Navigating Challenging Psychedelic Experiences

No one is immune to difficulties during a psychedelic experience, even the most seasoned journeyers. However, while we aren’t able to control whether or not we can avoid a challenging experience (sometimes referred to as a “bad trip”), there are best practices and precautions to consider beforehand, during the experience to help navigate it, and afterward to help process it. For those coming to this article in need of immediate support, however, the Fireside Project, a hotline for challenging psychedelic experiences, is available 24 hours a day at 62-FIRESIDE.

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Overview/Introduction

While unpleasant or frightening, challenging psychedelic experiences can still offer valuable lessons to the journeyer. As the common adage goes, “the only way out is through,” and in the case of challenging experiences, sometimes growth and healing may still arise from difficulties during the journey. Often, facilitators may tell the journeyer to “accept” or “surrender” to the experience, rather than to resist it, which may only make it more challenging. ⁽¹⁾

Being armed with this knowledge and skills for navigating the experience may improve the likelihood of a positive outcome.

What Is a Bad Trip? Understanding Difficult Psychedelic Experiences

A “bad trip” is a psychological or emotional response to a psychedelic such as LSD, psilocybin, and similar substances.

These states are sometimes triggered by an interaction with something in the journeyer’s environment, such as a confusing social interaction, or a seemingly alarming occurrence. At other times, they may be the result of an internal experience. For example, in their inner world, the journeyer may encounter monsters, existential dread, confusion, old grief, complete loss of control, or be overwhelmed by a past trauma.

Symptoms of a bad trip can include fear, paranoia, anxiety, and confusion, often accompanied by hallucinations of scary images or a sense of losing control over reality. Physical symptoms such as sweating, nausea, or a racing heart may also occur.

Bad Trip Benefits? Finding Value in a Challenging Psychedelic Experience

Undergoing challenges during a psychedelic experience does not necessarily mean the entire journey should be labeled as a “bad trip.” That said, it is important, in the aftermath of a difficult journey, to seek out support in processing it, and harvesting valuable lessons. Indeed, some journeyers who undergo a “bad trip” might actually reap benefits in the long run. According to one study from 2016, 39% of respondents who had been through a challenging psychedelic journey rated it among the top five most challenging experiences of their lifetimes, while 84% said that they experienced long-term benefits from the experience. So, we may discern that while difficult, there may be rewards within these experiences. That said, as functional medicine doctor and psychedelic specialist Dr. Erica Zelfand, ND, points out in an article she authored for psychedelic magazine DoubleBlind, “some trips indeed can be traumatizing and there is little gold to harvest from them.” ⁽²⁾

Although challenging, these difficult experiences may be part of the healing process in that they may enable the journeyer to metabolize trauma, release old grief, or express withheld anger. The journeyer may return to mundane consciousness feeling lighter, relieved of some of their depression, or more at peace with the past. They may have had a new spiritual perspective impacting the fundamental framework of their existence, or have a new capacity for meeting life on life’s terms. ⁽³⁾

Rather than labeling a journey as a “bad trip” at the onset of difficulties, it can be helpful to observe the turbulence with curiosity. It may not be productive to write off the entire journey as “bad” just because some moments may be ridden with turmoil.

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How to Avoid a Bad Trip: Preparing for Your Journey

Preparing for the journey can greatly impact the likelihood of a positive outcome. Some key components of preparation include:

• Journal
• Eat nutritious foods
• Get good sleep
• Spending time alone or in nature
• Exercise including yoga and dancing
• Exercise including yoga and dancing
• Meditate
• Otherwise engage in activities that allow you to connect with yourself ⁽⁴⁾

What’s the Benefit of a Psychedelic Facilitator or Tripsitter?

Having a trusted person with you is one of the biggest determinants of being able to minimize the chances of having a difficult psychedelic experience.

Decide if you are going to do the journey on your own, with a tripsitter, or with a trained professional to support you. There are several factors to consider when assessing the level of support you might need.

These include:

It is very important to note that if you have never done psychedelics in the past, it is highly recommended to not go it alone, and ideally have someone with you who has experience with psychedelics.

