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Likelihood of psychotic breaks on LSD vs Mushrooms

N

Nb1235

Greenlighter
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Aug 20, 2015
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A few months ago, I witnessed my friend have a psychotic break on 440ug of LSD. It was absolutely traumatic for both of us. The police had to take her to the hospital and it was just a nightmare. I was on the same dose as she was and somehow stayed pretty calm throughout the whole thing. I've boomed once since this experience (1/8 soaked in lemon for about an hour) and it was mostly a good experience. I smoked a lot of weed and got pretty panicky the last hour or so. My setting ended up getting pretty hectic though and I started panicking because I felt like I was going to through up. Anyways. I'm started to worry a lot about tripping in the future. I will never tough high doses of LSD again considering what happened to my friend and an eighth was a little too intense for me but I really enjoy lower doses of shrooms, maybe a little over half an eighth. The lowest dose of acid I've taken was 220 and that was pretty mild but I've heard of psychotic breaks happening on even doses that low. That's the highest I'd ever go again.

Basically my question is, what's "safer" on lower doses? Which has more likelihood of causing psychosis? I've never had a bad trip on acid, even watching my best friend get hauled away by the cops I was able to keep my shit together. I have a pretty difficult time controlling my thoughts on higher doses of shrooms, lower ones are fine and I'm just happy.

Also, would 100ug of LSD be comparable to half an eighth of shrooms?

I have a history of anxiety and depression but I've been in a very healthy and stable mindset for a while now. My friend who had the psychotic episode has a history of depression but I'm not aware of any other mental health issues. She was on Prozac at the time though. She had had a pretty rough week prior to dropping with me so that could've been a factor as well even though she has quite a bit of psychedelic experience.
 
SSRI's and psychedelics don't mix. I have somewhat of an idea, but it's just a guess. LSD binds to adrenergic and dopaminergic receptors as well as serotonergic ones. It's proven that anxiety disorders are caused by your "fight or flight" response, which dopamine and adrenaline obviously play a key role in. So, the SSRI blocks uptake of serotonin to the receptors and in turn, the LSD doesn't bind to them as much either, but it's still binding to dopamine and adrenaline receptors.

Psychedelics can't really "cause" psychosis. What your friend experienced was a psychedelic crisis, a temporary state which wears off as soon as the LSD does.

In response to your question, mushrooms can be quite unfriendly as well. I would recommend mescaline, which can be obtained clearnet in the form of cacti. It's a bit more gentle.
 
There is no link between psychedelics and psychosis. The drug/dose has nothing to do with a bad trip, psychotic episode. It's all got to do with the person's mind. Both are completely fine so long as you aren't crazy to begin with.

Generally, I think that you'd notice if something was awry the first few times you took a substantial dose. Given your history, I would say that you will never have a psychotic break on psychedelics. But, never say never....

http://www.nature.com/news/no-link-found-between-psychedelics-and-psychosis-1.16968
 
In any case, the mushroom-experience will be over faster than the LSD-experience, if things go south.

Also, 220mics was pretty mild you say. Was this lab-tested ? That's a pretty hefty dose already, IMO..
 
SSRIs and serotonergics don't play well together :0 I've heard of mainly drug induced psychosis due to higher dose LSD, never heard any anecdotes about shrooms however I'm sure it's possible. Though HPPD is another matter. Anyways, I preferred shrooms myself when my psyche was fragile because of the shorter duration, and taking a very low dose of shrooms and then smoking a lot was good fun. But a full 8th of shrooms can get very crazy for some.

Bad trips themselves are traumatic regardless of the psychotic side of things, and I would be wondering if a bad trip is more likely with shrooms or acid. At least with shrooms it wouldn't last forever..
 
I've heard people say either. It depends on you personally. Some people find shrooms to be less predictable and to have a heavier body load. Others think that acid is too stimulating and lasts too long.
 
I find LSD can be totally mentally exhausting, which lends itself to psychosis IMO. The trip is longer and more broad spectrum. It's more depleting to neurochemistry, somehow. That's my intuitive analysis.

Mushrooms are intense but for me the main part of the trip is done in 2 hours or less, and usually the afterglow of mushrooms are quite pleasant and stabilizing. On LSD the peak alone can last 3 hours for me, and the come-down can take as long as 12 hours especially if I potentiate it with cannabis. Since I can't possibly sleep while on any psychedelic, if I end up getting mentally exhausted but the trip continues, I can end up in dangerous territory.

I do believe some people are "predisposed" to psychosis but I completely disagree that they are the only candidates. I've never been prone to psychosis in my entire life until the night I took too much LSD and was paralyzed by it.
 
I tripped many times on acid and mushrooms. Then when I went to college I had three bad trips that sent me to the hospital in a row. I am a changed man because of it. I never had a bad trip on mushrooms, and I have eaten well over an eigth in one day (not all at once)

The first bad trip was 3 blotters.
the second was one blotter.
the third was an asshole that sold me what I thought was one hit on a sweet tart which turned out to be a whole ten drops. This one completely fried me.

IMO shrooms are more forgiving. As foreigner said it is much easier to believe that this will end at some point because they don't last nearly as long.

I have taken LSD once since my bad trips and I had a great time with my now ex.
 
Mysterie said:
Lsd is a lot more likely to bring about psychosis.
Click to expand...

