My experience with drugs is limited to stuff like mdma and cocaine. I've always wanted to try a powerful psychoactive / hallucinogenic but I have issues with depression and I've been told if you have mental issues LSD and their like can make them much worse! But I've also heard they can be great for people with depression / self asteem issues.
Honestly, despite them being safer than other drugs with regard to things like addiction... They kinda scare me! In ways that harder drugs don't!
"I've been told if you have mental issues LSD and their like can make them much worse!"
That's the usual received wisdom. However, back in the old days there was some research in to treating various mental disorders with LSD. Here's an example of treatment of childhood schizophrenia with LSD and psilocybin: [1]
LSD has also been used to treat alcoholism (with the most famous case being that of Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous).
All of these studies were done decades ago, so I'm sure contemporary scientists would have lots of objections regarding their methodology, ethics, and so on. But the early studies do show promise, and I hope one day these avenues of research will be further explored with modern tools.
Even now there is ongoing research in to using psilocybin to treat depression and end-of-life anxiety in cancer patients.
Of course, it is important to note that such research was in to using psychedelics in a therapeutic setting, with trained, experienced therapists, and not just haphazardly taking psychedelics to "get high", "party" or "have a good time". The results of haphazard use without proper guidance, particularly for people with mental health issues, is likely to be far riskier.
To add to this, Michael Pollan (author of Omnivore's Dillema and a Berkeley/Harvard prof) recently published a lucid account of the history of psychedelics and 'psychotomimetics' (as they were originally named, owing to their perceived ability to mimic psychosic) with the title 'How to change your mind' [1].
In the book, Pollan details the recent renaissance in clinical psychedelic research to treat depression and help terminally-ill patients. The hope is that the 'noetic quality' of psychedelic trips--a term coined by William James in the context of religious experiences--can help pierce through the defences of one's ego. This 'noetic quality' refers to the perception that a psychedelic trip feels like 'total reality'; a series of 'revealed truths' rather than drug-induced illusions. This bears resemblance to revelatory experiences in religious contexts and the two are intimately tied in many Shamanic practices.
By inducing a long-lasting feeling of transcendence, researchers hope that psilocybin et al. can act as a more direct way to short-circuit destructive patterns of thought and help one come to terms with death (as opposed to, or in conjunction with, traditional therapy).
Pollan writes that in controlled settings with a trained guide, 'bad trips' are quite rare, though they can occur.
> I've been told if you have mental issues LSD and their like can make them much worse!
I'm not sure that's true, or at least not the way people say it. You can have a bad time, but it's all about the people you're with and the environment you put yourself in. If you take a small dose (You should), your "trip" will be very subtle but very noticeable to you.
Some examples of things I've noticed: You'll be compelled to smile at everything, but not in a bad way - it just seems unavoidable, but you're smiling because you want to rather than because you have to. I find that some people are listeners and some people are talkers, be that about nothing or anything - totally anecdotal, but I find that people who find knowledge for the sake of knowledge compelling tend to be in the latter. Ergo, the acid scene in Bandersnatch (the giggling is bang on, the visuals not so much).
Some advice for a good time (just treat as a fun day out rather than a life changing experience, expect nothing):
* Do it with someone - it makes people really honest and talkative, even if you don't know them that well (Obv. YMMV). And maintain some kind of isolation, i.e. you don't have to be alone but if you're new to it make sure you can maintain some separation (Or anonymity)
* Have something to do - e.g. watch. I think people have bad trips because they spiral rather than a sudden descent, so having something to follow other than your own thoughts is a help.
* Avoid authority - You'll think everyone knows you're high, they won't (Apart from the eyes...) - but that doesn't matter because it will feel like (say) someone is towering over your shoulder even if they're just having a look at your monitor.
> if you have mental issues LSD and their like can make them much worse
If you are predisposed to schizophrenia, LSD may trigger your break. Then again, a stressful life event may have done it anyway, so it's not like it caused the condition.
Some issues may get better(depression?), some may get worse(anxiety?). We really don't have enough data to make recommendations on who should or should not do psychedelics. My personal experience was that I had a significant worsening of symptoms for several years(panic attacks, anxiety, bipolar swings). If I could rewind time and never do psychedelics, I would avoid them. However, now that I've done them more and have experience with how they affect me, I'm looking forward to doing them again when I'm retired and have time to recover.
Totally anecdotal but weed had sent me to psychosis to 3 times out of the 10 smoking sessions. I did it again because everyone were, not even peer pressure, but it was so common. With LSD I didn't have any problems, quite opposite, but because I've heard weed being preached by everyone as safe miracle I don't want to go to same route with lsd. It really differs so much from person to person.
