Psychedelics and mental illness

Hello !

I've often read that the psychedelic experience is discouraged for people who have mental illness running in their genes.

I'm wondering how many people here actually DO have a record of mental illness, and have tried psychedelics anyway.

Both of my grandmothers had major depressions throughout their lives, and I've had an anxiety attack last time I smoked pot (yet I used to smoke it everyday for months and years, even).
And I have this crazy passion for the surreal, and mushrooms are both very seducing and incredibly scary to me.

I thought that if I tried mush, I'd start with 1g... and if that doesn't do anything, wait a week later and try 1.5g. Do you think that being careful like that is the solution to avoid panic attacks ?

Well thanks !

 

I'm not a fan of the low-dose solution. To me, the cause of panic attacks is fear of them. If you take a low dose you will still be scared of the drug causing anxiety and it won't be satisfying.

I won't deny psychedelics have a side effect of anxiety, but I wouldn't be surprised if the schizophrenic reaction and anxiety described by doctors is almost entirely a consequence of the dogma of the anti-drug brigade on a mind weak enough to be convinced by that bullshit.

 

I agree with Walsh you just need to let go and not worry. PREPARE, be comfortable that you wont be bothered by anything such as parents or work or what have you and just go all out! the couple times ive done shrooms i always wished i started with an eighth.

 

I have mental illnesses and have tripped on psychedelics, its bad trips that have the risk of making things worse. But a good trip every once in a while seems to be beneficial to me. I think it really depends on the person, but I don't think having mental illness or genetic vulnerability nessisarly ensures you'd have a bad experiance.

 

IMHO from what IVE HEARD is that 1/1000 people have schizophrenia and these are the people need to stay away from lsd as they can lose touch with reality and just go insane pretty much... i dont think depression is a real thinggggg =/ its all in your mind. you can cure yourself of anything pretty much, people dont realize how powerful the human mind is...

 

The closest solution to avoiding panic attacks with psychedelics is to have the proper set and setting going into the trip. The psychedelic experience is about taking one out of their comfort zone and submerging the person in the trip, this is where they can take an honest appraisal of themselves both in strengths and faults. So I'd reccommend more like 3 grams for your initial trip if you're trying to investigate the roots/cause of your panic attacks but one bad reaction to marijuana just seems like you got careless with it. But taking 1 gram to remain in your comfort zone and then slowly titrating up defeats the purpose.

My family has had a history of addiction, psychedelics have helped me at times with dependency problems but using drugs to help with drugs seems sort of like an oxymoron and I have yet to fully shake the pull of certain drugs. But it really depends on the illness, different psychedelics work for different illnesses and some should be avoided with certain illnesses.

I think mushrooms can work great for depression, I took 3.5 grams for my first mushroom trip and had a tremendous appreciation for life,nature and my friends that lasted for awhile after that first trip.

 

I have heard the same about mental illnesses and psychedelics. I have been diagnosed with a mood disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder and have used LSD with no problem but this was while I was not taking meds.
I had read from Erowid while taking such meds that I just recently was on and now am not that I should not take a psychedelic of any kind.
Now I wish to experiment once again.
But with that said I still am a bit nervous.

 

I guess if you have a predisposition to mental illness you might be more likely to have an unpleasant experience, but that's not guaranteed. As someone said, set and setting are important, as well as your state of mind when you trip. And don't fight it. That was the cause of a couple anxiety reactions I had in the past. Just go with it. If you feel it coming on strong and try to fight it that will make you anxious, and it will just multiply.

 

I'm kind of tempted to say that psychedelics are more dangerous ground for people who suffer from mental illnesses which are at risk for delusions or psychosis.

For ''mental illnesses'' like anxiety, depression, OCD, or personality disorders, it could go one way or another. They've often been known to help.

 

I suffer from depression & anxiety but im a fairly seasoned psychedelic user. My best advice is start with a small dose and work your way up, the worst thing you can do is start with a massive dose & destroy your grip on reality.

I still find from time to time that LSD will throw me into a panic attack but with a bit of experience using psychs you can usually calm your self down & talk your self out of flipping out. You may even find that the use of psychedelics will give you some insight into your anxiety.