Can acid make you go insane?

[ArthBH]

I took acid a few weeks back and I have to say, it was fucking awesome. I have taken mushrooms quite a lot and at very high doses, so I'm pretty experienced. But acid just felt totally different, like there was a beam of electricity being pointed into my brain. It was great fun, and because I'm quite experienced at tripping I didn't really have any problem with making my tea or even answering the phone (or at least I think I didn't...). It wasn't a huge dose, only two tabs, but from comparing it to other peoples experiences and my own psilocybin experiences I think they must have been pretty strong tabs. Anyway, the next day I got up and felt totally fine, if a little tired, and went to college. It made me think but it didn't 'change' me as such, and I was perfectly able to concentrate on stuff at college. I think the reason it didn't have such a profound effect on me after-woulds is partly because I've done psychodelics before and also due to the fact I kind of naturally percieve the world like that anyway, and when I was on acid I felt no shock as if I was seeing the reality for the first time, but instead a powerful and life affirming sense of reassurance that my natural way of perceiving the world is right. The only thing that disturbs me a bit is stories of people going mad on acid and stuff. I really want to do it again, but I value my brain greatly. I think it kind of unnerves me because I felt anything but insane after taking it. I love tripping with a passion, and would like to use acid again.

 

[dirk.bruere]

a) You obviously have not take enough LSD. You may think you are experienced, but it can REALLY catch you out.
b) You likely won't go insane unless you have a natural tendency towards mental illness. If you are already borderline psychotic or schizophrenic, don't do it.

 

[ArthBH]

There are others who share the same experience as me. Robert Smith took lots and he himself said that he felt no different after taking it. I have met many like you who feel a need to tell people how they should feel after taking it, and its quite immature. If you were a true psychonaut you would appreciate that everyone is different, every trip is different, and everyone reacts differently to different entheogens. I haven't heard of many people taking salvia and feeling permanently changed by it, but I had one salvia trip that I can honestly say has changed the way I see things forever, in a very positive way. One salvia trip out of loads, and it wasn't even the strongest I have had by a long shot.

 

[dirk.bruere]

Well, if you are talking about being changed, then yes. IMHO LSD is the most powerful agent of change I have experienced. My first trip (big dose) changed my whole belief system. Other trips cumulatively changed my personality to a considerable degree. For the better I might add. However, one can become rather too casual after taking it for a while. Then a trip can come along that blows you away. There are always surprises waiting, especially if you take it for granted and treat it too casually. I should also add that I never took small doses, thinking them a waste of time.

 

[itsscience]

I took a hell of a lot of acid between the ages of about 17 through to 25.

I have never had one trip which changed my life entirely (either LSD or shrooms) rather it was a cumulative process that I believe expanded my consciousness and made me a deeper, more lateral thinker.

We've all heard stories of people who have taken LSD or shrooms and ended up in mental asylums but I've never met one. I agree with dirk that it is more likely to happen if you have a predisposition towards mental illness.

Like anything, if you do it in moderation and sensibly (i.e. don't take LSD if you're feeling down or are stressed about something) it should be fine.

 

[Schwanke668]

Its the predisposition I think that does it except that you can have some unckle three generations away and that is enough of a predisposition to set it off. Or that aunt that you never knew was psychotic half the time but you just thought was eccentric as a kid. Its all perspective sometimes.

Me personally. I think my drug use brought out my bi-polar but I am slowly learning to adapt to it to a degree and find a balance with my environment that will eventually be self sustaining. For the moment I am fairly confident I will never hold down an outside the home job as my interaction with reality is chaotic at best and 99.9% of the jobs that you 'go to' require a conformity to a pattern that I just cant grasp.

However I am developing an ebay business which may lead to somewhere as I can structure my hours and my habbits as a fluid dynamic. If my schedule flips and I'm awake from 8pm to 8am ll i gotta do is squeeze in the trips to the post office at the end of my night and crash.

In the long run its really a question of being prepared mentally. Are you really ready to change?

 

[itsscience]

Me personally. I think my drug use brought out my bi-polar but I am slowly learning to adapt to it to a degree and find a balance with my environment that will eventually be self sustaining.

Schwanke, my sister has bi-polar and both she and her psychiatrist believe it was triggered/exacerbated by her drug use. She spent 5 years as a "zombie" on a cocktail of lithium and all sorts of other anti-psychotics. I say "zombie" because these drugs prevented her from feeling anything, happiness, sdaness, anger etc.

She slowly weaned herself of the meds (slowly is most important) and now manages her condition through diet, exercise and meditation - I have to say that it's great to have my sister back. I can understand, at least in part, what you are going through and I wish you all the best in getting off the meds.

 

[Sticki]

LSD will only change that which wishes to be changed....

Being in the company of clinically insane people for too long can make you feel insane, Being left alone for too long could make you feel insane, Not being understood could make you feel insane and telling your friends and family the world is not what they think it is will quite possibly make you percieved as insane....

