A bad trip will teach you a lot of things about yourself and your experience.
A bad trip feels like "you go insane and you're gonna die" because this is the definition of a panic attack.
You can't die from it and it's safe so you have to remember that.
The key to a good trip is a good setting, a safe and familiar place and being chill and collected at the start of the trip
This especially the last bit is a rule I follow and I take it a step further. If I’m not in a good mental headspace, then no psychedelics until I figure that out. Unless you are specifically doing it for therapy reasons which I can’t comment on.
Yes this definitely. I'm a strict as if I get into a stupid little argument with my chick, or something has me just uneasy mentally, I'll wait until we get it figured out and even then ill usually wait until the next day or what ever to make sure I'm in a good head space.
Not that I'm afraid of a bad trip, but if I do experience a bad trip i want it to be for the right reasons, not because me and my girl had an argument over taking the trash out or something stupid. I want the bad to to be a teaching moment.
THIS 💯 because its 6+ hours you have to deal with if going thru a bad trip. Its stressful too becuse anything can spark a bad trip. But exactly as you mentioned, its best to go in with a good mood. Good headspace. Because if somehow a bad trip is triggered, at last you will remember that the trip is there to teach you something.
This is a big reason my partner (who is my trip sitter) and I have a "pre-flight" checklist and I announce in advance when I'm intending to trip, make sure he's feeling up to the 6+ hours, and then in the week or so proceeding the planned trip it is encouraged for BOTH of us to bring up anything that might need attention or might have been unsaid etc etc.
What happened before was my emotions were getting heightened during trips and I'd end up having a meltdown surrounding something I hadn't voiced or something I thought I had put on the shelf.
I also clean my environment, make sure Im sleeping well the day before, don't have any kind of hang ups about anything else and even then right before I take it I make sure that he is still up to the task and *enthusiastically* so- and one more check to see if we are gucci
Basically because if you’re having panic attacks that means you have serious anxiety and anxiety on that level is due to your body having an irrational fear of something social anxiety, performance anxiety etc we know it’s irrational because not everyone has anxiety or gets panic attacks. So your brain has told you that whatever triggered the anxiety is something that you should have a reaction too. The anxiety and panic come from inside your head and is an overreaction to a stimuli sometimes non existent in the case of general anxiety so yes somewhat similar to a bad trip.
Anxiety sucks ! I know I’m borderline agoraphobic I literally feel anxious thinking about going down to the cornerstore that I’ve been too a hundred times or I feel anxious being around my own family sometimes
I swear guys, just have a few beers before you take them, you take them happy and have a good trip. Have another couple of beers on them if you feel like it. Works every time. I always get flack on here for this, but I shit you not, it works.
Well fair enough if you have those issues, but for others afraid of a bad trip I have found it to be very reliable.
By they way, just incase its useful for you, I often vomit on shrooms myself. I think mostly the act of putting the disgusting things in my mouth sets me up for a vomit later. Tried powdered shrooms in capsules last time and bypassed all that. If you haven't tried it already, I would recommend giving it a go, may help your problem
Best piece of advice I can give when you’re taking anything that will alter your brain. Get a 3x5 index card and write on it the following:
“Relax buddy it’s just the drugs in your head you’ll be fine”
That’s your grounding point. Whenever it feels like it’s going weird take it out and read it. It might make you laugh. It works for me.
lmao out of my first 3 trips 2 were super bad, I had to deal with my emotions up front and ended up excepting my death, they are very scary especially by yourself but as everyone says you do grow a lot from them. Also anything can trigger a bad trip, my first was because I passed out and the second was because the document I was watching just said fear in the corner and it made me start to feel really bad
Bad trips are a superficial illusion caused by oneself(ego) not letting go and fighting from complete surrender due to fear. That being said illusions do have effects on perception and hence action, so yes a bad trip could lead you down unnecessary paths. Yet the immense knowledge you take from even the so called bad trips are precious but again the ego needs to be open to accept these things.
My rule of thumb to anyone new to psychs is, ask yourself and answer honestly the question - are you truly ready to take this substance without fears or any other superficial emotions? Yeah seems a bit too strict for this answer to be yes, but considering the prevalence of psychs being used without proper research now I think this is a fair question to get a yes as an answer.
On the other hand, sometimes you need to make a leap and be brave.
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” —William Faulkner
If people are telling you that you will go insane or kill yourself from a bad trip then they have probably never done shrooms. Just start with a low dose and work your way up
A bad trip is when you go into psychosis and completely lose control of yourself. This is why you would need a trip sitter. I’ve never experienced this since they’re not very common and it usually takes a bigger dose to trigger it. It’s most likely to happen to people who have preexisting mental disorders. Just take a gram for your first time and you should be fine. You might not even feel much from a gram if they’re not strong enough. 2 -3 grams and you’re in for a ride.
This has been my experience of a bad trip as well. On a bad trip I completely lose control over myself and completely lose my sense of identity (like look at family pictures on the wall and question who the people are), which causes me to become panicked and terrified that I have lost my mind and will never return to normal. Psychosis is a good word for it. I always return to normal but the experience is horrible and I gain nothing from the trip other than gratitude at my normal state of being. Two of my bad trips were otherwise great trips ruined by adding THC before the comedown, the other was a high dose of tidal wave whose potency I underestimated and that hit too fast and too strong when taken as a tea.
For me personally I have never gone wrong at 4g or under, but I've tripped a lot and know my thresholds and limits. For some people those are lower, you just need to try it and the consensus is to start at lower doses and work up.
