Bad trip
Encyclopedia
Bad trip is a disturbing experience sometimes associated with use of a psychedelic drug
such as LSD
, Salvinorin A
, DXM, mescaline
, psilocybin
, DMT
and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis
, alcohol
and MDMA.
The manifestations can range from feelings of vague anxiety and alienation to profoundly disturbing states of unrelieved terror
, ultimate entrapment, or cosmic annihilation. Psychedelic specialists in the therapeutic community do not necessarily consider unpleasant experiences as threatening or negative, focusing instead on their potential to be highly beneficial to the user when properly resolved. They can be exacerbated by the inexperience or irresponsibility of the user or the lack of proper preparation and environment for the trip
, and are reflective of unresolved psychological tensions triggered during the course of the experience.
It is suggested that, at a minimum, such crises be managed by preventing the individual from harming oneself or others by whatever means necessary up to and including physical restraint, providing the patient with a safe and comfortable space, and supervising the intaker until all effects of the drug have completely worn off.
cause, and fear that they are going insane
or will never return to reality. This can cause the user to fall into a depressive mood
. Other reactions include an amplification of nameless fears; that is, fears that are unfounded and are usually not encountered in normality.
Users may exhibit actions suggesting harm to themselves or others around them. This harm could take the form of suicidal ideation
, or full blown suicide attempt
s. Because of the magnification of emotions many psychedelics
could possibly cause thoughts of death and intensely adverse reactions in some users. Users can believe that their death is imminent or that the very universe itself is collapsing. Rapidly accelerated aging of other people may be experienced, perpetuating the aforementioned fears to an even greater degree.
Some users may experience disorientation. The normal views of time
, space
, and person
can be substantially altered, causing fear. Some can worsen their condition by trying to fight the psychedelic experience
after embarkment. There can be illusions of insects crawling over or into one's self, or of being in dirty places such as sewers.
In rare cases, an apparent complete loss of control can be observed, and the behavior a person exhibits reflects a lack of normal understanding about navigation of a physical environment. This can cause accidental harm to themselves and others, including running into traffic, flailing around, or, as it may not necessarily involve physical movement, inducing a catatonic state, or causing seemingly random vocalizations, not limited to speech. This may be caused by a failure to recognize external stimuli for what it is. Stanislav Grof explains this feature:
is exacerbated in individuals already suffering from this condition.
is used when necessary to control self-destructive behavior, or when hyperthermia
occurs. Diazepam
is the most frequently used sedative for such treatment, but other benzodiazepines such as lorazepam
are also effective. Such sedatives will only decrease fear and anxiety, but will not subdue hallucinations. In severe cases, antipsychotics such as haloperidol
can reduce or stop hallucinations, but this treatment is only effective against the so-called "classical" hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin and mescaline, among others). Antipsychotics are not effective against dissociatives such as PCP
and Ketamine
, and should not be used if these drugs are involved.
, a crisis can be a result of wrong set and setting
. Leary advised that users of psychedelics be sure that they are comfortable before taking the drugs. Leary claimed that the frequency of difficult trips was highly exaggerated by anecdote
s and fabrications in the popular press, and was actually about 1 in 1,000.
Alternatively, psychiatrist
R. D. Laing held that psychedelic crises and other such extreme experiences, drug-induced or not, were not necessarily artificial terrors to be suppressed but rather signs of internal conflict and opportunities for self-healing. The greater the pain and pathos of an experience, the greater the urgency to explore and resolve it, rather than attempt to cover it up or dismiss it.
Likewise, Stanislav Grof
suggested that painful and difficult experiences during a trip could be a result of the mind reliving experiences associated with birth, and that experiences of imprisonment, eschatological terror, or suffering far beyond anything imaginable in a normal state, if seen through to conclusion, often resolve into emotional, intellectual and spiritual breakthroughs. From this perspective, interrupting a bad trip, while initially seen as beneficial, can trap the tripper in unresolved psychological states. Grof
also suggests that many cathartic experiences within psychedelic states, while not necessarily crises, may be the effects of consciousness entering a perinatal space.
Psychedelic drug
A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
such as LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, Salvinorin A
Salvinorin A
Salvinorin A is the main active psychotropic molecule in Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant which has a long history of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans...
, DXM, mescaline
Mescaline
Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class used mainly as an entheogen....
, psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
, DMT
Dimethyltryptamine
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. DMT is found in several plants, and also in trace amounts in humans and other mammals, where it is originally derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and ultimately produced by the enzyme INMT...
and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
, alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
and MDMA.
