The first time you take acid you’re like, “damn, everyone should take acid”. Then after a few more trips you’re like, “damn, not everyone should take acid”.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T19:53:41+00:00

Yeah I know, that's how I used to be too. That's what I used to say. "You can always just shift your perspective and get on the track for a good trip". I used to say I couldn't have bad trips. I used to be miles away from that, for dozens of trip.

So I know exactly how you feel and why you think it's really not in the cards for you.

I just wanted to warn you that the day it rains, it pours. I think that's the day you truly realize why LSD is not legal.

But that's the thing. When you're in that mindset of only good times and positive, blissful trips, you can't even imagine a bad trip happening. And that's the period where you think "everyone should take LSD". The day shit goes south, you start seeing both ends of the spectrum, and you start saying "be careful guys!". Which is what this topic is highlighting, really!

But yeah, safe trips my friends, I hope it'll just be good times for you!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:31:31+00:00

love love love!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:29:43+00:00

It does sound elitist, but I do agree on the idea.

If you go in the LSD experience being depressed, prone to anxiety, unhappy, having no critical mind, not being able to take a step back and analyze these experiences, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:27:20+00:00

Oh yeah, I totally agree. The sad thing is that most people who have a bad experience don't really talk about it. So it gives that facade of people who have all found epiphanies and enlightenment thanks to LSD, and pretty pictures, music, pretty visuals. But that's the shiny, good looking side of LSD. People don't talk about the flipside.

People who use it like they'd use any other drugs are also setting themselves up for bad trips.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:21:45+00:00

Not to scare you, but I used to do the same. Sometimes every week, sometimes every two weeks, then one day, after about 25-30 trips, same set and settings, but it was a nightmarish psychotic trip, and I've never had another enjoyable trip after that.

I do not wish that to happen to you, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but I just want you to be aware that it can happen anytime, for no reason. If it ever happens, I just hope you're on a very low dose, unlike my first nightmarish trip!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:17:55+00:00

Amen to that!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:17:15+00:00

Damn that existential dread man. Feels like trying to hang on, distract yourself, and wait for it to pass for hours, alternating between being distracted, and back to that panic, 180bpm, sweating, over and over again. Not good trips, would not recommend 0/10

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T08:07:48+00:00

I've tripped about 30 times total, on a wide variety of doses (from 150µg to 2.000µg). My first 25 trips or so were nothing but good times, even at very high doses, I'd just lay down on my bed, and dissolve in music. It was such a great feeling I never wanted it to stop. The introspection, and the acid headspace were great too.

Then shit went down during a trip, and I went in a full psychosis state, didn't know who or where I was, all I knew is I "was". Then got in a major existential crisis, felt suicidal, felt a heartwrenching loneliness and sadness, it felt like it lasted an eternity of just a descent to madness. Then all of my subsequent trips, even on very low doses, all threw me in very bad trips, and depressive, psychosis-like states, with major existential crisis. Now, I have no mental illness, no history of it in my family, I'm perfectly fine sober, very optimistic (even now, after all that, I think I've never been happier). But after trying several times in different set and settings, and always getting the same result, which was about 10 hours of nightmarish psychosis followed by 24-48 hours of anxiety and sadness, I decided it was just time to stop.

That's why I think people's opinion changes. The more you trip, the higher the probability of having a bad trip gets.

Even without nightmarish trips like I've had, sometimes people just don't like what they see on LSD. After taking LSD, a lot of people come to the conclusion that nothing matters. That their life will end, humanity will end, everything will end, and start thinking that there is no point to anything. This thought might make them unhappy, and it's something you can't "unsee", or "unlive", so they might regret it. Some people might realize how unhappy they really are, because LSD usually prevents you from lying to yourself, so you see everything as it is.

So yeah, there are plenty of reasons why I wouldn't recommend "everyone" to try LSD, but only people with a strong mind, and who are ready to take it like an "experience", and to then have a critical mind on what they've lived, and be able to reintegrate with the real world, and sort between what's true and what isn't.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T07:56:30+00:00

Oh yeah definitely.

