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You are right to be cautious. Don't let people oversell the benefits and minimize the risk. Yes, Johns Hopkins and some other places have early promising resul

You are right to be cautious. Don't let people oversell the benefits and minimize the risk. Yes, Johns Hopkins and some other places have early promising results, but these subjects were given counseling before, during, and after their trip. I'm sure for some people a lightbulb goes off and suddenly they can see the problems in their life which had been invisible to them and the benefit is immediate. Most of the time the message isn't so clear, and the benefit comes from actual hard work and changes that come as the result of your insights. For example, I know I'm getting older, time is limited, and I'm mortal. Taking LSD and looking in the mirror and really seeing myself more objectively, all the wrinkles and saggy skin, the meat of my body hanging off my bones, makes my aging far more tangible and immediate than I can normally conjure. The trick is afterward maintaining that feeling and using it to make decisions about health, prioritizing things that are important, and dropping things that won't matter to me in 20 years. If I had anxiety issues or deep trauma to work through, I'd absolutely want to use psychedelics in concert with a trained professional to minimize the risk of having things go wrong and to get help in figuring out what the trip meant to me (or "integrating" in the parlance).

sharkweek 7y ago
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. There was a part in Pollan's book where he talks about how an experienced guide will remind you to face the things in your trip that are scaring you. And that running away is what turns a trip into a bad one. My personality would naturally want to run away, where perhaps the point of the "scary thing" is to face it and deal with it in a suggestible state of consciousness. As an example, I have a lot of health-related OCD triggers. Perhaps it would be a positive experience to "see" these things during a trip and recognize that 1) I have no true control over them 2) sitting around and worrying about them won't do me any good. I know that those two things are true, but my brain is pretty hard-wired to worry about whatever the current flavor of the week is. ERP therapy has been great in sort of numbing the associated anxiety, but I'd love to push it a step further.
- blotter_paper 7y ago
  At the risk of overselling the benefits and downplaying the risk, I'll say this: even the trips I've had that were hell in the moment have (at least seemed to) teach me something about myself, and I don't regret them in the least. This isn't to say that a bad trip is something to be sought after, and you should definitely read up on set and setting before tripping (I would recommend being outdoors in the country on private land with good friends, daylight, and a source of upbeat instrumental music), but if it happens, just let go of all control, lay back, and remember that what feels like an eternity in the moment will be over before you know it. If you follow best practices, you'll probably have a wonderful time. If you don't have a wonderful time, you might still find it a useful experience. Edit: oh, and bring some paint. Even if you aren't normally visually artistic, some paint and a canvas -- even a piece of plywood -- is an incredible thing to have while you're tripping.
  - Swizec 7y ago
    The best advice I ever got about drugs was this: “Whatever happens, just remember it’s only the drugs. It’s all gonna be over tomorrow” Has really helped me any time I start overanalyzing what’s going on and how I’m feeling. Psychedelics or otherwise. It’s just the drugs, it will pass.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      OK, I wasn't going to share this again. But now I must. So I'd introduced a friend to LSD. They liked it a lot, and wanted to trip again the next day. I advised against it, because tolerance would reduce effects. But no, it had to be. So we took maybe twice as much, and it was still disappointing. And then, being a total dumbass, I suggested that we smoke some marijuana. Now my friend was impressed. Indeed, they were totally panicked, and convinced that it would never end. Because their short-term memory had become maybe 30 seconds. So I spent the next three hours saying "It’s just the drugs, it will pass."
      - kenneth 7y ago
lsd_throw 7y ago
I would advise not looking in the mirror. I’m glad you found the experience valuable but this can send people into a spiral of imaginary illness.
- mirimir 7y ago
  This is a standard trick that acid freaks play on each other. Once you see yourself in the mirror, it's very hard to stop looking. People sometimes get stuck there for hours.

sharkweek 7y ago

Thanks for the thoughtful comment. There was a part in Pollan's book where he talks about how an experienced guide will remind you to face the things in your trip that are scaring you. And that running away is what turns a trip into a bad one. My personality would naturally want to run away, where perhaps the point of the "scary thing" is to face it and deal with it in a suggestible state of consciousness. As an example, I have a lot of health-related OCD triggers. Perhaps it would be a positive experience to "see" these things during a trip and recognize that 1) I have no true control over them 2) sitting around and worrying about them won't do me any good. I know that those two things are true, but my brain is pretty hard-wired to worry about whatever the current flavor of the week is. ERP therapy has been great in sort of numbing the associated anxiety, but I'd love to push it a step further.

blotter_paper 7y ago
At the risk of overselling the benefits and downplaying the risk, I'll say this: even the trips I've had that were hell in the moment have (at least seemed to) teach me something about myself, and I don't regret them in the least. This isn't to say that a bad trip is something to be sought after, and you should definitely read up on set and setting before tripping (I would recommend being outdoors in the country on private land with good friends, daylight, and a source of upbeat instrumental music), but if it happens, just let go of all control, lay back, and remember that what feels like an eternity in the moment will be over before you know it. If you follow best practices, you'll probably have a wonderful time. If you don't have a wonderful time, you might still find it a useful experience. Edit: oh, and bring some paint. Even if you aren't normally visually artistic, some paint and a canvas -- even a piece of plywood -- is an incredible thing to have while you're tripping.
- Swizec 7y ago
  The best advice I ever got about drugs was this: “Whatever happens, just remember it’s only the drugs. It’s all gonna be over tomorrow” Has really helped me any time I start overanalyzing what’s going on and how I’m feeling. Psychedelics or otherwise. It’s just the drugs, it will pass.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    OK, I wasn't going to share this again. But now I must. So I'd introduced a friend to LSD. They liked it a lot, and wanted to trip again the next day. I advised against it, because tolerance would reduce effects. But no, it had to be. So we took maybe twice as much, and it was still disappointing. And then, being a total dumbass, I suggested that we smoke some marijuana. Now my friend was impressed. Indeed, they were totally panicked, and convinced that it would never end. Because their short-term memory had become maybe 30 seconds. So I spent the next three hours saying "It’s just the drugs, it will pass."
    - kenneth 7y ago

lsd_throw 7y ago

I would advise not looking in the mirror. I’m glad you found the experience valuable but this can send people into a spiral of imaginary illness.

mirimir 7y ago
This is a standard trick that acid freaks play on each other. Once you see yourself in the mirror, it's very hard to stop looking. People sometimes get stuck there for hours.