Firstly, I want to acknowledge that I am sure this is not an original topic, and nor do I imagine it will be the last of it's kind. I am, however, interested to what extent the following feelings are experienced by the wider community of psychedelic users - and to try and ascertain whether it is either normal behavior, something that may improve with practice, or a personality trait.
My experiences with psychedelic drugs, of the tryptamine and phenethylamine classes, are not limited in number. I am fairly experienced and have been using them occasionally, and sometimes more frequently than this, for 5 years now. I would say I've tripped around 30 times on a variety of substances and have had a wide range of experiences: mostly positive and uplifting, but with the occasional trip spent in angst or less-than-positive introspection. Without boring you further with my psychedelic history, suffice to say that most of the negative aspects of my trips are based on a feeling of discomfort around social environments. In particular, this manifests itself as an inability to talk to strangers who could or should not know that I am under the influence. What characterises this the most is a fear of sounding nonsensical, tripping over my words - which is something that can often occur in the midst of an experience, as thoughts are often difficult to disentangle, or indeed the concept of speech at times... disappears! - and, to a certain extent, a worry about my physical appearance being off or unsuited for the social situation (with regards to a social norm). By this last point, I specifically mean body language, position of eyes during speech etc.
I feel it should be noted that at times I feel quite self-conscious during my everyday life; in particular eye-contact I have noticed is difficult to maintain with people I do not know or immediately feel comfortable around. This is more pronounced during times of excess stress or unfamiliarity.
I also feel I should note that I know several people who feel the same way whilst under psychedelic influence, and that also, as a group, most of our trips take place in secluded countryside locations. This is partly due to this, although personal preference does come into it. I have tripped several times recently in urban areas, seeing live music for instance, and have found that I am not able to fully let-go and enjoy the experience in the same way, for this reason.
My questions are these: have you ever experienced this? and, if so, have you managed to improve the situation by "getting used to" tripping in public?
peace
My experiences with psychedelic drugs, of the tryptamine and phenethylamine classes, are not limited in number. I am fairly experienced and have been using them occasionally, and sometimes more frequently than this, for 5 years now. I would say I've tripped around 30 times on a variety of substances and have had a wide range of experiences: mostly positive and uplifting, but with the occasional trip spent in angst or less-than-positive introspection. Without boring you further with my psychedelic history, suffice to say that most of the negative aspects of my trips are based on a feeling of discomfort around social environments. In particular, this manifests itself as an inability to talk to strangers who could or should not know that I am under the influence. What characterises this the most is a fear of sounding nonsensical, tripping over my words - which is something that can often occur in the midst of an experience, as thoughts are often difficult to disentangle, or indeed the concept of speech at times... disappears! - and, to a certain extent, a worry about my physical appearance being off or unsuited for the social situation (with regards to a social norm). By this last point, I specifically mean body language, position of eyes during speech etc.
I feel it should be noted that at times I feel quite self-conscious during my everyday life; in particular eye-contact I have noticed is difficult to maintain with people I do not know or immediately feel comfortable around. This is more pronounced during times of excess stress or unfamiliarity.
I also feel I should note that I know several people who feel the same way whilst under psychedelic influence, and that also, as a group, most of our trips take place in secluded countryside locations. This is partly due to this, although personal preference does come into it. I have tripped several times recently in urban areas, seeing live music for instance, and have found that I am not able to fully let-go and enjoy the experience in the same way, for this reason.
My questions are these: have you ever experienced this? and, if so, have you managed to improve the situation by "getting used to" tripping in public?
peace
