An Acid Trip: What is an acid/LSD trip like?

It can be scary.

A lot of people talk about the good side of it. DO NOT underestimate it. It can be the most amazing experience in the world or it could go very different. You will drive yourself nuts if you try to comprehend everything that’s happening. With the drop of the hat, it can go from the most spectacular feeling to feeling totally and completely helpless. It’s sobering to realize how incredibly small and weak the human mind is. It can render you completely helpless.¹

It can be amazing.

Psychedelic experiences can be one of the most beautiful experiences a human can ever have.

Sam Harris: “But if [my daughters] don’t try a psychedelic like psilocybin or LSD at least once in their adult lives, I will wonder whether they had missed one of the most important rites of passage a human being can experience”

It can be hard to remember or describe.

The first thing to note about LSD is that it puts you in a state of mind that can be difficult to comprehend to someone who is not currently under the influence of LSD. Recalling an LSD experience is similar to recalling events from your childhood- even if you can remember the actual events, it may be difficult to truly recall what you were thinking and feeling during that event.²

When you have your eyes open, you won’t see things that don’t exist.

A common misconception about LSD is that it causes you to see things that aren’t there. Everything you see on LSD actually exists, you just see it differently than you normally would. LSD makes you much more attentive to detail (this applies to all your senses). It will also cause you to see patterns and objects in things that otherwise aren’t very interesting.

Acid feels like “seeing the world for the first time,” with stimulated and profound seeming thoughts, and sort of a dreamlike feeling.³ Hallucinations also exist, though it would be more accurate to think of them as visual distortions - i.e. seeing extra patterns in the grass, a photo of a waterfall might look like the water is moving when it’s actually not - but don’t think of it as you’ll be seeing green leprechauns that will talk to you.

See the first few images on this page for an accurate depiction of low to moderate acid dosage visual effects.

From LSD.

LSD thought processes are weird:

Example of LSD Thought Processes[1]:

“Let’s go back.”

“We can’t. We have to go forward.”

“Why can’t we go back?”

“Because that’s the way we came.”²

Video #1

Video #2

References

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Have more questions, or want more resources and info? Visit /r/PsychedelicTherapy or /r/Psychedelics.