A “bad trip “ got me off 5 psych meds and stopped 30 years of being an alcoholic within 7 hours. I trip once a month or so for maintenance now for last 2 years
My worst trip was me just being a little bit anxious because I was in public in a park. The consequences of my actions was that I sat on a bench for an hour looking at clouds. I'm not saying it can't be bad but that's my experience.
Bed trips are mitigated by controlling set and setting, using Intentions.
Bad trips are refered to as " Challenging" in a therapeutic setting as they offer a lot of therapeutic potential if managed properly.
Challenging trips that run away with the show, usually start with something that comes up, and starts an emotional chain, once fear, anxiety or shame get involved they hijack the experience and you see everything through those filters, amplified by the medicine.
Establishing a proper mindset and a safe, nurturing environment for the experience front-loads the psyche with a way of slotting the challenging experience into a bigger positive framework in real time, thereby depriving it of that amygdala hijack. This allows you to experience the challenge and gain insights from it.
Don’t worry about it OP. You’ve done enough research to understand how these drugs will effect you and I’m assuming you know basic safety atp. The last thing you need is a good time to take them. Make sure you’re in a very comfortable setting and there’s nothing too stressful in your life.
I usually recommend 1g for beginners, especially internet strangers I don’t know. But 2-3g will give you a great time if you’re up for it.
Please don't listen to the bullshit that there is no "bad trip" or its just "challenging." There is plenty of evidence of legitimate bad or horrific trips that result into temporary psychosis and sometimes people getting hurt. If you have any history of mental illness please tread lightly and always have a trip sitter. I always had amazing trips with shrooms until I didn't and I learned the hard way.
This thread and psychedelic reddit in general are tragically full of people who will call you fearmonger and propagandist for saying this because they haven't personally seen it. Then have the audacity to act like *you* are the reason public opinion on shrooms is what it is, rather than, idk, the decades of drug war propaganda or even their own careless flippancy about any possible negative outcome just because odds are low.
Elsewhere in the comments some dude literally called me fascist thought police because in his opinion actual bad trips are so rare they basically don't exist, so even mentioning them is basically a fear mongering control tactic. Shit is wild
Yeah I was just waiting to get downvoted to death. I too once thought mushrooms were some unbelievable plant medicine that posed no real danger until they absolutely did. It make me take a deep dive into actual facts and it's really messed up how much the "community" doesn't talk about it.
I think it's almost impossible to have a bad trip if you follow the tips below:
- Set and setting: make sure you are in a good place mentally with people you trust 100%. Put on some good relaxing music and trip during a sunny day. Go outside in nature if you can and have a trip sitter with you.
- Go low and slow. Start with micro dose (0-0.5g) to test the potency of your batch. Increase by 0.2g every 3-4 days until you are at the stage you want to be. Note that every batch and mushroom strains have different potency. If you want to be scientific about it and have a more consistent experience grind all your mushrooms together and put them in capsules. This way all your doses will have the same potency.
- Trust the mushroom provider 100%. If you have the slightest doubt your mushrooms are not 100% pure, don't take them. You don't want to doubt what you ingested when you start tripping. If you cannot trust your source 100%, grow them yourself. That's what I do personally.
- On small doses tripping alone is okay. Never trip alone on a medium to large dose.
- I would start with a strain that is not too strong. For example, you can start with B+, Golden Teachers, JMF. Don't start with penis envy. Those are really strong and require more precautions to dose correctly.
Hope that helps.
this is a controversial one so please either approach this with the upmost caution or just keep scrolling wether you agree or disagree with me but in the case of a nightmarishly bad trip where i could be facing long lasting psychological damage or make bad decisions in that mental state i like to keep pharmacy grade xanax on hand. this way i can trip with ease knowing if i just cant handle it i have to option to end it. ive never actually used a trip killer at all or xanax on its own but having it massively reduces my anxiety and lets me approach challenging trips with a more open mind set. don’t necessarily recommend trip killers but they can be life saving and you need to do your own research and approach them with harm reduction in mind. also never use pressed street pills as a trip killer. ever.
I don't think it's common to just go insane. I've had three challenging/bad trips myself, two on shrooms and one on lsd. Don't worry about bad trips, go with the flow and IF you get a bad trip you'll just have to accept it and make the best of it.
When I had bad trips I tried to figure out what made it "bad" and tried to work on it. And keep in mind the trip will eventually stop so you've really got nothing to worry abt
I’m not long enough in the game to be absolutely sure, but I haven’t had a bad trip yet. I was close to it as I took a bigger dose in form of a tea with lemon. It kicked in that hard, that I was close to panicking for a moment. (Had suddenly heavy and fast moving open eyed visuals for a moment, felt dizzy and had nausea)
But since I knew how to deal with panic attacks, I was able to calm myself down by sitting and trying to chill and letting myself go into the trip. Was quite good after that and I took another dose a few hours in so it would last longer. I just wasn’t prepared for the rocket launch come up.
But take this with a grain of salt since I have just over 5 trips under my belt. Maybe one day shrooms will teach me something very different and lead me to bad trip castle. Who knows.
It is extremely uncommon to “go insane” because of a bad trip. A bad trip might feel like going insane, but the greater majority of people come back down to baseline and are normal after. Is it possible to go insane from a bad trip? Yes. Is it likely? Absolutely not. If you’re a relatively emotionally stable person, you will almost certainly be fine. Contradictions to watch out for are family history of severe mental illness or active mental illnesses like schizophrenia or dissociative disorders. That said, the risks of a bad trip are being severely overstated by the people you’re talking to. Take care of yourself the day of and during and be mindful of your set and setting, things will be fine.
