Burned out on Psychedelics

Old Hippy,

I ate way too many mushrooms on Dec. 23rd and had a trip that was way, way, way too intense for me. On that night I let go even though I wasn’t quite ready. It was really scary and way too much. I just layed on a bed moaning and groaning and experiencing every emotion I know of magnified by 5000. Now it’s more than 3 months later and I am afraid of psychedelics.

In the past they have opened my mind and truly changed me for the good. Now I am scared of them. I am in a
psychedelic jam band and all the dudes in my band are always wanting me to trip and play with them but I am too scared. I want to be able to trip again but you know how it is… if I was to get high now I’d probably think to myself oh no, what if I have a bad trip and then it’d become a bad trip! How can I ease myself in to tripping again?
Thanks old hippy!
You
are great!

Sounds like a very heavy experience! I think you should cool it for awhile. Doing psychedelics for kicks is not happening. They’re not party drugs and they don’t get you high, as you now realize.

Everyone comes to the point you’re at if they do enough mushrooms or acid. It does turn into a burnout. Timothy Leary was one of the few people I know who could do it regularly (once a week since the 60s he claimed). But he carefully controlled his set and setting each time, and respected but never abused the drug.

My problem with mushrooms has to do with the toxins. All magic mushrooms have a number of toxins that increase with the dose. These can really intensify the experience negatively. Your body is trying to stop being poisoned. What could have been a deeply satisfying trip turns into almost a matter of life and death. I once nearly killed myself on Amanita mushrooms.

So now I stay away almost entirely from psychedelics. Once you’ve been there and confronted your ego’s failings, it ain’t much fun to go back there again and again. I believe there is a collective experience we all have when we do psychedelics. That is, the experience and the place we reach is the same. If you learn the lessons there’s no reason to repeat them.

People who take these drugs just to get high are really trying to escape from reality and instead come face to face with their own mortality (instead of their immortality!). This causes them great depression when they crash, and rather than come to terms with themselves they seek to escape again.

I can only justify tripping to explore one’s inner self. I know musicians like it because they’re able to express themselves more easily (or at least they think so). Remember the Dead, my favorite band to trip to! If you want to seek further then as I said cool it for awhile (as long as a few years!) and if you still feel you are missing something you could try it again. It’s just a doorway. You get to see past the illusion but then you must return. But be careful of your dosage. That is very important. Also set and setting. Be in a supportive environment with supportive people, just in case.

Happy trails….
the old hippy

Posted by: skip
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