Contemplating Insanity

[implement]

Lately I've been thinking about my mental state and whether I would actually be safe tripping and be able to enjoy myself.
Despite the fact that I am aware of (at least I think I am, how can I truly know?) what might happen after taking a decent dose of shrooms or LSD etc I feel that there are emotions deep down inside me that I somehow need to free myself of save them interrupting a beautiful trip. Also I feel that I have a very logical mind and this may cause anxiety etc etc.
I've had a low dose of shrooms a few times, experiencing mild euphoria, beautiful colours, detailed resolution(? hard to describe) and only very slight visuals. I spent most of my first trip struggling to comprehend what I was seeing even though it was merely a pattern swirling freely on a wall but I feel that now it's out of the way and I am able to understand that my mind can play these 'tricks' on me and open up this other world that a second time would be much better.

Thoughts? I really want to experience more of this other world and hopefully reveal more about myself, I don't plan on taking psychedelics for 'fun' but as a journey and a life experience. I know that not everyone is able to trip and I really hope that I can without any dramas.

 

[MelCat]

Welcome to the Nexus man.

I believe that the general consensus is that none of these substances will drive you insane. They will help you to see things in a different perspectives and show you things you never thought possible.

If you don't have a history of mental illness, I doubt you have anything to worry about. A little bit of fear is understandable but essentially you are just opening your mind. Once the drug wears off, you'll be back to baseline with a new way of looking at yourself and probably most everything else.

Just remain respectful and work your way up slowly. I wish ya the best on whatever you decide to do.

 

[implement]

True, I'm definitely going to, just depends how hard I decide to trip really.
I think I'll be alright, planning to hopefully have an acid party in the holidays after school And get my hands on some shrooms for these holidays too.

 

[pharoah21]

Just take it easy, and don't over complicate things. I think learning to meditate is an invaluable tool when it comes to psychadellics. The one thing that will usually ruin your trip, is the ego, that is, the chatter of the mind. Make sure you understand how to clear your mind of all thoughts, find a place of calm and peace, and then have a beautiful trip.

Peace

 

[tobecomeone00]

Whatever issues they bring up, they bring up for a reason...don't let the unpleasantness of realizing your faults be a cause for a bad trip...it's a learning experience, and imo, those are the best...

 

[implement]

Any tips for meditation? I've tried several times, I know the technique of focusing on a single thing like a burning flame or an object, it's hard but I'm trying more often now.

 

[ms_manic_minxx]

Do you have another person that you trust that could sit with you?

Insanity, in a way, is part and parcel of the experience. It IS the experience, to exist beyond the quantifiable, the speakable, the logical. It is tears and laughter and sunshine and ripples in a meadow of grass in the summer breeze, loops of birth, death, infinity.

Sometimes the medicine grabs you. Last time it grabbed me, I cried, and I felt like my face was being contorted like catching heavy wind down the hill on a rollercoaster. It always ends... but when I am overwhelmed... I am fortunate to have a wonderful boyfriend who is always tripping with me, that I can snuggle up with at any moment the ride gets too rough.

That doesn't ALWAYS happen, of course!! Not at all!! Just... it is bound to occasionally, if you do pursue a long path of psychedelics.

I find loving company the best. Nothing gets in the way of that. Anything seemingly headed south can always be turned upright. Touch is powerful.

Madness is also the most beautiful, and the most healing.

Yoga/meditation/breathing techniques may be good tools for helping to remain calm and focused during a trip... intentions are powerful, too.