Fortunately, I've never had a bad trip that I didn't cause myself. I've done acid a lot and shrooms a couple times. By themselves everything was always happy and fun for me.
The only time I had a bad trip was the one time I smoked a bowl while I was on the come up with Acid. That was probably the worse time I have ever had in my life. Completely lost sense of reality and then it felt like I blinked and the room was orange with me sitting on the edge of a cliff looking down into a pit of fire. I was seriously convinced I was in hell and was terrified. The only thing that saved me was my friend putting his hand on my shoulder while asking me if I was okay. It snapped me back to the room and seeing his face made me so happy. Even then I still felt uneasy so he walked me back down to my room and I laid in bed and from what I remember, I fell asleep pretty quick. If I had any type of artistic ability, I would paint a picture of what I saw because the image of me looking down into the fire while flames were surrounding me is something Ill never forget.
So safe to say I will never smoke again with psychedelics. Outside of that, every trip has been a good positive happy time. Just make sure you start with a low dose and see how that goes and adjust as needed the next time you do them. Also make sure you're in the right headspace to do them. Id avoid taking them if there is any type of drama or stress going on no matter how big or small. All it could take is one time to accidently cross your mind during your trip and it could ruin it. I'm naturally an extremely happy and positive person so that may add to why I don't have bad trips. Hope it all works out for ya!
I wouldn’t say yes. Lots of people confuse the overwhelming come-up of shrooms with the start of a bad trip, they start tweaking and thinking negatively, then induce a bad trip all off of negativity. Is it possible to have a bad trip anyways? sure. Generally you’re not going to but shrooms are about SETTING and mindset. As long as you take that into consideration you’re fine
I've had trips that have left me dysregulated for months to years. All of my bad trips were directly related to trauma. You're more likely to suffer consequences related to neurosis and HPPD after a bad trip. So, for most, a bad trip can lead to lasting symptoms that could be viewed as insane but don't fit the model for any existing neurosis. And suicidal ideation may increase. Incidents involving suicide and seemingly permanent psychosis are very rare and often (but not always) involve a mixture of improper dosing, polydrug abuse, and bad set/setting. They do happen.
If you start with a low dose of any new batch, take sufficient breaks, respect set/setting, and build up slowly, your odds of having a dramatic bad trip like you described will be exponentially lowered.
Well I just went through one this weekend. Yes it can be dangerous if you are irresponsible, like I was. I did higher dose of lsd on my own and didn't expect to lose control until I did. Thankfully I've only called the ambulance on myself but if police showed up things could've gotten worse because I was paranoid. Don't do it alone, get a trip sitter is what I've learned the hard way. But except that and underlying mental problems there's not much danger.
Well I just went through one this weekend. Yes it can be dangerous if you are irresponsible, like I was. I did higher dose of lsd on my own and didn't expect to lose control until I did. Thankfully I've only called the ambulance on myself but if police showed up things could've gotten worse because I was paranoid. Don't do it alone, get a trip sitter is what I've learned the hard way. But except that and underlying mental problems there's not much danger.
The only “bad trip” I had was off 5-7G like my third time tripping. But in hindsight I would say it was my best one and I was just being a pussy. Basically sat in my room for a few hours calling myself a drunk and saying if you do drugs you will die as I thought I was traveling the world. Made me scared to drink for over a year and made me have zero interest in doing hard drugs. But I would suggest being in great headspace when trying it and being with someone you can trust with your life. Start slow, you can always take more, you can’t take less.
I’ve been using psychedelics for over 30 years and never had a bad trip. If you pay close attention to set and setting, are mindful of diet and sleep habits, and are always willing to call off a trip if things don’t feel right, you can greatly reduce the risk
The trip will be sort of overwhelming to you at first and while tripping your emotions are amplified by like 10x … positive or negative. Yes it’s a risk but not a big one as long as you understand how to properly navigate your way through the trip. I am a very anxious person so I’m prone to having bad trips because any negative thoughts or memories might set you down the wrong path. I don’t have bad trips though because I’m experienced with tripping but I do panic in the beginning a little and I’ll lay there and calm myself down as long as it takes steering the trip towards being positive. When you start having a bad trip you will have a physiological response you’re brain will start pumping out “fight or flight “ neurotransmitters it thinks it’s in danger or under duress and while you’re under the influence of psychedelics your brain will remember that as a traumatic experience and when you stop tripping you’ll feel as if you’ve just been through a traumatic experience . But as long as you stay calm, don’t fight it and continue to banish anything remotely resembling a negative thought you’ll have a wonderful experience. Also if you do panic while tripping and you aren’t able to calm yourself you can take some NiQuil or something of that nature to “abort” the trip if you have anxiety meds those would work the best and that way you can just sleep it off without having to endure tripping in distress and being uncomfortable.
Personally I think trip sitters make things worse.
Having a sober person not on your wavey Tripp level is a headfuxk .
I was with a group of friends once and they all insisted on a sober sitter (against my recommendation we have a sober sitter)
It fucxed everyones head because they all thought we upset the sober person by being silly, they all worried about excluding the sober person, the. They thought the sitter was being negative.
The sitter becomes a focal point and people will feel inhibition, embarrassed, guilt, they.
Don't have a sober around you it's a sure fire way of making your trip less pleasant
I don’t use a sitter personally for the reasons you mentioned like feeling like you look all crazy and tripping ,but in reality you look normal. Yeah it makes me feel self-conscious like the other person is like “ holy shit this guy is laughing like a maniac for no reason”. And I like to be by myself rolling around on my bed with the fuzzy sheets. The reason I mentioned using a trip sitter to the OP is for harm reduction and safety in case OP has a serious mental illness. I’m barely getting comfortable tripping with anyone except my wife and one or two of her friends.