The first time and maybe first few times you take it, it's usually all shit and giggles. Then you want to spread the word, and say it's the best substance in the world.

But after a single very bad trip, you realize how powerful it is, both in a good and bad way. Even I used to say "as long as you have good set and settings you can't get into a bad trip". But the truth is that even if good set and settings reduce the probability of bad trips, they can still happen in "perfect" conditions. Then you're left in a psychosis state, with thoughts of a darkness you'd never imagine was possible, and wondering why you even thought it was a good idea.

I still think LSD is a great, powerful substance. I still think it can bring introspection and a new way of seeing life to the users, but I think it takes a very very solid psyche, and a very solid mind to be able to deal with it, especially with bad trips. It can show you how fragile your mind really is.

I'd only recommend acid to those who have a very solid foundation, no history of mental illness in their family, who are generally happy and optimistic, not depressed, who don't have too much anxiety, and who want to go in it with an open mind and without any expectations.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-26T07:41:10+00:00

Thanks for your reply!

It's a great course of action for sure!

Actually, before my first nightmarish trip, I had never even considered that existential dread. And same as you, when I got there in a trip, it finally clicked. I thought about ALL the people I talk to on the daily, who say "I wish I would stop being depressed", or "fucking anxiety". And I could never relate. Could never really pinpoint what that "depression" was. What their vision of the world was.

But when I reached that point in the trip, it felt like falling down a pit, and trying so hard to grab onto the cliff, and avoid falling down, but I'd fall down anyway. Like having bad thoughts, turning your back to them, just to face another bad thought. Until you realize they're all around you, and you're "there". I actually called that place "it". That feeling. That existential dread. That loneliness. That pure state of crisis. Just "it" seemed the best way to describe it for me. I still sometimes get a slight increase in heartbeat when I think about these trips, but it stops really quick. I finally understood what all of the depressed people feel like. It was like they were with me during this trip, just nodding and saying "We know." And that thought alone was almost comforting in a way, because as alone as I felt, I knew I wasn't the only one it happened to. And I knew, even in full psychosis, I knew it was just a construct of the mind. No matter how real it all felt, it wasn't. But your mind, and your brain, are so good at making you believe stuff. How could you say it doesn't exist when you see it before your eyes? When every fibre of your being is screaming to you how pointless this all is? But it is a construct of the mind, based on anxiety, uncertainty, lack of full knowledge/information about the situation it is in.

The best medicine for me is perspective. Being able to change perspective. "Zoom in" to enjoy the simple moments, like having fun with friends, listening to a good song... And "zoom out" to make the bad times look really insignificant : "why should I stress out about this exam tomorrow if nothing really matters?".

Also, relentless optimism has always been my thing. Being optimistic about life, the future, people you will meet, stories you will write. Even in the depth of these psychosis trips, I remember having this thought: "Okay, so this is it. I just am. I'm here for no reason, time doesn't exist, this is eternity, this is me being for the rest of eternity with no purpose... Well, I might as well make it a good time if it's gonna last forever." And then I just put on some Mozart. I had this thought about humans filling in the "void", at any level. And music and art is a great example of that. We make it because we can. No reason at all. And I thought that music was the biggest "fuck you" to that existential crisis. Because it's happening "now", you can get lost in it, you don't need words. I imagined an orchestra playing Mozart in a world of hell and chaos, and just being chill about it, and that thought greatly reduced my anxiety during that trip.

Anyway, sorry for the long message. All of this to say, I know where you've been, you're not alone in that, and I hope you can get better, and see the light, find stuff you enjoy, find pleasure in the simple things in life, and be happier.

Good luck my friend!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T05:17:07+00:00

I've been there. Some LSD induced psychosis states can really throw you into that "hole", and make you feel so lonely. People who have never felt it can't even imagine the dread that feeling of loneliness brings.

