A
Bad Trip... can be scary as hell, but truthfully,
I really haven't had many bad ones. I just like this image
on the left and since I usually trip with my roommate, I
thought it was appropriate, it kind of reminds me of us.
First, some background on me...
My name
is Matt and I am an B+ student at the University of Chicago,
which means I work really hard on my studies, but I also
need a way to alter my state of mind and so that is why
I have used LSD.
To me
it is a cheap thrill, costs less than most drugs and even
less than enough beer to get a buzz. Am I going to continue
to use it, I don't know, probably not for lots of reasons.
I don't think it is the healthiest thing to be doing to
my body, but I want to write the truth. I guess part of
me wants others to know that you don't have to experiment
with this drug, there are less harmful ones out there or
don't use drugs at all if that is your thing. A lot of my
friends don't use drugs and we are still friends.
A
Not-So-Bad-Trip... I don't recommend it, but
what LSD can also feel like.
LSD laced
blotter paper, if you look closely you can see the perforations.
A
tidbit of information that I found for you: In a 2001
survey, 10.9 percent of U.S. high school seniors
admitted taking it, and an estimated 16.4 million Americans
have experimented with it, at one time or another.
I apologize for not writing this sooner, I am really busy
with school as this is a busy semester and I had other priorities.
Anything I write here about my experiences with LSD are for
educational purposes, I'm not trying to influence anyone to
take it, if anything hear what it’s like and maybe you
will never use it. Coolnurse.com is not responsible for anything
I write, blah, blah, blah... Amy was nice enough to let me
write about this because I think it’s important.
Each person
will have different tripping experiences, although I do find
a lot of similarities in them when I talk to people.
Enough
of that....
Flashbacks
& Bad Trips: Stories you may hear that may not
be true.
Stories about LSD are legendary, still, the drug rarely
causes serious physical problems, none that my friends and
I found to be true. You will read that users may suffer
a “crash period”, which can haunt you in the background
of everyday consciousness for a few days after the LSD wears
off, I have had this experience, but not every time I have
tripped.
Users
also typically become much less sensitive to LSD's effects
for several days after use -- a condition known as tolerance.
Studies have shown that LSD doesn't cause cancer, brain
damage, or chromosome breakage. (I had this debate with
my Chemistry professor after class for an hour one day,
he says it does, whatever.) Despite its potency, it is nearly
impossible to overdose on it. That doesn't mean that its
good for you, just a fact that I turned up researching the
drug for personal reasons.
LSD
can (and does) cause severe psychological discomfort - even
trauma. In fact, one bad trip can quickly make you forget
dozens of “hearts and flowers” trips. When bad
trips do occur, they tend to take two main forms: panic
attacks and psychotic reactions.
Panic
Attacks:
The
most common adverse reaction to LSD, panic usually centers
on a fear of dying or going crazy.
Psychotic Reactions:
Serious breaks with reality, psychotic episodes usually
include hallucinations and delusions. LSD fueled psychotic
episodes are like bad trips that don't end when the drug
wears off. These reactions may be linked to the “triggering”
of preexisting problems and may require professional intervention
- similar to PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
Flashbacks:
Another occasional effect of LSD are flashbacks. This is
said to be the reemergence of effects -- usually panic --
days or weeks later. Since LSD is not retained in the body,
(this is highly debated, btw, some say it does remain in
fat cells), flashbacks are probably psychological rather
than physiological in origin. Flashback triggers can include
stress, severe fatigue, other drug use, or 'hints' associated
with a past trip. Although acid flashbacks, like other anxiety
reactions, seldom last longer than 90 minutes, they can
seem endless and like a living hell, since they tend to
focus on nasty aspects of bad trips. (I had one where everything
I saw looked like a beating heart, it was quite frightening,
it doesn't sound like it when I write this for some reason,
but I can still visualize it.