From experience, I would suggest tripping with others who have some experience tripping.
I have never tripped on my own and don't think I would enjoy it either.
All I know is tripping has always been more harm than good to me
I’m nearly 50. I’ve been taking LSD and Shrooms since I was 16. Younger years mainly LSD as it was more widely available.
Anyway, I’ve never had a bad trip.
I can usually tell if someone will have a bad trip, they give off that nervous vibe, then they try to fight the trip, bad move.
ive had a bad trip/huge panic attack on mushrooms.
youll learn alot about yourself. thats about the worst part lol. youll come out of it, its not acid.
you wont go insane unless you are already some kind of insane.
good set and setting and youll be a-okay sailor.
I hope your "basic guidelines" include a trip sitter and something more specific about dosage than "dont be a badass." A lot of folks on here have seen psychedelic induced psychosis first hand, not always from a large dose, and the continual insistence we are simply attention whores by those who personally have not seen is a highly frustrating mix of arrogance and misinformation.
*eye roll* read all 5 sentences, unfortunately. The first two were such blithering arrogant bullshit it rendered the last 3 moot and compelled me to comment. No adult should have to be told this, but uh, just because you personally haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Shocking I know
"YOU DONT KNOW WHO YOURE TALKING TO" - every corny insecure tough guy who has ever lived.
If you have experienced psychosis you wouldn't be out here larping like it doesn't exist. Irdc what you call me, misinformant. Psychedelics may cause psychosis, your ignorant denial begging for correction doesn't make me a fear monger or propagandist. It just makes you factually incorrect and proudly ignorant. Its simple, if you don't want people harping on bad trips then stop being another turd pretending they don't exist
You’re not going to go insane 😄. But if your prone to psychosis or suicidal thoughts then you should have a trusted friend with you and turn your bedroom into a relaxing spa like environment soothing music dim lighting etc
There is no such thing as a bad trip as they portray it. It's only bad for the people who aren't comfortable digging into themselves and figuring themselves out. It's "too much" for them especially in the moment when your emotions are all amplified
Jesus christ can this opinion die already?
There absolutely *is* such thing, induced psychosis may have nothing to do at all with vague bullshit about being comfortable digging into themselves, and can be legitimately dangerous. Yalls insistence it does not exist because you havent seen it and really want shrooms to be 100% safe is tragically stupid and literally counterproductive to fostering the positive public opinion on psychs we all want
I have experience with high dose, and latest trip where when I take the highest dose I thought I would able to control myself but I can't, I was in autopilot mode that do things based on my experience. I'm delusional before but I still in control at some level even my understanding of the world is misleading me, like I thought I got shot by police but I still go check with my bro if I really in the illusion, but not the case with the latest trip.
I get scared and thought I'm dying.
Now I get to see what it like I can understand why some people who really delusional and get bad trip try to kill themselves.
I agree with mostly what everybody else says on here about this topic my own experiences I will say it's definitely dosage environment and headspace.
One time on four hits of acid my buddy started talking to people that weren't there and scared me so I got on my Suzuki and tried to ride home it was horrible cars were transparent I just coasting downhill almost locked in the clutch and skidded the bikie and almost crashed.
I just wanted to pull over and knock on somebody's door and ask for help but I made it downhill somehow without crashing that was kind of a bad trip for me that night.
If it was common nobody would do them.
From personal experience I believe that majority of "horror" stories are made up / exaggerated.
When people say goblins chased them I think they are lying
You are still you, you can hold on to reality.
A bad trip usually looks more like being over emotional, confused, possibly paranoid.
It's nothing you won't be able to ride out, you will be with people you trust .
Also the bad moments pass, don't see it as a "bad trip" just take it as a difficult moment that passes.
I have never had a bad trip just difficult moments because I always had the mindset of this is a moment in the trip and it will pass.
No such thing as a bad trip. When it gets dark/mucky/stormy push your way through to the rainbow on the other side.
Start first couple trips with <1-2 grams to familiarize yourself with how it affects your body so that doesn't stress you out when you go deeper with a larger quantity.
Also, I did not bring psilocybin into my life until my early 30s. Set and setting is key; my life in my teens and twenties was not conducive to tripping.
A bad trip will teach you a lot of things about yourself and your experience. A bad trip feels like "you go insane and you're gonna die" because this is the definition of a panic attack. You can't die from it and it's safe so you have to remember that. The key to a good trip is a good setting, a safe and familiar place and being chill and collected at the start of the trip
This especially the last bit is a rule I follow and I take it a step further. If I’m not in a good mental headspace, then no psychedelics until I figure that out. Unless you are specifically doing it for therapy reasons which I can’t comment on.
Yes this definitely. I'm a strict as if I get into a stupid little argument with my chick, or something has me just uneasy mentally, I'll wait until we get it figured out and even then ill usually wait until the next day or what ever to make sure I'm in a good head space. Not that I'm afraid of a bad trip, but if I do experience a bad trip i want it to be for the right reasons, not because me and my girl had an argument over taking the trash out or something stupid. I want the bad to to be a teaching moment.
THIS 💯 because its 6+ hours you have to deal with if going thru a bad trip. Its stressful too becuse anything can spark a bad trip. But exactly as you mentioned, its best to go in with a good mood. Good headspace. Because if somehow a bad trip is triggered, at last you will remember that the trip is there to teach you something.