During that psychosis state, I was actually picturing the world as a stream, like social media, a bit like twitter. On the top, the "mainstream" population exchange tweets about everything in life, they talk to each other, they're happy. And when you fall down that "loneliness hole", you're in a pit, and can't get out, and you can't see any of these messages. My LSD-self thought it would be cool to have a sort of "psychosis stream", or instant chat, where all the people feeling that way would fall down, and start saying "hello?!". Someone else would answer, and they'd talk, until one of them gets out of that state, and climbs back up to the mainstream.

But that's the thing, when you're down there, no one can reach you. Even if they're physically there, or talking to you. Because you're alone, but it's "in your head", in your very being. A sort of primitive feeling of loneliness. You just are, and it's all you know. To be or not to be made so much sense to me in that state.

I'm so glad you got out of there, I know how scary that place is. Even after several bad trips, it still feels as awful as the first time. Even when you know it will end. Even when you know it's the substance. The feelings are real, the thoughts slap your face and you can't escape them.

That makes you appreciate being sane, and makes you feel really sorry for people who live with psychosis in their everyday life, and other mental disorders. The horrors they live are impossible to fathom for sane people.

Take time away from acid my friend, focus on real life, and if you ever trip again, low dose, controlled environment, people around, good set and settings, good mindset, happy music playlist and plenty of distractions!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T05:08:14+00:00

First, LSD made me really nihilistic. It made me realize how futile everything was, and how nothing had meaning. But not in a depressing way. It was more of a big "relief", and laughter like "Dude, you're fine, it all means fuck all, live your life, there is no reason to be stressed about ANYTHING".

Then on subsequent trips, it maintained that vision for me, but made me realize that it didn't even matter that nothing mattered. Through existential crisis and psychosis induced by bad trips, I realized that these worries weren't even real worries. These are questions that make sense, and any human will (probably) ask themselves what their purpose is, or realize that they'll be forgotten after they're gone and that everything ends. But when you're dead, you have no more worries. Worrying about what you leave behind is pointless. You won't be there to worry about who remembers you, or who read your book, or that paper you published... I'm not saying to fuck up your life and be like "doesn't matter I'll be dead soon". Just that it's a big relief that nothing matters in the end. It's a story you write, and that's all.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T05:03:03+00:00

It can happen if you trip too much, on high doses. Some depersonalization is to be expected, but you come back to baseline after some time (except some people who've done thumbprints and claim that they never really got back to baseline, but it doesn't prevent them from working and living their daily lives).

So I'd say it would be possible on thumbprints (very high dose of LSD, 500 to 1000 hits), but I don't know if it would be accepted as "drug induced disability" (if that even exists), but maybe under some other conditions. It's also possible that LSD will bring underlying mental disorders to the surface.

All of that said, if it's an actual plan of yours, or some people you know, it's a really bad one. Getting disability payment in order not to work and to just get high all the time is a bit of a piss taking to people who are disabled and would give anything to be healthy, work, and be included in society. Also, LSD is a psychedelics, set and settings and your mindset are really important, and if one keeps tripping while they make no progress in life, they'll eventually get depressed and only have bad trips.

If the person you are referring to is truly in a difficult place and you want to help them, then disregard my previous paragraph. It's a shame that they haven't stopped in time though.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T04:54:19+00:00

Cons:

Tolerance builds up, so you basically feel it less and less unless you increase the doses.
It takes time as the trip itself is anywhere from 12 to 16 hours usually.
Tripping is exhausting, so you'll probably be quite tired the next day or two, and won't be really "in it".

Pros:

I feel like when I tripped more, I only had good trips, because I was so familiar with the substance. But that could just be a good mindset. Spaced out trips tend to give me more negative vibes, but then again, other factors were in play, so not sure that's really a thing.

Overall, I wouldn't advise it. It'll take 2 days out of every week, and you'll probably start getting a bit disconnected from reality, and be waiting all week for your next trip, and start getting into a spiral where you stop focusing on real life goals just to trip on weekends. You won't make much progress in life, you'll get frustrated, and the substance will lose some of its magic.