What would you recommend to someone who suffers with psychosis who wants to do acid again, swim is an experienced trip artist;)

swims been able to handle bad trips before but no has mental health issues including psychosis and a personality disorder, depression and anxiety. Swim knows taking acid isn't the smartest of ideas but swim wants to have one last tripping experience
 
pearhead said:
What would you recommend to someone who suffers with psychosis who wants to do acid again, swim is an experienced trip artist;)

swims been able to handle bad trips before but no has mental health issues including psychosis and a personality disorder, depression and anxiety. Swim knows taking acid isn't the smartest of ideas but swim wants to have one last tripping experience
Click to expand...

Few things. We don't use swim here. We also don't recommend drugs for people to take and even if we did no one in their right mind would suggest using any psychedelics to someone in your state. Definitely don't use 'acid'. You would most likely end up in an institution for a while. We try to keep things on topic as well for the most part.

Welcome to the site. You might want to give the rules a quick read.

Back on topic...

LSD by far but there is a lot going on with psychosis. I think it usually is triggered by something not just from taking too many drugs. The mind can only deal with so much at once.
 
Very possible if you have a predisposition to mental health problems.It really depends on your intent too_Otherwise i would say if you are healthy and have a good perspective of truth and illusion you should be completely fine,i`ve done it on a few occasions and had the time of my life,lots and lots of laughing at myself and lots of fun in general,the best times ever,totally bonkers,but so very comical.

I found the Magic shrooms gave a more bubbly edge to the LSD,it made me aware of how serious i can get,threw it all out the window and opened up the humour door.Maybe be careful though and make sure your somewhere safe because many silly ideas will come into your head,ones that could prove disasterous.

Have fun and be careful,be safe.
 
we don't use swim what do we use then is just the simple I?
I appreciate your reply, cheers for the welcome ile get used to the site in a few days.

Back on topic ..

I have abused drugs rather then used them anything and everything for the last 8 years apart from heroin ive always stayed well clear of that, I know my drug use hasn't helped my mental state but the thought of one last session with some close friends is to tempting.
 
Although mushrooms are more prone to bad trips and 'psychedelic crisis' probably, I think a true psychotic break, if it were to happen, would be more likely on LSD due partly to the duration and mainly it's stimulant properties. Also though LSD has a more positive push and gives you more control, meaning bad experiences happen less often, I think if something did go wrong on LSD it would go more wrong than on mushrooms.

This is my experience anyway
 
LSD or other psychedelics don't really cause psychosis all by themselves. Rather in people sensitive to losing sight of the difference between internal thought / fantasy and reality, a trip can trigger a psychosis. It is hard to say if that psychosis would eventually present itself in such individuals anyway, it depends on exactly how unstable they are.

It has been discovered that some people have a genetic trait that makes them very sensitive / liable to have psychotic episodes from smoking weed. You can actually get tested to see if you have that sensitivity. It's possible something similar is true for sensitivity to psychedelics, even perhaps that very same gene.

In any case it is a combination of factors: sensitivity + trigger. Sleep deprivation or general exhaustion or stimulant abuse can all act as a trigger. Psychedelics are not the main culprit, instead it is best for individuals to try and find out how well they can keep their mentality stable when challenged, such individuals (with indication of being especially sensitive) should not only avoid cannabis and psychedelics but also the other triggers I mentioned, or events that are overwhelming.

Laing wrote that psychosis often has to do with ontological insecurity: not being sure anymore of your own existence and how one relates to the world. Having your world shaken by spiritual experiences that put a lot of question in the existential department can have serious and deep effects on people. Some become more spiritual, open-minded, etc (while apparent enlightenment paradoxically is also accompanied by ego inflation: "wow - I AM ENLIGHTENED!"), but others just lose track of their own self and world.

I'm pretty sure not a lot of people do this sort of self inquiry before they start tripping, so they find out by trial and error. It's sad that some cannot hack it, but it has a complex reason IMO, scapegoating what triggers someone's psychosis misses a lot of nuance and is not helpful to the matter.
 
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You can get 'psychosis with no drugs at all of course, I don't believe any psychedelic can 'drive you mad' from one experience, that's a pointless myth created by the cretins who want to scare people off.

I do realise that if used in massive, regular doses in combination with unpleasant surroundings, influences or deliberate 'torture, things cant go very wrong - see 'Project Ultra'!
 
Psychosis is likely to be undelying - personally mushrooms are totally mentally destabilising to the point of wanting to self harm - I can't really think of a comparison to 100ug lsd since mushrooms are so different and it's pretty pointless given that the suggested doses of acid are almost always lies (220 isn't mild by most estimates at all) and mushrooms vary; theses drugs open the mind no more - if one opens raw areas you need to be very prepared; that can be a very good thing if done right but they aren't toys.
Doing a trip in a bad state can be therapuetic but there are lots of factors - what you are asking cannot be answered in a do-it-this-way and it will work out fine sort of way = real life is more complicated. Likelihood of psychotic break on either is miniscule chance of a very disruptive bad time a good deal more. Look at your motives aims for using for best results. re you using these for kicks or to really discover yourself
 
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I've had three difficult trips from LSD and none from shrooms for what it's worth. I know it doesn't answer the question, but that's what I can offer based on my own experience
 
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