However in my experience, The ones that go insane are those that are accidents waiting to happen i.e. Underlying mental health issues or The inexperienced tripper with the crowd of bullys could have their mind negatively conditioned or The inexperienced tripper going solo for 8 hours on an intense trip could condition his mind and possibly end up in a state of psychosis. I think those who have underlying health issues are likely to slip into psychosis from an early point but in truth I think LSD offers one of the greatest pathways to the mind. In the hands of a person who is very understanding of the experience there is no reason one could not be guided out of psychosis or brought round from other mental issues with psychotherapy and psychedelics. Autism and Dementia fascinate me and I would love to do some research with psychedelics and a few willing volunteers, After a long time at University.....:lol:

However we live in a world that doesnt recognize the power in thier hands yet and if you did slip into psychosis and end up in hospital you would be labeld and medicated and for sure, The shit they give you in the long run will do the worst damage.

The best advice I can give you is, When you take LSD or any other psychedelic substance for that matter. Be sure to be in a comfortable surrounding, If you have friends with you make sure you are comfortable with them 100%. Have things like a drink and a few snacks layed out somewhere so you dont need to mess around making things if your tripping hard. Be comfortably clothed and maybe make a clearing in the centre of your room, I often like to lie on the floor when tripping :lol: When dosing, Take one tab and see how you get on. Experience, share and relate and then give yourself time to digest your experience personally. Next time if you feel 1 tab wasnt enough, have 2. Experience, share, relate and digest. Leave it a week or 2 between trips and dont take what other people say as bread....

Use the psychedelic experience to get to know ones self and ones connection to reality.
If you ever need to know anything, just ask and we will all try and help to the best of our abilities 8)

 

[maxfreakout]

LSD can cause a mental state which is indistinguishable from insanity/schizophrenia, except there is one major difference - an LSD trip is TEMPORARY whereas typically, schizophrenia is an ongoing mental condition

 

[Schwanke668]

On that last not I would hazzard my completely unprofessional opinion that half the reason lsd brings out latent mental illness is it triggers the patterns aka the mental chemical equations that associate with them and your latent tendencies hook into that as a conduit into natural expression.

Totally no technical basis behind this idea what-so-ever just makes sense to me.

 

[dirk.bruere]

I would also suggest one other thing.
Before tripping have a crap and a bath/shower to get clean.
Wear clean clothes.
For some people the sense of smell is enhanced and you don't want to spend a good part of the trip thinking "I stink"

 

[Schwanke668]

Could also do things like prepare foods like munchies or stuff. Fun stuff maybe. Like jello! or Peanut butter! (could creep you out thought/make a mess)

So hard to describe what to do for someone just doing it first time cuz you could like go back in time and restructure a thousand things to make the perfect first trip when half the point is the virignity of discovering it yourself.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Me personally. I think my drug use brought out my bi-polar but I am slowly learning to adapt to it to a degree and find a balance with my environment that will eventually be self sustaining.

Schwanke, my sister has bi-polar and both she and her psychiatrist believe it was triggered/exacerbated by her drug use. She spent 5 years as a "zombie" on a cocktail of lithium and all sorts of other anti-psychotics. I say "zombie" because these drugs prevented her from feeling anything, happiness, sdaness, anger etc.

She slowly weaned herself of the meds (slowly is most important) and now manages her condition through diet, exercise and meditation - I have to say that it's great to have my sister back. I can understand, at least in part, what you are going through and I wish you all the best in getting off the meds.

I cannot account for two examples where the emboldened quote should not be taken as the word.

I know many more where the italic quote should not be taken as the word.

To the original poster:

I did not care to read your post, as it is basically meaningless. No offense to you at all, and you will read why;

People who go "insane" on acid - or any psychodelic for that matter - just lost balance, most likely one of these reasons:

They have either perceived a truth that they were raised to ignore, disagree, or destroy.
They have lost the ability to distinguish between the superficial social constructs, and the underlying "true values" of reality that are unbiased to what clothers you wear.
They had impulse thoughts that are frequently portrayed as "insane" in society; murder, sex, rape, nakedness, flying, etc. All consequences of the times we live in, and basically pertains to the post above.
They did not expect a true hallucination, causeing anxiety, paranoia, and temporary psychosis.

NO, LSD cannot make you go insane. The logical attempts to decipher, or understand what happened can.

Insanity is defined by the times and society you (we) live in.

 

[itsscience]

I've never had the mucnhies or felt like eating whist on acid. In fact the thought of food while I'm on acid repels me.

I cannot account for two examples where the emboldened quote should not be taken as the word.

I know many more where the italic quote should not be taken as the word.

IJC, can you please clarify, I don't understand what you are saying.

 

[Schwanke668]

I've never had the mucnhies or felt like eating whist on acid. In fact the thought of food while I'm on acid repels me.