Agreements with a Tripsitter

At a minimum, you and your support person should have the following agreements in place:

In other words, “Are hugs okay? Yes or no” and so on.

For more information on how to assess a facilitator’s skill level and ethics, see Psychedelic Safety Flags and HAF’s Client Resources Guide. And for more information on psychedelic safety, see our Safety Guide. ^{(5, 6, 7)}

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Precaution: Sexual Abuse in Psychedelic Therapy

While the interest in psychedelic therapy over the last several years has increased, there is also a risk of sexual abuse within these settings. It is important to recognize the power dynamic that exists between the psychedelic facilitator and the participant. The facilitator is in a position of authority over the participant, while the participant is in a position of vulnerability, both because of the physical and psychological effects of the substance, and also because it can engender feelings of emotional intimacy. For these reasons, the facilitator could take advantage of the participant, placing them in a range of uncomfortable to dangerous scenarios. This is one reason it is important that the facilitator is vetted, as well as accountable to a community.

Navigating a Challenging Psychedelic Experience

At the onset of your experience, you can can ask your facilitator to read Johns Hopkins psychedelic researcher Bill Richards’ “Flight Instructions” (seen below) to you after you ingest the psychedelic:

Substance Quality and Dosage

For dosage: The common wisdom with dosing is to start low and go slow. You can always take more, but you can’t subtract from what you’ve taken. It’s okay to use just a small amount of a substance in the beginning in order to get familiar with how it affects you before moving on to a bigger dose.

Also: Test your substance. While there are many “drug testing” or “drug checking” kits available, some retailers are not reliable. If you are going to test your substance, it is recommended to order the testing kit through a vetted organization, such as the harm reduction nonprofit DanceSafe.In addition to other adulterants, there is a real risk of fentanyl contamination with any substance from the unregulated, underground market. ⁽⁹⁾

Set and Setting

The phrase “set and setting” was coined by Timothy Leary and his colleagues researching psychedelics at Harvard in the 1960s. These two factors are big determinants of how a trip will go. ⁽¹⁰⁾

“Set” refers to one’s internal state, mindset, attitude, knowledge, and even state of the nervous system that they bring into a journey. If you’re stressed and in a rush, that could impact the journey. If calm and at ease, that will improve the likelihood of a more easeful journey.

“Setting” is the physical space that you will be journeying in, including the music that’s playing, the weather outside, present company, and even the time of year or the news cycle. Having a beautiful, comfortable space with minimal distractions present will contribute to your inner experience.

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Setting: Preparing the Space

Make sure the journey space is prepared before you take the psychedelic. You don’t want to have to tend to any last-minute details as it is coming on. Have a playlist ready, make sure your phone is on do-not-disturb/airplane mode, and if necessary, ask your housemates not to disturb you. Set up the space with soft lighting and have blankets on hand. Have water handy. These are just a few tips that will help the journey go smoothly. Maybe have some after-journey snacks prepared in advance.

Have a piece of paper and pen handy in case you feel a need to take notes so as not to forget important realizations. It might be easier to use the voice recorder on your phone.

Set (Mindset)

Some people may look back on their first psychedelic journey as a positive, beautiful experience with few bumps in the road. Others may have a more difficult time. Indeed, no two journeys are alike: whether it’s two people on the same dose; or the same person who takes the same dose on different days.

Before embarking on a psychedelic experience, it’s essential to cultivate a positive and calm mindset. Spend time reflecting on your intentions for the journey, setting clear goals or questions you hope to explore. Engage in practices like meditation, deep breathing, or journaling to center your thoughts and reduce anxiety. Surround yourself with a supportive, trusted environment and ensure you’re mentally and emotionally ready to embrace whatever insights or challenges may arise.

The Importance of Intention-Setting

Developing an intention for your journey is an important part of preparation. Are you using the medicine to work toward healing something specific, like a relationship or a past trauma? Do you just want to see beautiful geometric patterns? Do you want to delve into the mysteries of consciousness? Or, do you simply want to leave it open and see what the medicine brings you?

