Want to trip at a young age? Read this

[Wetrippymayne]

Hey everyone! I have recently come across various threads where people ages 14-18 have been asking "am I old enough to trip?". I just thought I would post my introspective analysis on the situation, considering I used my first psychedelic at the age of 16 and have since then had many experiences, both positive and negative. I am now 18, and looking back on my experiences, I thought it would be great to give my thoughts on the subject for harm reduction purposes.

I had my first experience my sophomore year of highschool at the age of 16 with magic mushrooms. The experience was overall positive, and from there I moved on to various NBOME chemicals, then to salvia in the summer. My junior year I experimented with 4-aco-dmt, and finally dmt. From the span of my highschool career, I ended up using over 30 different chemicals, both natural and man made.

In retrospect, I can say that without a doubt these experiences had a profound impact on my grades, my social life, and my views on the world. In a positive way, these experiences taught me valuable lessons, and ultimately changed my perception of both reality and my philosophy on life. While these experiences were positive in some aspects, there are consequences for enlightenment. My use of drugs distanced me from a lot of the other kids that I went to school with. It caused me to think in a different way than everyone else, and made me grow up faster than everyone else. This made me feel like a social outcast in a way, although I knew that other people couldn't understand what they hadn't experienced. In addition, these drugs affected me negatively because they killed some of my motivation. After using these drugs, my life was forever changed, and I had less motivation for school because I realized that there were more important aspects of life than just school. Tripping caused me to question every aspect of my life. It caused me to question authority, reject "the norm", and instead think for myself rather than believe what I was told.

Overall, I would say that it is best to wait to trip. I would say age 18 would be preferable, but 25 would be the best since that's when the brain stops developing. These drugs should not be taken lightly, and if you decide to use them, DO YOUR RESEARCH, AND PREPARE YOURSELF MENTALLY. If you have done both of these things, then you can probably get away with it with little harm(but who is to say?). If you do decide to trip, keep in mind that the most dangerous aspects of tripping aren't age itself, rather, it depends on the chemical you decide to take, how often you trip, and wether or not your experiences are positive.

From my personal experience, I would say NEVER trip more than once every 1-2 months if you are young(2months most preferable). Second, NEVER take RCs! These drugs don't have enough research on them, and coming from a lot of experience, I can tell you that the NBOME series has caused me most of the negative effects I have experienced, including HPPD. I wish I had never taken these chemicals, and would suggest sticking to the classics, such as lsa, mushrooms, mescaline, and lsd(if it's bitter, it's a spitter). Lastly, if you are going to trip, make sure the set and setting is perfect, you are prepared mentally, and you have some benzos incase things go badly. From personal experience, I can tell you that while bad trips are a learning experience, they also have lasting consequences. I had my first and only negative experience about 5months ago and since then I still have symptoms of HPPD, and every time I have tripped since then I have gotten some of the same visuals/flashbacks from my bad trip.

To conclude, tripping falls into the responsibility of the individual. It is your brain, and although tripping is (mostly) harmless to the mind and body, recognize that the consequences of using these drugs improperly can impact you for the rest of your life. If you trip, do so responsibly, and for spiritual/enlightening purposes only. If you are just looking to get high, smoke some weed or something and save these chemicals for your later years in life. Hope this helps, if anyone has any further questions to ask, feel free to reply

 

[sandude]

I'm 21, and I already agree about waiting to use drugs in general until the brain develops, advice given to me I wish I heeded earlier. I was also curious as to why you think people should only use psychadelics for spiritual/enlightenment purposes rather than recreational. Because I am somewhat anticipating a spiritual experience in the near future, but I would have to say I've used these drugs more for recreation, but who's to say the right reason to use them?

 

[TheCuriousOne]

I know there are not many studies regarding this topic, but I would be interested in what the exact ramifications are at using psychedelics at a very young age (14-17) on the developing brain.
What kind of physical brain damage could we expect?
What kind of damages to the mental health could be expected?

 

[pupnik]

it has been assumed that brain development (i.e. the genetic expression of brain tissue growth and linkage formation) stops at age 25, and this is not exactly true.
25 is the age that genetic tissue formation of all kinds seems to achieve a peak optimal resilience and strength, from that point, there is no question that growth and repair continues, but the integrity of structures never seems better than it may be at age 25.
at 62, I can say that I am definitely still learning, but also the sheer amount of history (that a longer life provides) makes snap decisions less likely as implications are less black and white than when younger. so 25 may also be your optimal black and white brain processing age.

not that black and white is a goal, especially as it comes to understanding stuff.

As the OP suggests, some wider perspectives can make you resist taking advice to keep studying. That is not a good thing. Sure you have to learn to trust your own judgement and perspective, but at any cost, I recommend staying in school (any school) as long as possible, and if not possible do enlist in army that enables higher education.

Higher education is indispensable.

On another matter related to brain development but not disconnected from early formation of a sense of perspective and judgement,
some research suggests that prefrontal cortex development is last to occur in the late teens,
and this corresponds to self direction and judgment - aka morality and integrity.

Taking psychedelic at 15 or 16 can hasten this or deform this: it certainly forces one to take in views of life as a totality view or cosmic significance kind of apprehension, which is part of the natural function of the pre-frontal cortex.

My approach would favor after a person is already looking at patterns that encompass
biological life cycle
animal and human behavior (psychology)
social structures and history
professional and personal opportunity options
politics and world history (includes religion)
literature and art (including music)
mythology


Usually a rounded base of information leading up to the moment is important for a balanced perspective when you first emerge psychedelically into the waking dream.
It is possible to attuned to these topics earlier than age 18, but not very likely before 20 will the package be well rounded.

there is only one first time