I've been on some pretty terrible "trips" (if you can call them that) while smoking weed. I don't know if I can call them hallucinations, but I definitely felt like I couldn't tell whether something I imagined actually happened or not and was just general confused and anxious. I mean, there have been the times where I've smoked and enjoyed it, but I now always have this lingering anxiety when I do that I might fall into that type of bad trip. This is the main reason I'm very cautious about LSD - I fear what a bad acid trip could end up like.
Hmm, I will say that usage indoors vs outdoors will result in drastically different experiences, and so you should be careful in evaluating anecdata.
In regards to "making x worse", every trip I've done only seems to amplify whatever thoughts are in my mind. If you're alone, and you start thinking about something that depresses you, you will almost certainly be in a bad place. If you force yourself (/have a friend or two) to explore your thoughts positively, you won't. That applies to indoor trips. Outdoor trips are dominated by your inner feelings about the outdoors. For instance, if you get anxious in the woods sober, tripping outdoors will probably be a bad time. Personally I get overwhelmed by how awesome nature is, so I've never had a bad experience outdoors.
Generally I ended up confronting something in my thoughts every time (anxiety, major decisions, relationships, etc) and seriously appreciated lsd for it. Even a "bad trip" gave me some nice insights.
If you're worried about "bad trips" there are generally two kinds.
1. You realize you don't want to be tripping at some point during the trip, overwhelmed by the high/new perspective. Every time I tripped with someone for their first time, they encountered this to some degree. You have to psychologically prepare to spend ~12 hours in an altered psyche.
2. Staring into the abyss. Having dark thoughts that spiral into more negative thoughts, etc. Usually friends can help here, but ultimately this varies a lot between people. I've been with people where this happened, but I've never gone through anything I couldn't easily talk myself back out of. They all came back to normal, but for some amount of time they each silently freaked out in a corner or similar. Pretty easy to spot if you have a "guide" to trip with. A friend who's done it a few times works best in my opinion, but many people choose a sober trip sitter.
If you have specific questions, I may be able to answer them. I've done lsd probably 3 dozen times, in many different environments.
Maybe look in to psilocybin mushrooms? I’ve heard they are very helpful for people with depression, but not good for people with schizophrenia.
I found this podcast to be a great fact based overview of the latest research on psychedelic therapy. The results from major research institutions are promising, though there is less research on use outside of a research institution.
Well certainly the podcast I mentioned did cover cases where large doses helped individuals with depression. Microdosing can be good, but my understanding is that regular or high doses have their use cases for depression as well.
> I've been told if you have mental issues LSD and their like can make them much worse!
I'm not sure why you just believe what people tells you when it comes to illicit drugs. I would advise you ask for sources next time. Bringing hearsay to a conversation about something as serious as illicit drugs seems like it is not a good idea.
> 21,967 respondents (13.4% weighted) reported lifetime psychedelic use. There were no significant associations between lifetime use of any psychedelics, lifetime use of specific psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, peyote), or past year use of LSD and increased rate of any of the mental health outcomes. Rather, in several cases psychedelic use was associated with lower rate of mental health problems.
> The present findings reinforce the view that psychedelics elicit psychosis-like symptoms acutely yet improve psychological wellbeing in the mid to long term. It is proposed that acute alterations in mood are secondary to a more fundamental modulation in the quality of cognition, and that increased cognitive flexibility subsequent to serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) stimulation promotes emotional lability during intoxication and leaves a residue of ‘loosened cognition’ in the mid to long term that is conducive to improved psychological wellbeing.
To whomever removed my previous comment: So word of mouth is good enough for guidelines on using illicit drugs but not good enough for religious teachings?
Generally, you need a guide. Someone more experienced who can spot things going wrong and bring you back. Something as simple being asked your name can make all the difference in the world. An experienced guide can help you through the effects and keep it on a peaceful path.
> Try vipassana before LSD, it will help. It will kick ur ass, but youll heal some deep seated issues.
Not necessarily. While rare I've seen 2 psychotics breaks (requiring hospitalization) occur on meditation retreats -- 1 a ten-day Vipasana retreat; the other a 7-day Zen retreat.
Obviously meditation and intensive retreats can be effective , much like deep substance induced psychedilc experiences, but there are no guarantees, so blanket statements like, "do X, it worked for me" may unintentionally send one down the road to hell despite your good intentions :)
p.s. meditation, particularly of the <= 1 hour variety, is almost certainly safe for everyone; it's the intensive retreats and large dose induced psychedelic psychosis that impose a much greater risk.
Honestly, despite them being safer than other drugs with regard to things like addiction... They kinda scare me! In ways that harder drugs don't!