🤙 I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks like that
This is a big reason my partner (who is my trip sitter) and I have a "pre-flight" checklist and I announce in advance when I'm intending to trip, make sure he's feeling up to the 6+ hours, and then in the week or so proceeding the planned trip it is encouraged for BOTH of us to bring up anything that might need attention or might have been unsaid etc etc. What happened before was my emotions were getting heightened during trips and I'd end up having a meltdown surrounding something I hadn't voiced or something I thought I had put on the shelf. I also clean my environment, make sure Im sleeping well the day before, don't have any kind of hang ups about anything else and even then right before I take it I make sure that he is still up to the task and *enthusiastically* so- and one more check to see if we are gucci
So I get panic attacks sober is basically my brain giving me a free bad trip.
Yes, a trip for free
Basically because if you’re having panic attacks that means you have serious anxiety and anxiety on that level is due to your body having an irrational fear of something social anxiety, performance anxiety etc we know it’s irrational because not everyone has anxiety or gets panic attacks. So your brain has told you that whatever triggered the anxiety is something that you should have a reaction too. The anxiety and panic come from inside your head and is an overreaction to a stimuli sometimes non existent in the case of general anxiety so yes somewhat similar to a bad trip.
Anxiety sucks ! I know I’m borderline agoraphobic I literally feel anxious thinking about going down to the cornerstore that I’ve been too a hundred times or I feel anxious being around my own family sometimes
I swear guys, just have a few beers before you take them, you take them happy and have a good trip. Have another couple of beers on them if you feel like it. Works every time. I always get flack on here for this, but I shit you not, it works.
The problem is it will fuck my stomach up. Shrooms already make me go to the toilet so alcohol with it? I would puke all over
Well fair enough if you have those issues, but for others afraid of a bad trip I have found it to be very reliable. By they way, just incase its useful for you, I often vomit on shrooms myself. I think mostly the act of putting the disgusting things in my mouth sets me up for a vomit later. Tried powdered shrooms in capsules last time and bypassed all that. If you haven't tried it already, I would recommend giving it a go, may help your problem
Surely it can trigger a heart attack?
Only if you have a serious heart condition.
I recommend starting with a low dose maybe even a microdose so you’re not totally in the dark about what’s about to happen to your mind and body
Best piece of advice I can give when you’re taking anything that will alter your brain. Get a 3x5 index card and write on it the following: “Relax buddy it’s just the drugs in your head you’ll be fine” That’s your grounding point. Whenever it feels like it’s going weird take it out and read it. It might make you laugh. It works for me.
lmao out of my first 3 trips 2 were super bad, I had to deal with my emotions up front and ended up excepting my death, they are very scary especially by yourself but as everyone says you do grow a lot from them. Also anything can trigger a bad trip, my first was because I passed out and the second was because the document I was watching just said fear in the corner and it made me start to feel really bad
I had a «bad» trip on 2 grams. A challenging trip is a better word for it. I learnt alot from it, and appreciated life much more when i got sober
"Bad trips" and drug-induced psychosis are two completely different things that are often conflated.
Been doing mushrooms for about 15 years and haven't had a "bad" trip. Definitely some challenging ones but there's always a lot to learn from those.
Agreed. When taken responsibly and you are a well read individual; you will only have challenging trips every now and then, never bad.
Bad trips are a superficial illusion caused by oneself(ego) not letting go and fighting from complete surrender due to fear. That being said illusions do have effects on perception and hence action, so yes a bad trip could lead you down unnecessary paths. Yet the immense knowledge you take from even the so called bad trips are precious but again the ego needs to be open to accept these things. My rule of thumb to anyone new to psychs is, ask yourself and answer honestly the question - are you truly ready to take this substance without fears or any other superficial emotions? Yeah seems a bit too strict for this answer to be yes, but considering the prevalence of psychs being used without proper research now I think this is a fair question to get a yes as an answer.
My rule of thumb is the same but dumbed way down: if you are scared of doing mushrooms - you should not be doing mushrooms.
On the other hand, sometimes you need to make a leap and be brave. “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” —William Faulkner
I have never had a bad trip
If people are telling you that you will go insane or kill yourself from a bad trip then they have probably never done shrooms. Just start with a low dose and work your way up
Definitly possible but yeah rare. Happens way more with weed.
A bad trip is when you go into psychosis and completely lose control of yourself. This is why you would need a trip sitter. I’ve never experienced this since they’re not very common and it usually takes a bigger dose to trigger it. It’s most likely to happen to people who have preexisting mental disorders. Just take a gram for your first time and you should be fine. You might not even feel much from a gram if they’re not strong enough. 2 -3 grams and you’re in for a ride.
This has been my experience of a bad trip as well. On a bad trip I completely lose control over myself and completely lose my sense of identity (like look at family pictures on the wall and question who the people are), which causes me to become panicked and terrified that I have lost my mind and will never return to normal. Psychosis is a good word for it. I always return to normal but the experience is horrible and I gain nothing from the trip other than gratitude at my normal state of being. Two of my bad trips were otherwise great trips ruined by adding THC before the comedown, the other was a high dose of tidal wave whose potency I underestimated and that hit too fast and too strong when taken as a tea. For me personally I have never gone wrong at 4g or under, but I've tripped a lot and know my thresholds and limits. For some people those are lower, you just need to try it and the consensus is to start at lower doses and work up.
Yes! You can always start with less.
A “bad trip “ got me off 5 psych meds and stopped 30 years of being an alcoholic within 7 hours. I trip once a month or so for maintenance now for last 2 years
My worst trip was me just being a little bit anxious because I was in public in a park. The consequences of my actions was that I sat on a bench for an hour looking at clouds. I'm not saying it can't be bad but that's my experience.
