Great advice given in here. Have you tried increasing your exercise or changing your nutrition habits? Both can help stabilize or improve mood and attention/awareness. As universecannon said, drinking water is great too.

With psychedelics (especially intense experiences, like DMT) a period of active integration has definitely been required in my experience. While you can't undo an experience, you can integrate the experience, the feelings and the lingering uncertainties you have as a result. Passive integration works to an extent, but I find myself returning to "baseline" at a much better rate while actively addressing any issues that have come up from my psychedelic use.

Exercise, arts, other hobbies are all great for getting back into the physical groove of things. Exercise is great for remember your physical body because it will ache all over Develop a routine that gives you a foothold in day-to-day life, or try getting out of your normal space (ex: into nature if you are usually inside) more if possible. As universecannon said, drink water.

Have you thought about seeing another professional now that you are 18 and would not be sent to a under-18 specialist? Going in armed with some terms mentioned above (if they relate to your situation) may help steer the conversation towards your specific case if the professional isn't understanding it.

Are you comfortable elaborating on the forums about feeling "like just a mind"? Is there something specific you feel needs to be done when you are not busy with a task? If you are not comfortable sharing, perhaps speaking with a friend and letting them know you need someone to vent to? Even sitting down to write with yourself may help you isolate something more specific that is unsettling you. Reflecting over what you wrote can also help to better understand and develop/isolate the issue so you can communicate how it is affecting you to a professional, friend, or here. Personally I've found writing (chipping away at whatever it may be on my mind) very helpful with integration. The Nexus is a great place for exactly that type of discussion.

Exercise, dance, draw/paint, write, sing, work on a team project of some sort (volunteer locally). It really comes down to how you operate in life and making adjustments that seem wise from where you stand in your routine.

In that case, I'm very sorry for giving misinformed advice. I guess I don't fully understand the extent of the suffering that you are enduring.

If you don't mind, could you please elaborate on what you mean by "freaking out"? Could you also tell me a little more about yourself, particularly 1) what sports you have played in the past, 2) what outdoor activities (camping, rock climbing, etc) you enjoy, and 3) what physical injuries you have sustained?


I can't agree more. Keeping a journal may help you get to the root of what is troubling you. It will also help you to see how you evolve as a person over time.

By freaking out, I mean my heart races like crazy, I start to feel like I'm really stoned and my throat feels tight and I can't breathe properly, also I did Muay Thai for two and a half years until I broke my finger, and I can't really say I enjoy outdoor activities that much, the only thing I do outdoors is just hang out with my mates.



Pretty much like I'm trapped inside myself, like I'm concentrating on my vision and I can't go any further than what I can see, it's really hard to explain! Also I went out today and bought these two like embracethevoid said and I'm gonna buy a cooking book tomorrow and get my mum to buy alot of ingredients in the shopping.

http://www.lifestream.co...Wheat-Grass/default.aspx
&
http://www.lifestream.co...mate-Greens/default.aspx

pay more attention to your hearing and breath at all times , be in the moment , it can help immensly , if you're not listening to music all day , its about time to start ,

also there is nothing like physical excercise

I know exactly what you mean. There have been times on LSD I feel as though the external world in front of me is a 2D projection. At such times, I felt like a point of consciousness focused on a multi-sensual movie screen. One recurrent theme that I get from smoked DMT is physical reality being some sort of illusion. I think that is pretty common. After all, our memory before such psychedelic experiences is a continuous stream of conscious experiences. It's a life-story that our brain constantly reminds us of. Each frame in the memory stream follows logically from previous frames, and thus the whole of our memory makes sense. But splice in a few frames of sitting in a room with aliens and suddenly the continuity and consistency of our memory falls apart. Suddenly, none of it makes sense. I'd say that all psychonauts experience a drastic change in worldview resulting from psychedelics, and that's simply because we have to construct a new worldview that coincides with these strange new additions to our memory.