The manifestations can range from feelings of vague anxiety and alienation to profoundly disturbing states of unrelieved terror
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
, ultimate entrapment, or cosmic annihilation. Psychedelic specialists in the therapeutic community do not necessarily consider unpleasant experiences as threatening or negative, focusing instead on their potential to be highly beneficial to the user when properly resolved. They can be exacerbated by the inexperience or irresponsibility of the user or the lack of proper preparation and environment for the trip
Set and setting
Set and setting describes the context for psychoactive and particularly psychedelic drug experiences: one's mindset and the setting in which the user has the experience. This is especially relevant for psychedelic or hallucinogenic experiences...
, and are reflective of unresolved psychological tensions triggered during the course of the experience.
It is suggested that, at a minimum, such crises be managed by preventing the individual from harming oneself or others by whatever means necessary up to and including physical restraint, providing the patient with a safe and comfortable space, and supervising the intaker until all effects of the drug have completely worn off.
Aspects
A multitude of reactions can occur during a psychedelic crisis. Some users may experience a general sense of fear or an anxiety attack. A user may be overwhelmed with the disconnection many psychedelicsPsychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants
This general group of pharmacological agents can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. These classes of psychoactive drugs have in common that they can cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness...
cause, and fear that they are going insane
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
or will never return to reality. This can cause the user to fall into a depressive mood
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
. Other reactions include an amplification of nameless fears; that is, fears that are unfounded and are usually not encountered in normality.
Users may exhibit actions suggesting harm to themselves or others around them. This harm could take the form of suicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation is a common medical term for thoughts about suicide, which may be as detailed as a formulated plan, without the suicidal act itself. Although most people who undergo suicidal ideation do not commit suicide, some go on to make suicide attempts...
, or full blown suicide attempt
Parasuicide
Parasuicide refers to suicide attempts or gestures and self-harm where there is no result in death. It is a non-fatal act in which a person deliberately causes injury to himself or ingests any prescribed or generally recognised therapeutic dose in excess...
s. Because of the magnification of emotions many psychedelics
Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants
This general group of pharmacological agents can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. These classes of psychoactive drugs have in common that they can cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness...
could possibly cause thoughts of death and intensely adverse reactions in some users. Users can believe that their death is imminent or that the very universe itself is collapsing. Rapidly accelerated aging of other people may be experienced, perpetuating the aforementioned fears to an even greater degree.
Some users may experience disorientation. The normal views of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
, and person
Person
A person is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human , for example in a particular moral or legal context...
can be substantially altered, causing fear. Some can worsen their condition by trying to fight the psychedelic experience
Psychedelic experience
The term "psychedelic experience" is vague – characterized by polyvalence or ambiguity due to its nature – however in modern psychopharmacological science as well as philosophical, psychological, neurological, spiritual-religious and most other ideological discourses it is understood as an altered...
after embarkment. There can be illusions of insects crawling over or into one's self, or of being in dirty places such as sewers.
In rare cases, an apparent complete loss of control can be observed, and the behavior a person exhibits reflects a lack of normal understanding about navigation of a physical environment. This can cause accidental harm to themselves and others, including running into traffic, flailing around, or, as it may not necessarily involve physical movement, inducing a catatonic state, or causing seemingly random vocalizations, not limited to speech. This may be caused by a failure to recognize external stimuli for what it is. Stanislav Grof explains this feature:
- there is a tremendous danger of confusing the inner world with the outer world, so you’ll be dealing with your inner realities but at the same time you are not even aware of what’s happening, You perceive a sort of distortion of the world out there. So you can end up in a situation where you’re weakening the resistances, your conscious is becoming more aware, but you’re not really in touch with it properly, you’re not really fully experiencing what’s there, not seeing it for what it is. You get kind of deluded and caught into this.
Unpredictability of the experience
The effects of psychedelics vary widely from one individual to the next, and from one experience to the next. Sometimes individuals under the influence of such drugs do not understand that they have taken a drug and believe that they will never return to their ordinary, sober perception. In cases where the individual cannot be kept safe, hospitalization may be useful, though the value of this practice for individuals not mentally ill is disputed by proponents of investigative or recreational use of psychoactive compounds. PsychosisPsychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
is exacerbated in individuals already suffering from this condition.