While it’s important to set intentions, it’s equally important not to have any expectations for how the journey should go. A facilitator will often advise their participants to “surrender” to the experience or “accept” whatever comes up. In some cases, the sensations or thoughts that come up during a journey may connect back to the original intention, although in other scenarios, one may want to explore the connection between the original intention and the psychedelic experience itself during the integration phase after the substance has worn off.

In addition to having a clear intention—best encapsulated by a word or phrase like “clarity” or “I want to feel and be clear about what to do next in my career” (rather than a long list of bullet points that may be hard to recall during the journey)—consider what might come up for you during your journey. Do you have unprocessed trauma? Might you have repressed memories that could surface? An example of an intention might be to focus on “self love” or “self acceptance,” or to practice “letting go” or “being here now” in the present. In other scenarios, a person or couple may choose to journey with the goal of exploring a relationship.

Psychedelics lessen activity in the Default Mode Network (DMN), a constellation of brain regions involved in the development of social functionality, time perception, and separation of the “self” from “other.” Some feel that this is the seat of the ego within the brain. As such, the DMN acts as a valve that shuts out information that doesn’t fit into our self-image, or habitual way of doing things or seeing reality. It may act as an information filter that keeps us from being overwhelmed by too much stimuli. ⁽¹¹⁾

That said, it can also potentially keep us stuck in our patterns. For example, because traumatic, felt-sense memories are stored in the nervous system, the DMN serves to suppress that information and enables us to go about our daily lives without being overwhelmed. Classical psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, and ayahuasca dampen activity in the DMN, which opens up the valve that is usually closed as a filter, enabling old wounds and memories to come to the surface. Processing this psychological (and somatic or embodied) material as it comes up can be useful for healing. ⁽¹¹⁾

Psychedelics may also initiate an experience of “ego dissolution,” in which diminished activity in the DMN results in a “death” of the ego—our fixed patterns and sense of self—enabling us, in that temporary state, to begin to form new neural pathways, while breaking old patterns that don’t serve us anymore. It’s important to note that “ego dissolution” can neither be guaranteed to happen, nor can it be controlled if it does. In some cases, it can be terrifying, or in others, blissful. The most common wisdom is to allow for the experience to happen, rather than to fight it, and to reach out and get support when you need it. ⁽¹¹⁾

Note that in addition to altering the consciousness of the mind, psychedelics also may change how you feel in your body. It is not uncommon during a psychedelic experience to have physical sensations that you never felt or noticed before, such as greater awareness of the heartbeat, butterflies in the stomach, tingling in the hands, and so forth. Oftentimes, a somatic-minded practitioner may suggest that these physical sensations are a sign of feelings or trauma that “live” within the body.

If you have symptoms of major depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it is possible that trauma lies at the root of those symptoms. If you wonder if any event that overwhelmed your nervous system in the past may have had a traumatic effect, you might want to talk to a therapist before taking psychedelics. A good somatic therapist may help you get familiar with how the trauma lives in your body. Getting to know it in advance will be great preparation for working with it while using psychedelics. ⁽¹²⁾

Keep in mind that different psychedelics may affect how you experience trauma if it arises. MDMA (not a classical psychedelic, but rather, an empathogen—a psychoactive compound that induces feelings of empathy and sociability) has been the topic of research carried out by the nonprofit MAPS, looking into its utility in treating trauma.Users of MDMA don’t typically experience ego dissolution as they might on classical psychedelics (such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT and mescaline); rather, MDMA inhibits the amygdala, the fear center of the brain that kicks in when trauma happens. Someone on MDMA can still experience fear, but they are far less likely to be overwhelmed by it, specifically because MDMA also triggers the release of feel-good chemicals in the brain like serotonin and oxytocin. There is some evidence to suggest that this allows the brain to process trauma with greater ease. ⁽¹³⁾

Ask yourself: what might it be like for me to have this old wound, these old memories, this unprocessed trauma show up in my psychedelic journey? What might it be like if I get scared, or feel out of control? What would I need to feel supported? What’s the best thing a support person could offer me?

Having a sitter or a professional guide can be especially useful in these situations. Before you journey, discuss what you’d like from them if things get challenging. Perhaps they could hold your hand, change the music, offer a hug, or remind you of your intention or what you’re trying to heal (assuming that you have also, ahead of time, laid out physical touch boundaries and allowances). However, psychedelics are not a panacea and will not heal all your trauma in one journey; much of the “healing” work comes during the integration phase in the days, weeks, or even months after the psychedelic experience.