Time heals all wounds, chef. Clearly you are still in shock from this DMT experience and are still struggling to integrate it. If you're doing all that you can to make progress as a person, then the only thing more that is needed is time. If smoking MJ makes you freak out, then obviously you shouldn't smoke it. If you do choose to use psychedelics, you should start by just dipping your toes in: Experiment with very small doses of oral long-acting psychedelics (by long-acting, I mean psychedelics that come up slowly and last a long time). Otherwise, meditate: Be mindful and aware of your mental state. Try to relax and reduce stress on a daily basis. Psychoanalyze yourself. Get inside your own head and figure out what is going on.

What you're going through is like the pain of a long-distance run or of getting a tattoo: It is a suffering, perhaps even a rite of passage, that we push through so that we can learn more about ourselves and grow. It is a self-injury that we risk inflicting because scars on our body and mind correspond to virtues in our character.

If all else fails, and if your anxiety is impinging heavily on other areas of your life, you should really try to get a prescription for some anti-anxiety meds. I know that medication doesn't sound like the "natural" route to take, but I am of the belief that humans are naturally chemically deficient at times. Sometimes drugs are needed to reach a state of wellness. Furthermore, if you're interested in dipping your toes back in the water, anti-anxiety meds can help with that too.

I had a difficult experience with cannabis many years ago with symptoms of not quite interfacing with my senses correctly lasting a few years. The symptoms went away when I started taking Tai-Chi classes and never returned.

Since one of the purposes of Tai-Chi is to center yourself and restore your Chi balance, I would highly recommend it. Try a local Jr. College, YMCA, or googling to see if you can find a Tai-Chi class in your local area.

I was very amazed at how well it can integrate your mind and body connection. One neat trick of Tai-Chi is that when you slowly practice the forms you time it to your breathing, which is a rare function that is both voluntary and autonomic. In a panic situation, speed automatically comes because the motions are tied to your breathing, which is one reason it is actually effective self defense.

I haven't tried Yoga, but I hear that it is also excellent for physical and mental grounding.

My suggestion is to continue with the natural remedies suggested in this thread, but to also seek the help of a professional. What you're experiencing sounds like it could be derealization for example. Seeing a psychiatrist might be the answer.

Not all remedies have to be natural, if that were the case, no one in this thread would use DMT So don't be afraid of the stigma surrounding anti-anxiety meds.

I'm just gonna try eating healthy for a bit and starting up Muay Thai again

I'll echo what others have said: Yoga and Tai chi. They will help you a lot more than Muay Thai, trust me, I have experience with all three. Muay Thai is much more fast paced and violent which is probably not what you want to be doing at the moment.

Slow down, learn to overcome the anxiety you feel when you're still and quiet. Then you'll be able to meditate effectively and you can deal with these feelings of derealization/depersonalization.

Honestly, give Yoga and Tai Chi a try. I almost guarantee it will help.

you can get more than a sufficient oral dose from a tea of the right root bark or leaves.

you can basify that water and the DMT will precipitate out.
does that DMT suddenly become unnatural when you change the ph of water?
is alkalinity unnatural?
is tea?
i would say DMT is very natural.

you are a part of nature and it occurs in you.
these plants are a part of nature and it occurs in them.

almost all synthetic drugs are biomimetic, and ironically enough you can typically find just as potent (if not more so) chemicals out in nature (as they are literally "miming" biology).

of course just because something is natural doesn't always necessarily mean it is better for you (hemlock is natural, as is arsenic, there are many natural toxins that are fatal or damaging). but medicines do tend to have significantly less (if any) side effects in their most natural form (even extracted decarboxylated cannibinoids have unpleasant side-effects compared to raw, carboxylated cannibinoids - just like a coca leaf is incredibly healthy for you).


also it is not bad to, at the very least, research heavily any medication you are recommended. sometimes we can be tinkering with brain chemistry that we don't fully understand.

many times in western medicine we seek to isolate a single function from its surrounding environment and focus only on that function, and less on how that function interacts with its surrounding functions/environment.

these things may or may not be safe, it really depends on the person and the molecule, so i don't feel its risk reduction to just encourage blind consumption of brain chemicals (call me a crazy hippie, it just doesn't seem right to me).


judo/jiu-jitsu are also fun to learn and a valuable asset to any martial artist.
aikido as well, to a lesser extent (it has lessons to offer, and is a bit more fun, it's just not as directly pragmatic)

yoga, tai chi - and I'd like to add chi gong - are very good ideas IMO.