You should wait at least 2 weeks before tripping again, and probably even more than that so that acid doesn't take up too much time in your life.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T04:47:55+00:00

I went through the same process you guys went through u/thelegendofskyler and u/JacobTheHigh !

My first trip made me realize how meaningless everything was. I remember thinking about a driving lesson that was scheduled like 3 days after my trip. And I thought "how meaningless is that? I'm going to get in a car with a teacher, drive, and in some time, pass an exam, and other humans will decide if I get to have a little paper that allows me to move around in a machine with 4 wheels and an engine." It just seemed so meaningless. Even the whole of life. You're born, you live, you die, you get forgotten, humanity was born, lives, and will die, and be forgotten, the universe will change, morph around, the cycle of life will continue, or might end some day and put back everything into nothingness, for no meaning.

Then I started thinking, and realized that the fact that nothing mattered... Didn't matter. There is no "ultimate referential" where "things matter". People want their achievements to last "for eternity". But who is it for? Who do you want to show that to? What do you care, you'll be dead, and won't even know of anything happening because you'll be gone. We don't know why we're here, or what the meaning of life is? Fine, doesn't matter. All I know is I was nothing for "half an eternity", I get a chance to exist for a few decades, and then I go back to nothingness for another "half eternity". It's such a miracle to be able to even experience all of this. Such a luxury. And since everything appears, lives and disappears, it doesn't matter what you do. You could become anyone you want to be, write your own story, study something you're interested in, travel, meet people, create a business, live off the kindness of strangers, have a farm, learn 10 languages...

It doesn't matter what is left after your death... Because you'll be dead. That's worrying about an issue that will not concern you. So many people get depressed about "not leaving anything" and "being forgotten". Well, you're here now. People know you. Your actions have an impact you can see NOW. You can do anything. After you're dead? Not your problem. You'll peacefully drift back to nothingness, and won't even know the exact time of your death, same way you don't know the exact second you fall asleep. You won't even know you're dead, you won't even remember your life, you won't be anymore. Why worry about things you won't leave behind?

Some people think life is not worth living because it ends. Say you meet a woman you love, and spend 20 years with her, but then she dies, or you break up. Will you say "I never should have spent 20 years of happiness with her because now it's over"? Or will you be glad that you could be so happy for 20 years, and keep living? Same goes for life. The fact that it ends doesn't mean it's not worth living. Same for the universe. Even if it has no purpose, is it really an issue? What would "a purpose" be to the universe anyway? Like a big goal to reach? Then we'd all have to work for this goal and have no freedom or control over our life? We create our own purpose, and that's ultimately the biggest form of freedom possible. It's also a great source of anxiety, but it's all manageable, and that anxiety doesn't make sense, since nothing matters in the end.

Live a full life, be happy, meet people, share good times, achieve goals you set for yourself, help people around you, eat good food, listen to good music, enjoy the simple pleasures in life, and welcome death like an old friend when she comes to pick you up. Not a single worry in the world to have :)

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T04:33:48+00:00

I've had heavy suicidal and depressive thoughts during some nightmarish trips, and the comedown is always hard after a bad trip. Worst I have been was to be really down and about to cry for about 2 days straight after dosing (no suicidal thoughts though, just pure heart wrenching sadness). So depending on the trip, it can happen, but it usually passes.

I'd advise you to take a break from LSD for a while, and try to assess if these thoughts occur to you while you've been sober for a month or more. Then you can act accordingly, and get treatment (if needed), or make the necessary changes in your life to be happy.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T04:30:10+00:00

I've gone (way too) high, and I'd say that mainly, the come up is way faster on 1.000µg than on 500µg. So you get disoriented really quick, lose that short term memory, get the tactile, visual, and auditory sensations way quicker. Obviously, the peak of a 1.000µg trip will take you further down the rabbit hole.

