Social - How to Deal With a Friend Who is on a Mushroom Binge?

[Irish]

Swii's friend might be insane. He shroomed for 12 days in a row, most days without sleep. Swii is having trouble telling if his friend truly believes he is in heaven.

Swii's friend seems very serious when he is talking about being in heaven, and not just in the metaphorical sense. Not only this but swii's friend thinks he is the devil and god in heaven.

So, swii was wondering as to where his friend might be in his mental state (i know its very hard to diagnose someone over the internet, but swii insist i ask you).

P.S. Swii would also like to mention his friend had the mental capacity to stop shrooming for a few days, today was his first.

[elscorcho717]

That is strange. I usually can't even shroom two days in a row because of a tolerance, much less 12. It sounds like your friend needs some help. Hopefully when he stops using mushrooms he will return closer to reality.

[fnord]

he should be fine after a few days of sobriety and sleep.whos to say he isnt god?give him a copy of valis by philip k dick to entertain him while he sobers up and lands his space ship.helped out my grandmother while trying to learn to walk with crutches(AKA:live in reality)

[Nagognog2]

For some people so pre-disposed, psychedelics can trigger a psychotic state. The best you can do is to be supportive and speak to your old friend as you nornaly would. They are still in there, but unable to communicate as their conflicting (Yes you are! No I'm not!) selves have taken over the center stage of their conscienceness. This situation was and is refered to as a "Temporary Psychosis" as this is most often the case.

So be supportive and don't bother talking to God or the Devil - talk to your old friend as normal. Offer him/her something to eat. Maybe a beer. The less you make out of this situation, the sooner the psyche will likely re-intergrate. Unless your friend becomes violent and/or a threat to themselves - keep your friend clear of "professional" psychiatric help. Your friend would be diagnosed as a schizophrenic and treated (drugged) accordingly. There have been many cases where this caused the psychic split to become permenant. We saw this commonly back in the 1960's.

This is an extremely important, and difficult, task for you and your other friends. Be protective, but go on as if all was well. Chances are good your friend will emerge, slowly, as they were before. Albeit a bumpy road, they should be fine in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

Do NOT give the person more psychedelics, even cannabis, during this period. They need the ground solidly under their feet. A few drinks can't hurt.

Good luck and take care.

Reputation Comments on this post:

well it's rather pointless to give nag reps since he has so much, but this is quite excellent advice

[Alicia]

^^This is so true,and should be listened too, in very rare cases with some people of a certain pre-dormant nature this can be permanent for them which is then needed with official treatment and help and support.. everyone has braking points in this sense.. regardless. But please see a psychologist rather then a psychiatrist as they will see the symptoms described as a mental health symptom of psychosis, or schizophrenia. and like nag said medicate, with more side effects.

SET and setting, history of user prior, any family issues, family mental health probs should be asked prior to taking things of this nature. Ego loss can be beautiful if you let yourself go.

swia remember a couple of people with this affliction all too well shame one or two of them were refereed a specialist and now go on saying how it ruined there life, brain-washed by the fake saviors of the delusion condition present at the time from the psilo and lsd short term induced states. was a mouthful then and seems a permanent one for them now shame. the other ones came to terms with it and all was well.shame about the other ones.

[Irish]

well one of my friends ran into the tripper earlier today and all tripper said was "wtf are you doin here? get the fuck away!" so i have no idea whether tripper has taken any more psychs or what. could this be permanently damging if tripper continued his psilocybe use immediately?

[Alicia]

not really, as the tolerance with psilo will get to high to achieve a tripstate if daily, meaning more and more would have to be consumed. same with most psychedelics in this family. his mental state might get worse if he feels he needs to trip to escape something.

Maybe a question as to why he feels the need to trip everyday? swia's partner used to wait 3 days then eat more and more this was of course structured and planned he never had any discomfort and in fact spent most of his time meditating even with excessive doses. In general psilo tends to get not so nice when its used/abused constantly and aggravates other issues too

[Nagognog2]

The old addage was that the cure for a bad trip (psychotic reaction) was another trip is patently false. But still lives on today.

The danger is locking in place the current head-state, making recovery longer and more difficult.

[Alfa]

Tripping on shrooms for a week means taking in massive amounts due to tolerance. Every day the amounts needed are larger. I once met two guys who ingested 100 grams of panaeolus cyanescens (Hawaiian mushrooms. Normal dose: 0.6 - 1 grams), due to such tolerance. And even that didn't have strong effects. They where trying to binge on mushrooms and that´s pretty hard to accomplish. Their case was a rare one. They where very persistent in their objective, and as such they where heading for a major crash on full speed. Head first. I hope they are back on earth at this time.

The reason I quote this, is that it shows the effort one needs to take to binge on magic mushrooms. So if one does this, then there is something very out of the ordinary happening. Far beyond normal drug experimentation.

[hh339]

Very very good post Nagognog2. Agree 110%, I have seen a very good friend get diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he had only been doing amphetamines for too many days, and we all know what that can do to you.

My childhood best friend now believes that he is a schizophrenic, which he is NOT. It took his will to shape up, and now he does every drug you could imagine on a daily basis, just to flee (my theory, not his words) the reality of a schizophrenic social misfit.

Misfit definitely, but no way in hell that he is schizophrenic. Sounds like a bad joke, but I bet he isn't laughing.

[Irish]

thanks for all of the great information guys. from all of the information i have been receiving, swim's friend is doing well. no more mush for now, and he's somewhat returned to normal. thank you once again, the information has really helped in this process.