Should I do LSD?

Hello,

My name is Peter. Here's my story...
I'm a 20-year old boy. When I was very young (3-10 ish) I would get these crazy visions/dreams when I was sick and had fever. I would dream and sometimes see and imagine things that we're not there. Very scary, worst part of my early years.
As I got older, I didn't suffer from this. At least I don't think I did. When I was 12-13 I would get these panic attacks from time to time. I got over it as time past by (even though sometimes I can still feel it inside my body just a little bit, especially when for example I'm at a concert surrounded by people - but not anything like a panic attack). At about 14 or 15, I started getting nervous when I had to speak up or read in front of a group of people, mostly at school obviously. I would (and will!) start to shake, sweat and get trouble speaking - I mean, the usual ''social''/presentation symptons, but very badly and actually preventing me from doing it, which is weird, cos' when I was younger, I was never afraid of speaking my mind or reading in front of anybody.
Anyway... This ''social anxiety'', if you wanna call it that, is still in my body. I still can't do presentations and it KILLS me, because I wanna go into acting, that's my dream. I've tried everything! Years of therapy all kinds of places with all kinds of people, nothing works - and I don't wanna be on anti-depressants or anything like that (I tried that as well), I just don't wanna live my life that way. So, for about 1½ year I've thought about trying acid or maybe mushrooms. I've read a lot about it and that it can help people get out of their egg and crush their demons - I've also read that it can exaggerate their illness. I don't have any people in my family who suffers from schizofreni or anything like that - my brother we're depressed when he was younger, but that's it, not any actual illness.
I guess what I'm worried about is, can acid or shrooms bring back the visions I had as a child or just throw me completely out of it? I don't wanna do psychedelics to get high and have fun, I wanna do it to get better, to get to know myself. Would the risk be too high? I've considered doing it with a friend while a good sober buddy is watching us. Also, when I'm tripping - what shall I do to try to crush my demons?

I'm hoping some of you can help me...
Thank you very much.


- Peter

 

see below

 

the problem i see is this: you can't take LSD in hopes to suddenly find the right thought that is the truth, because chances are, you've already thought that truth before. the problem with epiphanies isn't that they stop being true, it's that the true-ness stops mattering/stops being relevant sometimes and we just don't care or can't

what you can hope for, maybe, is to see and experience what you hope to find. you have to be prepared that the LSD will wear off and you will return back to who you are. from there the rest of the work is up to you, and making yourself a different person has to come from constant work and training yourself to see things differently.

so in short, you can dose and see what you can find, but the vast majority of the work is going to be day to day sober upkeep of what you find, just remember that

 

Hey Cherokee, thanks a lot for your input, very useful! I've read in an biography once (Motorhead frontmans Lemmy's biography, actually), that he did LSD once and he was changed forever for the better. I guess that's what I'm hoping for, even though what you're saying about day-to-day sober work, seems more reliable.

I've tried yoga before, that didn't really work. Maybe I'll need to try it again more thoroughly.

My fear of acid/shrooms, is that I'll might go insane because I MAY be more likely to do so than others cos' of my past, even though, I have no idea really. I'm even prepared for a bad trip, I'll just want the possible bad trip to wear off again, you know? - and get some words on what to do, to attack my demons while under the influence.


Mental depression is an illness for many, yes, I just said that to let you know, that my brother was never diagnosed or anything and it went away.

 

I would say that is highly unlikely. I know somebody that took 4 tabs in one night, and came out no worse than he went in. No human chemistry is quite the same, but I think it is an irrational but legitimate fear. Having said that, when I took LSD I can't remember the person I once was from how I am today (I was about your age). It's very strange how chemicals react and what life crisis' (e.g mid and mid-mid life crises) affect a person. I guess it can't do too much harm - if any - to try it out.

 

I don't know many people who have taken LSD, but I've read about Syd Barett, Roky Erickson, Peter Green and all them guys who went nuts cos' of it.
How did acid change you, odonII?

 

Did those people claim it was LSD that sent them 'nuts'?