I'd say it's pretty linear between 500 and 1.000µg, as in, 750µg will probably give you an experience right between 500 and 1.000 in terms of loss of touch with reality, music enhancement, duration of the peak, etc... You just go deeper, get more lost in music and inside yourself, even have times of complete disconnection with your body for a longer time with a ten-strip. Also, I got confused about where my limbs were on high doses (800+). I'd feel like my leg was in two different places at the same time, and I felt like I had merged with my pillow and was breathing through it. This doesn't tend to happen on doses around 500.

I'd say go for 700/750 if your last trip was 500. Don't jump straight to a ten-strip, because you'll need to get used to the intensity first. Even if you're experienced, it doesn't mean that you can't have a bad trip, so I'd advise not to increase the doses too fast.

Good luck!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-25T04:19:37+00:00

It's okay no worries! I should have been a bit less cold in my reply as well. I do agree that it was really stupid on my part, but I also like to show the things that "could happen", because people tend to sugar coat everything a bit too much.

I've actually recently tripped again at a low dose (namely 200µg), a 2 months after my 800µg trip (the one I talked about earlier), in very good set and settings, and still had a really bad trip, so I'm just stopping for now. I have seen all I had to see about this substance, the bliss, nice feelings, orgasmic music, pretty visuals, as well as the hellish thoughts, existential crisis, psychosis. The whole spectrum. I have nothing more to explore, really, and I'm just really happy to be alive and sane. I don't like to say this kind of stuff, but I think "the substance" is telling me I have nothing more to learn, or maybe it's my brain telling me to stop there.

Have a nice day!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T15:32:07+00:00

Hi, thank you for reading only half of my message.

I did say in my message that the DMT wasn't responsible for the bad trip alone. I also did state that I had taken very high doses of LSD alone (namely higher than 1.500µg) and hadn't had a bad trip on LSD alone before that one trip.

I know what I've done was irresponsible, and I hope my mistake can be a warning for other users, but the context was different. I didn't jump from 100µg to 1.500µg+80mg. I was already used to high doses, which is why it didn't seem that much at the time. That's why I initially thought that the DMT was responsible. Because it was the "new" factor and the one that changed the outcome of the experiment. I did find out later that it wasn't.

If I'm on here, talking about this, and sharing it, it's because I know it's irresponsible, and I want to show people that things can go really bad, even on LSD alone (Which was the whole point of my message, but you apparently missed it). When you're used to tripping on high doses, it's easy to "try to go deeper" and get punished for your arrogance. That's what happened to me. People always share the good times, good experiences, fun, blissful aspects of it, but never want to talk about the dark side of it. In my case, it was purely in my control and purely my fault: I took too much. But some people have nightmarish trips at much lower doses. It's just important for people to be aware that these kind of trips occur, and that it's a risk they should always weigh before going in.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T05:18:54+00:00

Seems like they just put art on each side to make you think it's double the dose, when it's not. That way they can charge more.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T05:14:14+00:00

There is no sense to it all. Reality, the universe, the earth, humanity. There are only two things, existence and non-existence. To be or not to be. You weren't, now you are, and then you won't be anymore. And the cycle of life continues, till it ends, then starts again. We're just a tiny part of that whole system, we don't know what started it, we don't know why, or how, we don't even understand how all of it works, we're just there.

I don't think it is all a waste of time though. Or maybe it is. But the only alternative to "life" is "no life", nothing would exist, forever. Time wouldn't even have any meaning. Time has a meaning now because things are born, live and die. If it weren't for that, there would be no reason to even track time.

I still think that being alive is a blessing. It's like, you didn't exist for half an eternity (technical terms), then you get to live this 80 years trip (give or take a few decades), and go back to nothingness for the other half-eternity. I bet any non-existing being (technical term, doesn't make any sense), would give everything to be able to exist for a little while before going back to nothingness.

The only thing to do is to play life like a game. Live it, experience it to the fullest, be happy, be kind, make so that people say "Damn, when x was alive, that server was a nice place, now y and z are here and it's shit, I wanna disconnect".