changing your diet as well. just "eating healthy" might not entirely cut it, you might have to follow a more radical regimen for a while at least, until you notice a change. IME this change takes about three months to fully enfold, so be patient and follow whatever diet/regimen you choose at least for that long. Make sure that your new diet provides you with everything you need, and that it's tasty. Some people suggest that the disbalance of acids and bases within our bodies causes lots of harm and illnesses and they say supplying your body with natural calcium and magnesium, such as found in dolomite is extremely healthy. Others suggest that eating more whole foods rather than processed (whole wheat rather than white refined wheat, organic fruits with the peals, etc.) can be very beneficial because of all the secondary substances we don't understand well and how they interact with each other.

You might want to see a physician and have your blood checked for deficiencies. Perhaps you are missing vitamine B12 or some other vital vitamin which can lead to very unexpected results.

hope you figure it out.

I've been struggling with these kinds of issues and some of the helpful things, for me, have been listening to Mooji satsangs and this website regarding kundalini (and spiritual emergency): http://www.kundaliniawak...feties.html#.UTUCTVcVRDs

Do not do the types of yoga that excite the kundalini energy. What you want to do at this point is to keep the energy in check as much as possible.

I know both of these things that you describe. Don't worry, you're not the only one going through this stuff. Other people have gone through it as well. Me included. Still going through it to a degree.

The heart starts to race and you feel like the whole world is going to vanish forever. You start to be scared of the immensely overwhelming unknown that comes on etc. You fear of going insane forever etc. Nothing else exists except for the thing that is seen and felt in the moment and it's not seen by "you the person". There might be bangs in the walls and the lights might start flickering, your eyes might radiate cold "electricity". There's a feeling of voidness and alienness. And it's totally familiar to me, lol (not pleasant by any means though). But at some point you'll just say "fuck it" and let it do what it threatens to do.

When I said "fuck it, let's see what happens" nothing happened. The state lasted for 5 mins or so and I truly was waiting for the death of the world, my world, my reality but it gradually just subsided and these kinds of panic attacs (or whatever they are) haven't occured since. The last one was a couple of months ago.

The more there is resistance the worse it feels. And I know one cannot consciously decide not to resist. But the allowance will come at some point, when you're fed up being scared.

edit:

Here's a video that might offer some help as well. "How Your Brain Can Turn Anxiety into Calmness": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYJdekjiAog

I agree.
It is good exercise for mind body and spirit and can be an excellent martial art!
Push Hands is also great fun!

Chef you are getting a lot of good advice here but I'll chime in anyway at the risk of sounding preachy on only my second post ever:
- Eat healthy. I'm a big fan of the paleo diet, but the main thing is to avoid sugar, oils and processed food. Try learning how to cook if that interests you.
- Exercise. Whatever you enjoy. You like running, run. You like playing soccer, do that. Try lifting weights twice a week - going to a gym can intensify paranoia though. Do pushups every other day. Whatever feels right.
- Get outside as much as possible and go for really long walks. Probably the most important now that I think about it.
- Meditate. I know you said you can't, but the way you become able to is by trying a lot. Set a goal of meditating, sitting upright in a chair and counting your breath 1 to 4, for five minutes a day. You will be distracted almost the entire time, and that can be very discouraging, but after a month you will start increasing the time. I guarantee it. A regular meditation habit is the most healthy thing a young intense fellow like yourself can do.
- Drugs. My personal recommendation would be very low doses of psilocybin mushrooms and no weed, but then I'm a tryptamine man and weed makes me really paranoid. It's difficult to say no to weed if you grew up in a weed culture, as I did and as you probably did, but the bottom line is that there are times when it's not a good idea to smoke, and you are in one of those times now.

Good luck dude and let us know how you're doing alright?

Do you think I could cope with mushies? I've never tried them before but I want to keep tripping!

I would do very low doses, like under one gram, at first, outdoors or with good music. You have a long life ahead of you and there's no reason to go blowing your mind again right at this moment.