I have no idea. It could have had nothing to do with what I took and more to do with me as a person. I tend to agree with CherokeeMist

 

Suffice it to say, once you get the message hang up the phone

 

What the hell does that mean? lol.

 

I guess it means, don't over do it - take the 'message'/epiphanies if you will. And act on that, don't fry your brain by excessive use trying to bring more light to the experience!

 

Fair enough. It was just a rather peculiar metaphor - or just one I had not heard before. Very good - on reflection.

 

Should you take LSD? One word: NO.

 

:sunny: haha thanks man

 

I had some mental health issues as a child, and I have also had some uncomfortable experiences with psychedelics. However, neither of my uncomfortable experiences were from acid. One was from morning glories, which left me shaking so bad that I couldn't go to classes the next day, and the other was from a combination of shrooms, 25i, and weed. I did acid last summer and I loved every second of it. I would say yes, go for it. If you start to get nervous, say a mantra or think of an image. Mine is this image of Vishnu in my sig.

 

Thanks a lot, odonII and DrummingJoey. Is there a quicker way to get off the drug if a bad trip starts to happen? And what would be best in my case, acid or shrooms? And again, do you guys have an idea of HOW I should attack my demons while under the influence? thank you.

 

No.

 

Enjoy yourself. When the demons come, you'll figure it out. Just have the heart to face them.

I wouldn't go into a psychedelic trip anxiously with benzos for back up and a plan to fight demons.

 

Care to elaborate?

I don't think anyone benefits from this kind of advice. Sounds like the kind of thing Michelle Leonhart would say.

Unless of course you have some sort of actual logic/reasoning to provide.

It's extremely difficult to judge whether a person is ready to take psychedelics, even if you've known this person your whole life, and far more so for a stranger over the internet, so I'll give the advice I always give.

Research is your friend. There's plenty of it to be done and there's plenty to be learned about the drugs you want to take, their effects on the mind and body, and their relationship to your own inner growth. Only you can decide if it's right, and that decision by definition cannot be informed because the psychedelic experience is very much ineffable. The only way to know anything about it, truly, is to go through it yourself.

Acid isn't a direct solution to anything. The reason why people find success in using it to overcome psychological issues is that it opens up your perception to things which you may normally block out, and in this process you become aware, sometimes only temporarily, of deep seated issues or even revelations within your own psyche.

What comes from the trip could be good or bad, it could be little to nothing at all. You could have the greatest experience of your life and be awestruck by the beauty in the world, and that feeling could stay with you and bring you confidence and joy for years to come. You could also have the worst time of your life. If some big issues come up and instead of facing them you try to hide from them, they can easily swallow you up and drag you into an unpleasant place. In fact often times this kind of trip is necessary for the type of growth you're seeking, but it's important to be able to face it with the confidence that it will end and you will be back to normal eventually.

My experiences with acid have been primarily of the first sort, and I would wish for every person that they could have these same experiences and feel the same joy for existence that acid has given me.

I think that it's very likely that acid can help you, but like for anyone else, I urge that you use the utmost caution and be sure to be as informed as possible about the drugs you plan to use. Set and setting are extremely important in any trip. Look up the concept and try to learn as best you can how to get yourself in a good mindset and be in a good, safe physical location.

Don't go into it expecting to have it solve all your problems, just expect to see things differently, and be open to ANYTHING because the possibilities really are endless.

 

Thank you very much!! That sure was helpful!

So you're saying that I should do it and see what happens and if something bad comes along, I should ''stay'' in the moment and try not to hide from it?

I'm thinking of trying acid (or shrooms, what would one go with in this case?) at a very low dose. Clewer or not?

 

Acid is a little less imposing than shrooms. I found that with shrooms, it was easier to feel like I had lost control, so I would go with LSD. A low dose would be good to acclimate, but really to get the acid experience, you should take 2-3 tabs, depending on the strength.

If you get bad energy, don't try to fight it. Fighting a bad trip justifies its danger to your psyche and triggers a danger response, leading you further in. It's like quicksand. If you start to have a bad trip, say your mantra, think happy thoughts, but don't try to kill your negative images. Sometimes you just have to confront them, and by doing so, you will emerge stronger than you went in.