I never had 'munchies' just normal food. I never payed attention to organizing my eating habits like eating right before so I might have tabbed and naturally needed food within a couple hours. The experience of the food was always interesting and unique and taught me a lot about how I related to food though the actual usefulless of that information wasnt realized until about a year ago.

[quote:2o06ni5f]I cannot account for two examples where the emboldened quote should not be taken as the word.

I know many more where the italic quote should not be taken as the word.

IJC, can you please clarify, I don't understand what you are saying.[/quote:2o06ni5f]

I kinda felt what he was sayin but he seems to be on a different level tonight. Thats two posts that are a lot higher then where I am where I can see what he is getting at but cant make the cross references to put them into place.

 

[Crimzen]

i once had the best apple ever while on acid
felt soooo wonderful, big red juicy and sweet but not too sweet
MMMMMmmmm
sat at a bus stop with 2 friends talking about how dam good the apples were
hahaha

 

[IJesusChrist]

I know of two prime examples, where lithium and anti-psychotic medications have been extremely helpful, and in one case, my good friend from highschool, completely set him straight. It was like it replaced him, reset his clocks, rewound his gears. Was a dramatic, and wonderful change.

As for healthy diet, excercise, and a good routine for life being the cure for "insanity" - I wouldn't bet a dollar on this working for any random person. This type of treatment - the "all natural" way is the best way, but it is not strong enough for some cases, and in most cases will never reset a balance. It is too subtle.

There is no cure unless you know the poison.

 

[dirk.bruere]

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-the ... ssion.html

(PhysOrg.com) -- A small clinical trial in The Netherlands suggests
bright light therapy may be a useful treatment for the symptoms of
major depression in older adults.

The trial was run by a team led by Dr. Ritsaert Lieverse of GGZ
inGeest and the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, and studied
89 adults aged 60 or over who had been diagnosed with clinical
depression (also called Major Depression Disorder or MDD), around half
of whom were randomly assigned to bright light therapy for three
weeks.

The therapy involved spending an hour each morning with the same kind
of light-therapy box as that used for treating seasonal affective
disorder, which is a type of depression related to seasons such as
winter, when the days are shorter and people are exposed to less
natural light. The control group used a light box that emitted a dim
red light (50 lux) rather than the bright pale blue light (7500 lux)
of the light-therapy box. Dim red light has no known benefits or
detrimental effects on humans.

The results of the trial showed those given bright light therapy made
improvements over the controls, and the improvements were comparable
to the use of antidepressant drugs.

 

[ophiuchus]

I know of two prime examples, where lithium and anti-psychotic medications have been extremely helpful, and in one case, my good friend from highschool, completely set him straight. It was like it replaced him, reset his clocks, rewound his gears. Was a dramatic, and wonderful change.

As for healthy diet, excercise, and a good routine for life being the cure for "insanity" - I wouldn't bet a dollar on this working for any random person. This type of treatment - the "all natural" way is the best way, but it is not strong enough for some cases, and in most cases will never reset a balance. It is too subtle.

There is no cure unless you know the poison.

"there is no cure unless you know the poison"

i agree. i'd like to clarify however that a healthy diet, excercise, etc. are not solutions for any problem in and of themselves. they will help, but these are better viewed as by-products of the "curing" of the self.

you can only lead a horse to water, you cannot make it drink.

 

[kim]

I had once a pretty bad experience on acid. I took many times acid and had always a very good experience. Once I took only 1/4 of the paper, which could contain apx. 100-150 mg max. I had a really trip with 2friends then I went home. It was already over, I tripped like 8hours. I was very tired but i wanted to smoke some hash to sleep better. Then my whole trip came back. I felt that i cannot control my brain and I wanted to make a phone call. Then a voice started to say that i should not call anyone, i just need to go back to my life built up from lies. My whole world started to collapse. And then i put down the phone while the "real me" inside me shouted to call a friend. I could not fall asleep and i felt i can anytime lose my mind. I was awake until next morning whole night dealing with panic attacks and could only fell asleep after taking 2pills of Xanax. I really was afraid that I will lose my mind. I felt that I was so so close. Since then i had a lot of panic attacks, i quit smoking weed, I even quit drinking alcohol for 3months because i can get panic attacks from anything. I went to many psychologists until I found the right one who thought me autogenic training, which helped a lot. Now after a year I tried to smoke weed and even from one puff I started to feel very bad. I explain it to myself if that panic on that night would not had happen probably i would have had not quit smoking and would not have my university studies finished. but since I have a proper job and everything looks nice i want to smoke once in a while again and MAYBE try acid again. Before that bad trip i always felt it makes me see the truth and I always changes a bit for the better. Before that one trip I felt always optimistic, strong, beautiful and capable to do anything and cannot die easily. Now I'm getting better but i still have a lotsa fear in my life. Did anyone experience something similar?