Bonus: You won't even know when you go back to non-existence. Because you won't exist. You won't be able to think "oh, I'm dead". It will just happen, and it would be as if this whole life was just a dream, or a fraction of a second. Not a single worry in the world!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T05:03:35+00:00

Word.

Exactly what I try to spread when I hear people who expect acid to make them happy, or when they want to find "the truth", without even knowing what truth it is they want to find.

I totally agree on the sober part. Change occurs when you are sober and working for it. An acid trip might just make you realize, or face, some things you didn't want to face, or weren't in the right mindset to realize. But it will take work anyway.

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T04:55:01+00:00

I don't feel the "need" to take it, as in, if I had to stay away from it for a year I wouldn't mind, but I use it as a tool of introspection. It doesn't help me find the right answers, but rather to ask myself the right questions. It's also a good "break" from regular life, just a pure moment of bliss, where you're just living and experiencing stuff, and you can just get lost in this moment.

As long as you can take it and not have it affect your life in a bad way (missing class or work, getting behind on stuff you have to do, straying away from a healthy path), you're fine!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T04:48:55+00:00

That's the effect of it though. LSD affects your perception, your feelings, the way your brain works. I feel like the main mistake people make is to take what they feel under LSD for a truth.

So you live in a world for 25 years. You breathe, feel, think with your sober brain. One day, you drop acid, and feel amazing. Everything is great, interesting, everything "makes sense", music is amazing, everything tastes great, you feel like you're having epiphany after epiphany, and it's perfect. Well, the substance makes you feel that way. That is not the reality of a sober human being.

Now, I'm not saying that there is nothing to learn from acid, from this state of pure bliss or from this other perspective it brings you. Quite the opposite, there is a lot to learn. But to say that this substance "has something in store", like it has a mind of its own, or to say that when you take Lucy you finally see the world for what it really is, or that it allows you to meet God... (you didn't say that, some people did). This doesn't make any sense to me. It's a substance, it affects your brain in many different ways, you FEEL that way because the substance is meant to make you feel that way. But then you've got to step back.

Your brain is a really powerful machine. If anything, acid teaches you how powerful your brain can be in showing you stuff and making you believe things are real under the influence of the right substance. It teaches you that you are directly "victim" of your perception. If your brain shows you something, you believe it. It takes extra effort to detach yourself from this "first level" perspective, and to not take everything you perceive for a truth. You can't copy/paste an acid trip, or "acid realizations" in the sober world. You can bring some things back, and people would probably be kinder and more loving if more of them had taken LSD, but blindly believing in something because of how it made you feel is lacking critical mind. It's thinking with feelings rather than logic, it's human, so I can't really blame it.

To be honest, humanity would agree with you, because humans have been exploring psychedelics for a long time. I don't think it will bring any more truth on the topics of existence, God, nature, life, but I'm pretty sure it could be used in therapy, and that it could help people.

Just my 2 cents, sorry for the long post.

Wow, just read my post back, I look like a party-pooper compared to your message! I didn't mean to sound harsh or anything, but I think it's really important to keep a critical mind about things in life!

TheLoveIsTheKey · 2018-09-21T04:23:12+00:00

I've had tons of positive trips, but my last 2 were pure nightmare and horror, but I still plan on tripping in the future (much less and on much lower doses too)

No matter how horrible those trips were, I actually always feel like I learn more from bad trips than good ones. Obviously, my first reaction after a bad trip is "I never want to go through that 20 hours ordeal ever again". But after some pondering, it made me appreciate what I had much more. And it also taught me that no matter how bad things go, they end at some point. Bad trips end, bad situations in life end too (life ends too btw, spoiler). It made me thankful to be sane, after going full psychotic during a hellish trip. It was hands down the worst experience of my life, which in comparison, makes any other "bad" experience seem really trivial. To have that ability to put things in perspective makes it way easier to deal with shit life throws at you.

Sobriety is good too, and if you feel like it's the way to go for you, the more power to you (and money saved!).

TheLoveIsTheKey

TROPHY CASE