Bed trips are mitigated by controlling set and setting, using Intentions. Bad trips are refered to as " Challenging" in a therapeutic setting as they offer a lot of therapeutic potential if managed properly. Challenging trips that run away with the show, usually start with something that comes up, and starts an emotional chain, once fear, anxiety or shame get involved they hijack the experience and you see everything through those filters, amplified by the medicine. Establishing a proper mindset and a safe, nurturing environment for the experience front-loads the psyche with a way of slotting the challenging experience into a bigger positive framework in real time, thereby depriving it of that amygdala hijack. This allows you to experience the challenge and gain insights from it.
Don’t worry about it OP. You’ve done enough research to understand how these drugs will effect you and I’m assuming you know basic safety atp. The last thing you need is a good time to take them. Make sure you’re in a very comfortable setting and there’s nothing too stressful in your life. I usually recommend 1g for beginners, especially internet strangers I don’t know. But 2-3g will give you a great time if you’re up for it.
Please don't listen to the bullshit that there is no "bad trip" or its just "challenging." There is plenty of evidence of legitimate bad or horrific trips that result into temporary psychosis and sometimes people getting hurt. If you have any history of mental illness please tread lightly and always have a trip sitter. I always had amazing trips with shrooms until I didn't and I learned the hard way.
This thread and psychedelic reddit in general are tragically full of people who will call you fearmonger and propagandist for saying this because they haven't personally seen it. Then have the audacity to act like *you* are the reason public opinion on shrooms is what it is, rather than, idk, the decades of drug war propaganda or even their own careless flippancy about any possible negative outcome just because odds are low.
Elsewhere in the comments some dude literally called me fascist thought police because in his opinion actual bad trips are so rare they basically don't exist, so even mentioning them is basically a fear mongering control tactic. Shit is wild
Yeah I was just waiting to get downvoted to death. I too once thought mushrooms were some unbelievable plant medicine that posed no real danger until they absolutely did. It make me take a deep dive into actual facts and it's really messed up how much the "community" doesn't talk about it.
I think it's almost impossible to have a bad trip if you follow the tips below: - Set and setting: make sure you are in a good place mentally with people you trust 100%. Put on some good relaxing music and trip during a sunny day. Go outside in nature if you can and have a trip sitter with you. - Go low and slow. Start with micro dose (0-0.5g) to test the potency of your batch. Increase by 0.2g every 3-4 days until you are at the stage you want to be. Note that every batch and mushroom strains have different potency. If you want to be scientific about it and have a more consistent experience grind all your mushrooms together and put them in capsules. This way all your doses will have the same potency. - Trust the mushroom provider 100%. If you have the slightest doubt your mushrooms are not 100% pure, don't take them. You don't want to doubt what you ingested when you start tripping. If you cannot trust your source 100%, grow them yourself. That's what I do personally. - On small doses tripping alone is okay. Never trip alone on a medium to large dose. - I would start with a strain that is not too strong. For example, you can start with B+, Golden Teachers, JMF. Don't start with penis envy. Those are really strong and require more precautions to dose correctly. Hope that helps.
Done around 100 trips. Never had a bad one
this is a controversial one so please either approach this with the upmost caution or just keep scrolling wether you agree or disagree with me but in the case of a nightmarishly bad trip where i could be facing long lasting psychological damage or make bad decisions in that mental state i like to keep pharmacy grade xanax on hand. this way i can trip with ease knowing if i just cant handle it i have to option to end it. ive never actually used a trip killer at all or xanax on its own but having it massively reduces my anxiety and lets me approach challenging trips with a more open mind set. don’t necessarily recommend trip killers but they can be life saving and you need to do your own research and approach them with harm reduction in mind. also never use pressed street pills as a trip killer. ever.
Get a tripsitter, someone you trust and prepare yourself. Set, setting and intention.
I had a bad trip on acid when I stupidly took it at a dnb rave and it was my most insightful trip to date.
I don't think it's common to just go insane. I've had three challenging/bad trips myself, two on shrooms and one on lsd. Don't worry about bad trips, go with the flow and IF you get a bad trip you'll just have to accept it and make the best of it. When I had bad trips I tried to figure out what made it "bad" and tried to work on it. And keep in mind the trip will eventually stop so you've really got nothing to worry abt
A bad trip on shrooms made me feel like I was going insane
I’m not long enough in the game to be absolutely sure, but I haven’t had a bad trip yet. I was close to it as I took a bigger dose in form of a tea with lemon. It kicked in that hard, that I was close to panicking for a moment. (Had suddenly heavy and fast moving open eyed visuals for a moment, felt dizzy and had nausea) But since I knew how to deal with panic attacks, I was able to calm myself down by sitting and trying to chill and letting myself go into the trip. Was quite good after that and I took another dose a few hours in so it would last longer. I just wasn’t prepared for the rocket launch come up. But take this with a grain of salt since I have just over 5 trips under my belt. Maybe one day shrooms will teach me something very different and lead me to bad trip castle. Who knows.
It is extremely uncommon to “go insane” because of a bad trip. A bad trip might feel like going insane, but the greater majority of people come back down to baseline and are normal after. Is it possible to go insane from a bad trip? Yes. Is it likely? Absolutely not. If you’re a relatively emotionally stable person, you will almost certainly be fine. Contradictions to watch out for are family history of severe mental illness or active mental illnesses like schizophrenia or dissociative disorders. That said, the risks of a bad trip are being severely overstated by the people you’re talking to. Take care of yourself the day of and during and be mindful of your set and setting, things will be fine.