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Practical Tips to Avoid a Bad Trip

Preparing for a psychedelic journey is an integral part of minimizing the chances of having a challenging experience. In advance of a journey, you may want to follow this checklist to be sure you’ve done everything within your control to foster the potential for a positive experience:

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How Long Does a Psychedelic Trip Last?

Knowing the approximate duration of a psychedelic experience can arm you with the reassurance (if necessary) that the trip will, indeed, eventually end.

Note that psychedelics are known to sometimes cause time distortion, so you might be surprised that only an hour has passed when it seems like six hours, or vice versa. Know that whatever you’re experiencing in the present moment is likely to change several times during the journey. ⁽¹⁴⁾

One thing to remember when planning your journey is that the way and speed in which the psychedelic will take effect is highly variable, and may depend on your metabolism, height, weight, what you ate that day, and other factors. Other factors that may affect the timing of when the substance will kick in and how long it will last are dose and method of consumption.⁽¹⁵⁾

How Long Do Magic Mushrooms Last?

How Long Does LSD Last?

How Long Does Ketamine Last?

How Long Does MDMA Last?

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I’m Having a Bad Trip, Now What?

Experiencing a challenging psychedelic trip can be overwhelming, but there are effective strategies to help you navigate through it. When things start to feel out of control, it’s crucial to remember that the effects of the substance will eventually wear off, and what you’re feeling is temporary. Grounding yourself, focusing on your breath, and embracing a mindset of trust and acceptance can significantly ease the intensity of the moment. By staying present and making small adjustments to your environment, you can help guide the experience toward a more manageable state.

Tips to Navigate a Challenging Psychedelic Experience

Letting go, releasing expectations, and staying in the moment (rather than worrying about the future or replaying the past) can help quell anxious energy during a journey. You can also call the psychedelic support hotline Fireside at 62-FIRESIDE, or reach out to a trusted friend or your trip sitter.

Taking a psychedelic is like jumping onto a raft on a river you’ve never been on before: You don’t know where it will go, and there might be rapids along the way. This is, essentially, true even if you’ve had experience with a particular compound. Meaning, you might still be surprised and won’t be able to predict the exact nature of the journey.

Once you’ve taken the psychedelic, if you’re at home or in a controlled environment, it’s recommended to sit or lay down, perhaps with an eye mask on, while waiting for the psychedelic to come on. This gives you a chance to relax and to experience the effects as they appear. It can be useful to breathe deeply and simply allow the medicine to take you on a journey.

Soft, soothing music or meditative playlists can be helpful at this stage. Some facilitators recommend non-verbal music, so as not to overly influence a person’s journey with messages from the music.

For those who have never taken a psychedelic, the shift into an altered state can be interesting for some, panic-inducing for others. Conscious, deep breathing is one the best tools for the journey because it can soothe the nervous system and change the course of a trip. You may want to take 5 minutes to learn and practice diaphragmatic breathing before your journey.

Emotional Releases

As mentioned above, one tool for navigating a “bad trip” is working with how you frame it. If a difficult feeling is rising up in your experience, you might get curious and ask yourself: “Is this coming up to be healed?”

As children, we often learned to hide or bury our feelings when no one was there to support us through them. As a result, we may develop what author John Bradshaw calls “shame-bound emotions,” which means we believe that our sadness, anger, loneliness or fear makes us bad. We hid them to help us feel like we could belong. So as big feelings surface during a psychedelic experience, we might think “oh no, no no no, this isn’t supposed to be happening!” ⁽¹⁸⁾

Psychedelics have the potential to help us feel our feelings—even if they’re feelings that are uncomfortable. It’s common to try to stop the flow of feelings. However, that might mean you are fighting something in yourself. See if you can allow, and surrender to whatever the experience wants to show you. Allow the feelings to flow. Trust your body. Your body knows how to release grief: through tears, sobs, and sighs. It knows how to release fear: through trembling and shaking.