Intervention
Generally, a person experiencing a psychedelic crisis can be helped either to resolve the impasse, to bypass it, or, failing that, to terminate the experience.Medically
Medical treatment consists of supportive therapy and minimization of external stimuli. In some cases, sedationSedation
Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure...
is used when necessary to control self-destructive behavior, or when hyperthermia
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...
occurs. Diazepam
Diazepam
Diazepam , first marketed as Valium by Hoffmann-La Roche is a benzodiazepine drug. Diazepam is also marketed in Australia as Antenex. It is commonly used for treating anxiety, insomnia, seizures including status epilepticus, muscle spasms , restless legs syndrome, alcohol withdrawal,...
is the most frequently used sedative for such treatment, but other benzodiazepines such as lorazepam
Lorazepam
Lorazepam is a high-potency short-to-intermediate-acting 3-hydroxy benzodiazepine drug that has all five intrinsic benzodiazepine effects: anxiolytic, amnesic, sedative/hypnotic, anticonvulsant, antiemetic and muscle relaxant...
are also effective. Such sedatives will only decrease fear and anxiety, but will not subdue hallucinations. In severe cases, antipsychotics such as haloperidol
Haloperidol
Haloperidol is a typical antipsychotic. It is in the butyrophenone class of antipsychotic medications and has pharmacological effects similar to the phenothiazines....
can reduce or stop hallucinations, but this treatment is only effective against the so-called "classical" hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin and mescaline, among others). Antipsychotics are not effective against dissociatives such as PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
and Ketamine
Ketamine
Ketamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist...
, and should not be used if these drugs are involved.
Potential causes
According to Timothy LearyTimothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, a crisis can be a result of wrong set and setting
Set and setting
Set and setting describes the context for psychoactive and particularly psychedelic drug experiences: one's mindset and the setting in which the user has the experience. This is especially relevant for psychedelic or hallucinogenic experiences...
. Leary advised that users of psychedelics be sure that they are comfortable before taking the drugs. Leary claimed that the frequency of difficult trips was highly exaggerated by anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
s and fabrications in the popular press, and was actually about 1 in 1,000.
Alternatively, psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
R. D. Laing held that psychedelic crises and other such extreme experiences, drug-induced or not, were not necessarily artificial terrors to be suppressed but rather signs of internal conflict and opportunities for self-healing. The greater the pain and pathos of an experience, the greater the urgency to explore and resolve it, rather than attempt to cover it up or dismiss it.
Likewise, Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist, one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness for purposes of analyzing, healing, and obtaining growth and insight into the human psyche...
suggested that painful and difficult experiences during a trip could be a result of the mind reliving experiences associated with birth, and that experiences of imprisonment, eschatological terror, or suffering far beyond anything imaginable in a normal state, if seen through to conclusion, often resolve into emotional, intellectual and spiritual breakthroughs. From this perspective, interrupting a bad trip, while initially seen as beneficial, can trap the tripper in unresolved psychological states. Grof
Stanislav Grof
Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist, one of the founders of the field of transpersonal psychology and a pioneering researcher into the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness for purposes of analyzing, healing, and obtaining growth and insight into the human psyche...
also suggests that many cathartic experiences within psychedelic states, while not necessarily crises, may be the effects of consciousness entering a perinatal space.
See also
- Psychedelic experiencePsychedelic experienceThe term "psychedelic experience" is vague – characterized by polyvalence or ambiguity due to its nature – however in modern psychopharmacological science as well as philosophical, psychological, neurological, spiritual-religious and most other ideological discourses it is understood as an altered...
- Existential crisisExistential crisisAn existential crisis is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of his or her life: whether his or her life has any meaning, purpose or value...
- Psychedelic psychotherapyPsychedelic psychotherapyPsychedelic therapy refers to therapeutic practices involving the use of psychedelic drugs, particularly serotonergic psychedelics such as ergine, LSD, psilocin and DMT...
- Psychonaut
- PsychosisPsychosisPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
- Recreational drug useRecreational drug useRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
- Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriantsPsychedelics, dissociatives and deliriantsThis general group of pharmacological agents can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. These classes of psychoactive drugs have in common that they can cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness...
- Responsible drug useResponsible drug useResponsible drug use is a harm reduction strategy based on a belief that illegal recreational drug use can be responsible in terms of reduced or eliminated risk of negative impact on the lives of both the user and others....
- Hard and soft drugsHard and soft drugsHard and Soft drugs are terms to distinguish between psychoactive drugs that are addictive and perceived as especially damaging and drugs that are believed to be non-addictive and with fewer dangers associated with their use...
- Altered state of consciousnessAltered state of consciousnessAn altered state of consciousness , also named altered state of mind, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart: it describes induced...
- Lucid dreamingLucid dreamingA lucid dream is a dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming. The term was coined by the Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik van Eeden . In a lucid dream, the dreamer can actively participate in and manipulate imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can seem real and...
- Sensory deprivationSensory deprivationSensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
- Spiritual crisisSpiritual crisisSpiritual crisis is a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system typically because of a spontaneous spiritual experience...
- Out-of-body experienceOut-of-body experienceAn out-of-body experience is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, perceiving one's physical body from a place outside one's body ....
- Overdose
- Ego deathEgo DeathEgo death is an experience that reveals the illusory aspect of the ego, sometimes undergone by mystics, shamans, monks, psychologists, and others interested in exploring the depths of the mind....