Your situation puts me in mind of two things. One, kabbalah, something I have absolutely no interest in, but one thing that really amuses the Orthodox Jews who practice it traditionally is the idea of 25-year-olds learning it. In its traditional form, kabbalah is only practiced by men over 40 who have stable careers and established families. It is intensely destabilizing so only the super-stable are permitted to get involved. Obviously that is extreme, and as a culture those guys are obsessed with stability, but a small dose of that kind of caution makes me think that you can wait a year or two before your next 3.5 gram trip. Two, Aldous Huxley, the godfather, or one of them, of Western psychedelic use, recommended that psychedelics be given to people who had already established themselves in a particular field - writers and scientists. I think he would have been horrified by the idea of teenagers doing heroic doses of acid. Even Terence McKenna had a freakout that was so bad that he never did mushrooms again.

So my strong advice is, if you can get mushrooms, do a little bit. If you do a gram and go for a hike or play guitar or whatever you'll get high and have a great time. At that level mushrooms are way less paranoia-inducing than weed. Also you might want to look into James Fadiman's ideas about microdosing - many people get great benefits from even smaller subperceptual doses. Here's a good explanation of the basic idea:
http://dish.andrewsulliv...m/2012/07/28/tiny-trips/
And here's a longer article by Fadiman himself about the levels of psychedelic experience:
http://noetic.org/noetic...of-psychedelic-research/

Let me know what you think.

AH

don't just rush to the LAST thing on his list first. - I'd try everything else on his list first

(edited sightly for brevity and content)

Maybe do those things and all the good advice already given to you previously for a few years first. Don't rush your ideas about your "...want to keep tripping!"

What you have kind of sounds like a small case of Depersonalization and Derealization disorder. If that is the case then I would recommend you see a psychiatrist to give you some medication and stop all psychedelics for at least a good long while. Some people that take psychedelics are prone to mental disorders, and you might be one of them. And sometimes I would imagine that symptoms may not manifest for a while in a psychonauts life. Then if you ever go back to psychedelics start with something more grounding like MDMA to keep you in this reality.

I don't know how much you have done DMT or how much you have tried other entheogens, but you may need to balance out your spirit and physical body with some MDMA which is more grounding. Or a psychedelic that keeps you grounded in the here and now. Perhaps you should just stop taking all psychedelics and get on medication that is my best suggestion.

I am sorry to hear your story. I can understand you feel worried and really down and confused.

It seems, as been said before, that you have some sort of derealisation or depersonalisation experiences. Or at least uncontrollable anxiety. It seems almost like you got some sort of emotional trauma. It could be that you were unprepared and that this is the cause of some sort of emotional shock you got because of the sudden trip. It can be quit scary. If you are in a difficult situation in your familily/friends/school drugs can be the trigger for psychological problems.

Secondly it could be that the dmt modified something in your psychological constitution that results in this experiences. But in my opinion this is not that plausible.

It is important to answer the following questions:
- Did the experiences scare you?
- were you unprepared. no knowledge of what dmt was?
- Were/are you in a difficult family situation? (Divorced parents etc)
- Were/are you in some sort of other difficult situation that could be emotionally heavy?

If you have difficult times in your personal life this can have a destabilizing effect. You can feel like you are feeling right now. Taking drugs like mj or dmt can then trigger a state of confusion. I personally have experience with this as well. And I think I recognize what you are saying. If it is what I am thinking then I know you can heal. You will get better.

To get better it is important to come to your center again. That means to get in balance. To get 'control' over your emotions. To get back your feeling happiness. To get better I can only repeat what the others are saying:

- meditation: this is a wonderful remedy !!
- never forget to breath. Forgetting to breath can cause panic attacks and dizzyness.
- try to understand why things are influencing you emotionally.
- Learn to love yourself. Acceptance of who you are. This is most of the times a way to feeling better.
- avoid smoking cigarettes if you can.
- don't smoke marihuana
- only take psychedelics when you know you are strong enough to handle it. So maybe it is better to wait a couple of years.
- good food
- good sleep
- go sporting


Have patience. Avoid things that sucks energy from you. Embrace situations and people that give energy. And slowly you will get back your strength. And when you look back you will notice that you probably are stronger then you were before!

If you want to talk more about this in private you can also PM me.