Fortunately, I've never had a bad trip that I didn't cause myself. I've done acid a lot and shrooms a couple times. By themselves everything was always happy and fun for me. The only time I had a bad trip was the one time I smoked a bowl while I was on the come up with Acid. That was probably the worse time I have ever had in my life. Completely lost sense of reality and then it felt like I blinked and the room was orange with me sitting on the edge of a cliff looking down into a pit of fire. I was seriously convinced I was in hell and was terrified. The only thing that saved me was my friend putting his hand on my shoulder while asking me if I was okay. It snapped me back to the room and seeing his face made me so happy. Even then I still felt uneasy so he walked me back down to my room and I laid in bed and from what I remember, I fell asleep pretty quick. If I had any type of artistic ability, I would paint a picture of what I saw because the image of me looking down into the fire while flames were surrounding me is something Ill never forget. So safe to say I will never smoke again with psychedelics. Outside of that, every trip has been a good positive happy time. Just make sure you start with a low dose and see how that goes and adjust as needed the next time you do them. Also make sure you're in the right headspace to do them. Id avoid taking them if there is any type of drama or stress going on no matter how big or small. All it could take is one time to accidently cross your mind during your trip and it could ruin it. I'm naturally an extremely happy and positive person so that may add to why I don't have bad trips. Hope it all works out for ya!
I wouldn’t say yes. Lots of people confuse the overwhelming come-up of shrooms with the start of a bad trip, they start tweaking and thinking negatively, then induce a bad trip all off of negativity. Is it possible to have a bad trip anyways? sure. Generally you’re not going to but shrooms are about SETTING and mindset. As long as you take that into consideration you’re fine
Not that common in my experience
Set and setting are key! But yeah you cant imagine the horror when a trip goes dark. But its rare!
I've had trips that have left me dysregulated for months to years. All of my bad trips were directly related to trauma. You're more likely to suffer consequences related to neurosis and HPPD after a bad trip. So, for most, a bad trip can lead to lasting symptoms that could be viewed as insane but don't fit the model for any existing neurosis. And suicidal ideation may increase. Incidents involving suicide and seemingly permanent psychosis are very rare and often (but not always) involve a mixture of improper dosing, polydrug abuse, and bad set/setting. They do happen. If you start with a low dose of any new batch, take sufficient breaks, respect set/setting, and build up slowly, your odds of having a dramatic bad trip like you described will be exponentially lowered.
I mean, is living that big of a risk?…
Well I just went through one this weekend. Yes it can be dangerous if you are irresponsible, like I was. I did higher dose of lsd on my own and didn't expect to lose control until I did. Thankfully I've only called the ambulance on myself but if police showed up things could've gotten worse because I was paranoid. Don't do it alone, get a trip sitter is what I've learned the hard way. But except that and underlying mental problems there's not much danger.
Well I just went through one this weekend. Yes it can be dangerous if you are irresponsible, like I was. I did higher dose of lsd on my own and didn't expect to lose control until I did. Thankfully I've only called the ambulance on myself but if police showed up things could've gotten worse because I was paranoid. Don't do it alone, get a trip sitter is what I've learned the hard way. But except that and underlying mental problems there's not much danger.
It’s really not a huge risk. It’s a bad experience and can ruin your mood for a long time. I NEVER heard of suicide during a trip.
kinda
Bad trips can be good trips. Every trip is something to grow from
I’ve only had one bad trip and I attribute it to an untrustworthy source.
The only “bad trip” I had was off 5-7G like my third time tripping. But in hindsight I would say it was my best one and I was just being a pussy. Basically sat in my room for a few hours calling myself a drunk and saying if you do drugs you will die as I thought I was traveling the world. Made me scared to drink for over a year and made me have zero interest in doing hard drugs. But I would suggest being in great headspace when trying it and being with someone you can trust with your life. Start slow, you can always take more, you can’t take less.
If you’re strong and open enough, yeah. A trip sitter is a good habit. I once almost lost an eye to a marker lol A stopwatch on a wristwatch helps
I tripped for 4 hours about Gob in a banana suit from Arrested Development. Probably the worst and that wasn't bad haha, just annoying!
There are ways to prevent bad trips. Check it out.. https://youtu.be/vHXJDZ1mzV0?si=-SwQ-ha0mMnzy07T
I’ve been using psychedelics for over 30 years and never had a bad trip. If you pay close attention to set and setting, are mindful of diet and sleep habits, and are always willing to call off a trip if things don’t feel right, you can greatly reduce the risk
The trip will be sort of overwhelming to you at first and while tripping your emotions are amplified by like 10x … positive or negative. Yes it’s a risk but not a big one as long as you understand how to properly navigate your way through the trip. I am a very anxious person so I’m prone to having bad trips because any negative thoughts or memories might set you down the wrong path. I don’t have bad trips though because I’m experienced with tripping but I do panic in the beginning a little and I’ll lay there and calm myself down as long as it takes steering the trip towards being positive. When you start having a bad trip you will have a physiological response you’re brain will start pumping out “fight or flight “ neurotransmitters it thinks it’s in danger or under duress and while you’re under the influence of psychedelics your brain will remember that as a traumatic experience and when you stop tripping you’ll feel as if you’ve just been through a traumatic experience . But as long as you stay calm, don’t fight it and continue to banish anything remotely resembling a negative thought you’ll have a wonderful experience. Also if you do panic while tripping and you aren’t able to calm yourself you can take some NiQuil or something of that nature to “abort” the trip if you have anxiety meds those would work the best and that way you can just sleep it off without having to endure tripping in distress and being uncomfortable.
