Comment by opportune | Hacker News Reader

Comment by opportune | Hacker News Reader

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It also took me 5 years to recover from a bad trip - I believe it was so traumatic that it gave me some form of PTSD. I had actually tripped several times before and also tried other psychedelics. Completely agree that online you are met with skepticism and FUD at the mentions of these experiences, and also that maybe ultimately it did have some positives come of it (respect your body and mind and don’t be reckless? Develop mental resilience?).

After that experience, I believe that for most people the benefits do not outweigh the risks until the drug is better studied clinically. The exceptions would be those who stand to experience exceptional quality of life improvements from a treatment-resistant depression breakthrough or cluster headache treatments (which AIUI are already pretty clinically established).

That said, I am probably too curious about life and novel experiences to have ever heeded this kind of advice if it meant not satisfying my curiosity at least once. So if you’re dying of curiosity I get how it might be worth it anyway.

The worst part is that I've met a lot of people who clearly were also traumatised by their drug experience but they feel pressured to pretend it was strictly a positive experience because of these social pressures to say they are good. This happens in all kinds of spaces though. I'm also a Buddhist but I never found relief from my depression from my intense meditation practise or working with my teacher, but again all anyone can say is that "it's your fault, you did it wrong". Regarding my psychedelic experience they say "you had bad set and setting" and when I tell them that I was in a really great setting with people I trust and that I didn't feel depressed going in they just move the goal posts. People just don't believe me honestly. I think if you haven't had it happen to you it's totally incomprehensible.

But ultimately it just made me kind of sad. Why do I still have to be depressed even after having these drug experiences that permanently cured depression for others? Instead for me it just made it worse, and that really made me feel hopeless for a long time. The only reason it doesn't now is because I've finally secured some intense psychoanalysis which seems to actually be helping me.

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