Health - Question about LSD and mental health

[ComfortablyNumb]

I was wondering if someone experienced or knowledgable about the mental aspects about LSD.
SWIMs girlfriend is a very happy person right now, but has had a few issues in the past although now she is completely fine, SWIM is still worried that those issues may come up during an acid trip, which of course could be very bad. SWIMs girlfriend has taken acid around 4-5 times (SWIM didnt know about her past at the time) and so far has only had a little bit of a bad trip on her first time, although that was nothing to do with her past, she was scared to go into my room (SWIU painted it when we were on LSD so it was very colourful and maybe to intense) but since then has not had any bad experiences. My question is this, if she has been fine for all her trips, is it safe to assume that she will be fine from now on, or should SWIM still be concerned and restricted with how much LSD she takes? At the moment SWIM thinks no matter how many times she has taken LSD, the issues are still in the history of her mind, therefor could emerge at any time. I think im probably right but it would be great to get a second opinion on this because I care about her alot.

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

In swims opinion, if she has reacted in the normal/average way to acid so far, she will continue to do so... she could easily, therefore, get a bad trip like everyone else can, but i doubt she has any increased risk. If she does get a bad trip, however, her mind might have more "negative material" to "work with" than the average person and so if she does get a bad trip, it could be very bad...

impossible to say anything for sure, however, and so it is a risk... swim would advise sticking to low doses or using "gentler" psychedelics like mescaline if you choose to continue.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Thanks, but i learned yesterday that her grandmother and grandmothers brother suffer mental illness', bi-polar, which is hereditary, everyone strongly advises against the use of LSD withi a history of family illness. Am I right in thinking, its probly time to stop?

[robin_himself]

Originally Posted by Joe-(5-HTP)

In swims opinion, if she has reacted in the normal/average way to acid so far, she will continue to do so... she could easily, therefore, get a bad trip like everyone else can, but i doubt she has any increased risk. If she does get a bad trip, however, her mind might have more "negative material" to "work with" than the average person and so if she does get a bad trip, it could be very bad...

impossible to say anything for sure, however, and so it is a risk... swim would advise sticking to low doses or using "gentler" psychedelics like mescaline if you choose to continue.

I'd like to ask on what do you base this opinion?

And from personal experience with mescaline swim doesn't consider it a less of an intense or confronting experience.

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

Originally Posted by robin_himself

I'd like to ask on what do you base this opinion?

And from personal experience with mescaline swim doesn't consider it a less of an intense or confronting experience.

Bad trips are often constituted by the surfacing of uncomfortable emotions/memories and if this girl has more than your average person, she is likely to react worse than your average person to such an experience.

Of course, as she is over her suicidal episodes, she has probably come to terms with them, and thus she might be even better than the average person at dealing with such an experience, as she will have "experience" of dealing with uncomfortable memories... If, however, they were to arise in her mind in a new way (which is conceivable in the context of lsd...), she might relive old old negative feelings combined with panic at a new negative perspective on them which could lead to a very bad trip...

Mescaline seemed to swim to be gentler and dream like and he has heard various anecdotal reports that agree. Of course, it is all subjective and varies from person to person. my advise would be to try mescaline or shrooms and see if you do indeed find them to be "lighter".

Of course, LSD could be seen as benefitial to people who need to deal with psychological problems. It was, after all, used in psychotherapy... If, however, this girl is taking it recreationally (and not specifically for the purpose of dealing with any problems she might have) then it is more likely they will cause a problem for her rather than be "healed"..

swim's experience of people who have problems with acid is that they have a negative experience most if not all of the time, and so hearing that she reacts fine to acid suggests to me that she might not have a problem with it. This is not to say, of course, that she wont in the future, just that the evidence as it stands suggests she has as good a chance as anyone of being ok in regard to susceptibility of bad trips.

All my suppositions are just suppositions. My point by making them is that taking lsd could indeed be riskier for someone who has a painful past...
This is, of course, a highly debatable topic... I would be interested to hear your views as well, as I think it is important to understand all theories in order to evaluate risk properly.

[robin_himself]

Originally Posted by Joe-(5-HTP)

Bad trips are often constituted by the surfacing of uncomfortable emotions/memories and if this girl has more than your average person, she is likely to react worse than your average person to such an experience.

Of course, as she is over her suicidal episodes, she has probably come to terms with them, and thus she might be even better than the average person at dealing with such an experience, as she will have "experience" of dealing with uncomfortable memories... If, however, they were to arise in her mind in a new way (which is conceivable in the context of lsd...), she might relive old old negative feelings combined with panic at a new negative perspective on them which could lead to a very bad trip...

Mescaline seemed to swim to be gentler and dream like and he has heard various anecdotal reports that agree. Of course, it is all subjective and varies from person to person. my advise would be to try mescaline or shrooms and see if you do indeed find them to be "lighter".

Of course, LSD could be seen as benefitial to people who need to deal with psychological problems. It was, after all, used in psychotherapy... If, however, this girl is taking it recreationally (and not specifically for the purpose of dealing with any problems she might have) then it is more likely they will cause a problem for her rather than be "healed"..

swim's experience of people who have problems with acid is that they have a negative experience most if not all of the time, and so hearing that she reacts fine to acid suggests to me that she might not have a problem with it. This is not to say, of course, that she wont in the future, just that the evidence as it stands suggests she has as good a chance as anyone of being ok in regard to susceptibility of bad trips.

All my suppositions are just suppositions. My point by making them is that taking lsd could indeed be riskier for someone who has a painful past...
This is, of course, a highly debatable topic... I would be interested to hear your views as well, as I think it is important to understand all theories in order to evaluate risk properly.

Thank you! With this I can work. My question wasn't aimed at disagreeing with your post because I agree with you. I just wanted to know why you thought it.

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

yeah i understand- my first post was a bit thin..

[Jatelka]

To the OP: I have to say, that for people with previous or family history of mental illness such as Bi-Polar disorder, LSD should definitely be avoided