I know there's a lot of writing about the negative sides of psychedelics, and i do not want to emphasise this but...
I noticed that a lot of people i know are pretty scared of psychedelics in general. It seems that a lot of stereotypes caused by false propaganda are still pretty persistant. One of those fears is the risk of staying in the trip and never coming down...
I think that this of course is possible...but rather rare, and in my opinion mostly caused by totally disrespecting the golden rules: dosage, set and setting.
A fact is too that, even when i had several experiences...this fear is existing in my head, especially when, people remind me of it. Cause i tend to forget about this aspect.
How real is this fear? And are certain substances more likely to cause this permanent 'insanity'?
peace

You always come down. The effect of the drug on the nervous system goes away as soon as the drug disappears, which it always does. The chemicals are not permanently stuck on your receptor sites. So the never come down thingy is just a silly myth. However, and this is not unknown, one can suffer psychological damage in the time afterwards. This is probably where the whole myth came from. But you always come down. There is no one out there that is constantly tripping.

well i did not mean by 'never coming down' that you will trip for the rest of your life, but that you end up very alienated, in such a degree that you are not able to participate in society anymore ...

Alot of people fall for those myths that "you could never come down" in our society..Its really hilarious. Like the widespread 'fact' that a man once took lsd and is now in an insane asylum because he beleives hes a giant glass of orange juice on the verge of being tipped over.

Psychedelics can definitely bring underlying schizophrenic or personality disorders to the surface. But you'll always come down from the actual trip.

Feeling alienated and almost unable participate as a productive member of this society is what any sane person would feel after seeing this backward society with open eyes and it hitting them in the face for the joke it is. That's why integration is so important; especially in figuring out why you feel this way and what you can do about it..oh, and places like the nexus!

Many moons ago i knew a guy who was only 16 at the time, he took one blotter of acid and for the following week he complained of hearing voices in his head. He commited suicide by lying on the train tracks at the local train station i suppose my point is that if you arent ready for a mind bending experience then the outcome can be catastrophic! I just realised im a full member now and can post outside the nursery happy days!

A friend of SWIMs in college psychosis got much worse seemingly much faster after a camping trip with some mushrooms. He was getting worse though it was unavoidable at that point. But I think its possible that a psychedelic drug can be the pushing point to drive some people over the edge. Of course they won't be "tripping" all the time but they will become more psychotic and stay that way. Thats happened and its reasonably documented.

some psychedelics do have lingering effects that are due to chemicals that cycle through the receptors long after the initial experiene..ibogaine is a perfect example of this.

Interesting. I knew ibogaine did this but I wasn't aware of any others. What other psychedelics do this?

I understand UniverseCannon i think my share of this society we live in...most here do i guess. But if you are raising a daughter, certain fears come up you know...it's all about being responsable and i think this is one aspect one must face if one is willing to take the psychedelic way...there are certain risks. But i think it is worth taking them, well prepared that is

I'd say the most real concern is that a condition such as schizophrenia might precipitate but this really has only been observed in high risk people with a family history of mental disorder. PTSD is also another concern, possibly. It is the real cause of the ever so famous "flashback".

2nding what Citta said as it is 100% correct.

Peace & Love,
Pandora

As an interesting aside, what you're talking about here is the diathesis-stress model of mental illness; risk of mental illness is defined by an interplay between biological and social predispositions as well as the persons cogniative schema's (beleifs.)

I had to learn it for PSY912 as part of the degree I'll have earned ~2012. =)

Yay! me too! Thanks mods!

To add my piece to the thread, many moons ago I knew a guy who had a family history of mental health issues and his fair share of personal trauma. He really didn't think there was much of a point to life, and was just kinda doing his own thing. When he came across psychedelics, he didn't know to do his homework first, but after that first amazing time, he was compelled to know more and more.

but hold on, one of the first things he read was that psychedelics could cause severe side effects in those with his emotional profile. so he was somewhat confused, unsure of whether to believe the previously trusted words of science and urban myth that were in conflict with the voice of god pounding a whole in his soul! And wouldn't you know but that this quandary got this guy thinking about a great many other things that he might have been taking for granted! And he's still thinking...

And who knows whether or not he's made the right choice. Any blast could be your last, and there is such things as fates worse than death. But I think the guy came to the conclusion that, after all is done and said, is it on or off, nothing or everything, yes or no, truth or illusion? and how and why, etc. etc. He's probably having the time of his life figuring out whether or not to go for it...

and ladies and gentlemen, that little boy...was me.

Hey, i thought it was funny. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Please don't send me back to the Nursery!

I as well as probably half of the people on the board have dome psychadelice hundreds of times and I think we all could attest to the fact that there is no chance of not comming down. However, lack of understanding and fear of loosing control of ones own mind incites paranoia in the minds of those who are not so educated on the subject.

I have had many trips with others and I can recall only one acid trip out of literally 100's where a guy had a bad trip. DMT however is another story. When I was big on it years ago I would often see some guys who were very very active on the scene when they were extracting and once they report they have had success and are 'going in' they totally disappear. I can only assume that their experience was so powerful that they outright quit and refused to have anything to do with it afterward. This was actually really common back in the old community. Usually one out of 20 went past the first journey. Everytime you seen someone report they had a successful extraction you would think to yourself I wonder if he will be back. Those who stayed tended to stay for some time tho.

I'm intending to stay

I can definitely understand how one would not want to go back...that's a crazy place to go. But I to am here to stay, there's just something more to find out. that one last glimpse, time and time again I crave it.

No matter how deep into hell I've been I'm always super the next day Better than before Well I can get exhausted of acid but shrooms or DMT only makes me feel better afterwards if used properly.

Along with possibly triggering latent mental disease as mentioned before there is a medical condition known as Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD). Although I know little about it specifically I do know that it is associated with use of psychedelics and essentially one experiences the psychedelic effects when none should be present.

It would probably be better for anyone interested to look it up for themselves, I have not researched it at all just read about it, I believe on the nexus somewhere, but i could not refind the thread, perhaps it was somewhere else...

Anyway if someone else knows more about the topic or anyone diagnosed with this disorder that would be interesing as I have never heard of anyone who has been.

I once had a bad anxiety ridden experience with cannabis that would linger around for 6 weeks. I was basically having panic attacks...all the time. So bad, i thought i needed to throw up. So i think it's very possible to stay psychically attached to a negative experience. The same goes (fortunatly) for positive ones.

But i also think the risk is overestimated and part of their propaganda machinery. Before I tried psychs, i always felt it to be a 50/50 Chance of coming back. I know, it's silly but that's why i initially postponed my experimenting to my late 40s or something. Then, one day i said: "nah, just fuck it"...