 

[Global]

Not all trips are meant to be happy-go-lucky and everything so smooth and positive. Of course those are the desired experiences, but one of the great things about tripping is that it can help to work through those heavy, latent emotions such that you won't soon encounter them again in everyday life or in successive trips. I don't know what substance exactly it is that you plan on taking, but if it's one that you're not gonna be using an MAOI for, it can be reassuring to have half a bar of xanax on standby to help deal with the anxiety. You don't even have to use it, but just knowing you have it and that things won't go too haywire emotion-wise can lead to more positive mind states. Of course that kinda contradicts what I said above, and I know there are lots of nexians who would disagree with that as the whole "fear" side to the experience is a "necessary" one, but I'm just trying to give you all your options. If you're taking ayahuasca, it's out of the question due to the necessary MAOIs and if you decide to bolster your shrooms/LSD experience with an MAOI, it is likewise also not an option.

 

[implement]

Thanks everyone
First time I will almost definitely have a sitter or at least solid experienced tripping partners, not that I could really cuddle up with though .
I think I understand now, with good comes the bad and it must all be embraced in the experience.

 

[Pandora]

Hi there implement,

Welcome to the Nexus.

I agree with those who state that the plants and substances themselves cannot drive a person insane unless they already have established or growing mental illness. In that case, the issues can be exacerbated, de-emphasized, accelerated, delayed, etc. in unpredictable ways by psychedelic use.

I would also suggest that those who identify as fundamentally dominant or super controlling in their personalities, those that have troubles ever letting go, are poor candidates for psychedelic use. Letting go and surrender are absolute keys in maximizing the potential of and comfort with these substances in my opinion. In particular with DMT.

My sense of what insanity is has been colored by my psychedelic use. The old guys who called them psychotomimetic weren't 100% wrong. Ms Manic Minxx mentions going insane is part of the experience sometimes. Here's my sense on what it means to go/be insane based on psychedelic use.

1.) One's attention to stimuli is mis-assigned. Things that would be of no import in consensual reality or to the "sane" seem tremendously important and vice versa.

2.) After dealing with the dysphoria of living in a social world with 1.) for awhile, one begins to mis-assign cause and effect. Conditions such as paranoia can quickly follow.

3.) Ultimately, when one is completely "insane" one is completely and utterly incapable of effectively communicating with or effectively receiving communication from "sane people," those who operate within "consensual realty."

Though many, many people will tell you that the heart of the matter with DMT, that what the most Universal and important message of it is All One. For me, though All One is a big part of it and that informs me on how to try to treat my fellow humans and living creatures, for me the fundamental message is in everything in life

1.) Be more open minded
2.) Be more skeptical

DMT has shown me that the world perhaps is not what it appears to be, perhaps not what I have been told, what my baseline perceptions inform me of. It has also shown me without a doubt that my perceptions and reality can be completely ripped away in under one minute. Thus the lessons stated above make sense to me.

I believe if people can approach the world constantly with that kind of mindset, that short of horrible organic problems or environmental stressors, one can approach a sense of "reality" and "sanity" in almost everything, every interaction.

So, I guess my rant equates to, nah, psychedelics in fact have helped me and others become more sane not less.

Again, a hearty welcome to you. I encourage you to look around and post questions as they come up.

 

[FiorSirtheoir]

Welcome to the Nexus,

The only dramas you will find are the ones that your mind has placed as an obstruction to your true self, your eternal consciousness. I first came here looking for answers, wanting to experience this 'other world', the world beyond the veil and as I know now the one beyond that. I have experienced those things, however I know that there is much more than what I have seen thus far. I am not sure what it is you are looking to experience, if it is spice I would start with freebase and go from there. You will know when it is time to move on to Pharma or Aya. I have experienced a remembrance; an awe of what it is that I have forgotten, terror and joy at the same time, ecstasy and a great sorrow over my own folly, insight into myself and my relationship with those around me, and much much more.

It has been a difficult journey, but no more difficult than life itself. I feel that what is being sought is the most noble and virtuous thing there is to seek. Fear is the mind killer, it is the soul killer, you must face your fears, let them pass over you and through you so you may master fear; so you may master yourself.

I do recommend you have someone with you, at least at first, someone you love and trust - especially with Aya and Pharma. At the very least to help the keep the remembrance.