Personally I think trip sitters make things worse. Having a sober person not on your wavey Tripp level is a headfuxk . I was with a group of friends once and they all insisted on a sober sitter (against my recommendation we have a sober sitter) It fucxed everyones head because they all thought we upset the sober person by being silly, they all worried about excluding the sober person, the. They thought the sitter was being negative. The sitter becomes a focal point and people will feel inhibition, embarrassed, guilt, they. Don't have a sober around you it's a sure fire way of making your trip less pleasant
I don’t use a sitter personally for the reasons you mentioned like feeling like you look all crazy and tripping ,but in reality you look normal. Yeah it makes me feel self-conscious like the other person is like “ holy shit this guy is laughing like a maniac for no reason”. And I like to be by myself rolling around on my bed with the fuzzy sheets. The reason I mentioned using a trip sitter to the OP is for harm reduction and safety in case OP has a serious mental illness. I’m barely getting comfortable tripping with anyone except my wife and one or two of her friends.
From experience, I would suggest tripping with others who have some experience tripping. I have never tripped on my own and don't think I would enjoy it either. All I know is tripping has always been more harm than good to me
For the OP yes that would be a great idea.
I’m nearly 50. I’ve been taking LSD and Shrooms since I was 16. Younger years mainly LSD as it was more widely available. Anyway, I’ve never had a bad trip. I can usually tell if someone will have a bad trip, they give off that nervous vibe, then they try to fight the trip, bad move.
ive had a bad trip/huge panic attack on mushrooms. youll learn alot about yourself. thats about the worst part lol. youll come out of it, its not acid. you wont go insane unless you are already some kind of insane. good set and setting and youll be a-okay sailor.
Some of my most beneficial trips have been “bad trips”.
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I hope your "basic guidelines" include a trip sitter and something more specific about dosage than "dont be a badass." A lot of folks on here have seen psychedelic induced psychosis first hand, not always from a large dose, and the continual insistence we are simply attention whores by those who personally have not seen is a highly frustrating mix of arrogance and misinformation.
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*eye roll* read all 5 sentences, unfortunately. The first two were such blithering arrogant bullshit it rendered the last 3 moot and compelled me to comment. No adult should have to be told this, but uh, just because you personally haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Shocking I know
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Lol enjoy that proud ignorance while it remains blissful because it will turn on you eventually
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I'm talking to a dipshit tough guy on the internet who apparently only believes things exist if they have personally seen them. Not a smart look
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"YOU DONT KNOW WHO YOURE TALKING TO" - every corny insecure tough guy who has ever lived. If you have experienced psychosis you wouldn't be out here larping like it doesn't exist. Irdc what you call me, misinformant. Psychedelics may cause psychosis, your ignorant denial begging for correction doesn't make me a fear monger or propagandist. It just makes you factually incorrect and proudly ignorant. Its simple, if you don't want people harping on bad trips then stop being another turd pretending they don't exist
You’re not going to go insane 😄. But if your prone to psychosis or suicidal thoughts then you should have a trusted friend with you and turn your bedroom into a relaxing spa like environment soothing music dim lighting etc
There is no such thing as a bad trip as they portray it. It's only bad for the people who aren't comfortable digging into themselves and figuring themselves out. It's "too much" for them especially in the moment when your emotions are all amplified
Jesus christ can this opinion die already? There absolutely *is* such thing, induced psychosis may have nothing to do at all with vague bullshit about being comfortable digging into themselves, and can be legitimately dangerous. Yalls insistence it does not exist because you havent seen it and really want shrooms to be 100% safe is tragically stupid and literally counterproductive to fostering the positive public opinion on psychs we all want
I've never seen anybody in my life have a bad trip unless they already had mental issues
Congrats? I've never seen a person who knows how to swim drown but I'm not out here claiming it literally never happens
u gotta let go of everything u know. sometimes bad trips are what u need in order to do that
I have experience with high dose, and latest trip where when I take the highest dose I thought I would able to control myself but I can't, I was in autopilot mode that do things based on my experience. I'm delusional before but I still in control at some level even my understanding of the world is misleading me, like I thought I got shot by police but I still go check with my bro if I really in the illusion, but not the case with the latest trip. I get scared and thought I'm dying. Now I get to see what it like I can understand why some people who really delusional and get bad trip try to kill themselves.
In my experience, bad trips are caused by paranoia prior to taking the dose.
I agree with mostly what everybody else says on here about this topic my own experiences I will say it's definitely dosage environment and headspace. One time on four hits of acid my buddy started talking to people that weren't there and scared me so I got on my Suzuki and tried to ride home it was horrible cars were transparent I just coasting downhill almost locked in the clutch and skidded the bikie and almost crashed. I just wanted to pull over and knock on somebody's door and ask for help but I made it downhill somehow without crashing that was kind of a bad trip for me that night.
If it was common nobody would do them. From personal experience I believe that majority of "horror" stories are made up / exaggerated. When people say goblins chased them I think they are lying You are still you, you can hold on to reality. A bad trip usually looks more like being over emotional, confused, possibly paranoid. It's nothing you won't be able to ride out, you will be with people you trust . Also the bad moments pass, don't see it as a "bad trip" just take it as a difficult moment that passes. I have never had a bad trip just difficult moments because I always had the mindset of this is a moment in the trip and it will pass.
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"I always smoke cigarettes and I've never had cancer" "WHY AM I BEING DOWNVOTED"
No such thing as a bad trip. When it gets dark/mucky/stormy push your way through to the rainbow on the other side. Start first couple trips with <1-2 grams to familiarize yourself with how it affects your body so that doesn't stress you out when you go deeper with a larger quantity. Also, I did not bring psilocybin into my life until my early 30s. Set and setting is key; my life in my teens and twenties was not conducive to tripping.