying "I'm fucking batshit crazy" you say "The LSD made me batshit crazy but otherwise I'm fine".

This guy had numerous dmt breakthroughs prior to these two bad lsd trips. And he had taken a lot of lsd without this happening. He had a lot of experience with psychedelics before it happened. He never had any problem "hand[ling] his high" before this.

As far as I can tell, no additional harm reduction measures possibly could have been taken. The set and setting were carefully controlled and the doses were certainly not excessive.

I know these cases are rare, but they definitely happen. How is Google not a good way to find information...? There are well written reports on r/drugs about people becoming very violent and self-injurious on LSD. Also on this website, in this very forum on the front page of psychedelic drugs.

I was just surprised that this could happen to somebody with no history of mental health troubles.

I agree this is rare but it happens and if you hang around forest raves for a long time, tripping with hundreds or thousands of people over the course of many years, there is a very good chance you will eventually see the same thing or worse. This is not "vanishingly rare". I just want to warn everyone.

 

[tacodude]

I wouldn't say LSD is safe as every drug has its risks, but if one prepares and reduces the risks it can be quite safe... I'm your friends case this didn't happen. How do you know he had LSD and not an NBOME compound? I could imagine that being torture even the head banging makes sense, but the thought loops make it seem like lsd.

All that being said nothing can be said without knowing what he actually took. Just be careful and aware around them. They seem to make bad decisions against good advice in public.

 

[Erikmen]

He took LSD at a small party with some friends. Nothing he hadn't done before. The dose was two tabs, which he had done before on multiple occasions. The LSD was tested by bunk police ehrlich reagant and it was LSD for sure. Not an RC. Nobody else had any problems with it.

So many people say LSD is "safe". No fucking way. I used to think it was. I was able to find many other reports of violent psychoses from LSD in a google search. This is rare, but it happens. If you trip with a lot of people there is a good chance you will eventually witness something like this.

I believe LSD can be a useful entheogen but it can really be playing with fire. Instead of encouraging people to take LSD, I now warn them and advise them to be cautious... But no matter how cautious you are, I don't know how to prevent something like this. He had no history of mental health issues. How could he possibly have prevented this? Set and setting were fine, as was the dose... nothing new for him.

I would say BE CAREFUL WITH LSD but I don't know how being careful could prevent something like this. It is rare, but if you trip with a lot of people over many years like at forest raves, there's a good chance you'll see the same thing happen, if not worse

Edit: He was released from the ER in the morning without any residual psychosis. I see another thread here where people are talking about extended stays in mental hospitals, but those seem to be people with a history.

I agree that LSD can lead one to just go crazy. I don't have any mental dysfunction but did have a bad trip that was horrific and I end up hospitalized. A while after with just a little bit, same result. I was lucid enough not to repeat this again. Except for mushrooms but with similar results.
In hospital I learned people can trigger psychotic events and temporarily schizophrenia but some becoming mentally ill for life.

 

[murphythecat]

but, most people who go nuts come back to their senses eventually. right?

 

[rolodex propaganda]

I wouldn't say LSD is safe as every drug has its risks, but if one prepares and reduces the risks it can be quite safe... I'm your friends case this didn't happen. How do you know he had LSD and not an NBOME compound? I could imagine that being torture even the head banging makes sense, but the thought loops make it seem like lsd.

As I've said two or three times now, the blotter was tested wit bunk police ehrlich reagant and went purple. LSD. Not Nbome.

He could not possibly have prepared for the trip any better. He was at a small peaceful gathering with friends and was fine going into the trip. The only way this possibly could have been prevented was if he did not take LSD.

 

[tacodude]

As people said it could be the dopamine thing. LSD has effect there at a much higher rate than the other classic tryptamine psychedelic, basically mushrooms and dmt. You mentioned dmt was ok for him.... Maybe psilocybin/psilocin 4-po/ho-dmt even 4-aco-dmt could be a good alternative if anything. I do agree that person needs a break, but realistically they will try something again and it is better to be prepared with an alternative that's easier to measure in a low dose at the right time in a safe environment.