Notice if you feel locked up in your body, which may be old protective patterns trying to keep your emotions suppressed. Use conscious breathing to slowly and gently relax the nervous system, allowing your body to feel your feelings or other somatic sensations. Notice how breath can be used to move and regulate the flow of energy.

Sometimes anger or rage will show up. Finding a safe and healthy way to release that anger, such as screaming into a pillow, could be useful.

If a traumatic memory surfaces, it may feel like you are re-experiencing the trauma. This can be very scary, and it may help to connect with the part of yourself that knows that the trauma is not happening right now.

In some cases, talking out the issue or sensations may be helpful, but in other cases, verbal looping may not be productive. As mentioned, other ways to channel feelings include dancing, yoga, meditation, breathing, making art or music, journaling, or simply going outside and putting your hands on the ground or wrapped around a tree.

Be sure that you do not make any major decisions during, or in the immediate aftermath of, a psychedelic experience. While you may, for example, consider quitting your job or breaking up with your partner, wait at least a couple weeks after the experience to take action (unless you are in a dangerous situation).

Navigating Altered Perception of Reality

Psychedelics have the potential to alter your senses, thought processes, and even your sense of self. This can be very disorienting, causing one to question what’s real and what’s an illusion or a construct of the mind. For some, this could induce feelings of paranoia.

It may help to know that while these experiences aren’t necessarily common, they aren’t unheard of. If you get paranoid, take a deep breath, remind yourself that you took a substance.You may want to try wiggling your fingers and toes. Locate your body in space, if you can. Paying attention to your sensory experience (even if that experience is distorted) may help get you out of your head.

If you are worried about being stuck, if you want to, take a look at your stopwatch, and remind yourself that the drug will wear off eventually. If you think it is going on longer than you expected, wait an hour, and see if it has worn off some by then.

You can also engage with worry or paranoid thoughts from a mindful position. Being curious about the experience of worry can be enlightening. Notice how worry changes your consciousness and your nervous system. Observe how getting curious may change your state.

Eventually you will come back to consensus reality, and for now you are on a journey. You can figure out how to make sense of the experience later.

In some cases, a person might feel as if they are experiencing an external entity, which might be described as a “spirit,” “demon,” or “angel.” In this case, from a Western psychological perspective, you may remember that the entity may be a personified aspect of the mind bearing a potential lesson. Some people who have this experience may try to call on an ancestor, spirit animal, or other sort of guide within the spirit realm for help.

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After the Journey: Psychedelic Integration

Psychedelic integration is an integral part of the psychedelic experience. Integration can mean all kinds of things: from making sense of the journey, to acting on its lessons, to continuing the process of healing, and getting support for difficult experiences.

Healing from a Traumatic Trip

The most common challenge people experience after a psychedelic experience is having difficulty regulating strong emotions. You may want to seek out an insightful friend, engage in physical activity like hiking or yoga, or speak to a therapist.⁽¹⁹⁾

If you’ve had a difficulty psychedelic journey that you are seeking to process or make sense of in the integration phase, try:

Other common challenges may include difficulty relating to people, questioning one’s own personal identity, or spiritual beliefs. The same tools mentioned above apply: talk to someone, make art, spend time in nature, eat healthy food, and journal.

If you’re really struggling with existential questions after a challenging psychedelic experience, especially in cases where you are experiencing symptoms of derealization or depersonalization, seek the aid of a therapist. A good therapist may help you stabilize and explore the questions about self, life, reality, or anything else that may be coming up in the aftermath of your journey. It’s often useful to find grounding first, then explore the big questions. Even going to see a comedy show with friends, or simply taking a walk in nature or a hot shower, can help reorient a person to mundane reality, offering a more grounded perspective through which to tackle what may come up in the integration phase. ⁽²⁰⁾

Additional Integration Tips

As mentioned, don’t make any big life changes immediately. While psychedelics can help us see through our personal biases and may aid you in coming to terms with things you’ve kept hidden for yourself, you shouldn’t act with too much haste.

Take time to fully understand what you learned during the experience before making any major life changes. Finally, move slowly with integration. It may take a year or longer to integrate a powerful journey.