So, this is something that has bugged me for a while. I know a lot of people who seem to be afraid of people on psychedelics. They say things like: "if you're tripping, I don't want you to come over, or stay away from me."
Otherwise nice people (who are always happy to smoke some cannabis or down some shots) don't want to even be around psychedelic users, at least while they're tripping, let alone try them themselves.

I know a lot of people have a lot of opinions about why the government keeps psychedelics illegal, but that's not what I'm interested in: it's more the personal fears that people have.

Has anyone encountered this before? It makes me sad, and feel kind of like a leper. Entheogens are really important to my spirituality, and this kind of treatment makes me think back to the early Christians or something.

Blessings
~ND

terence mckenna had a good talk on the western culture's fear of insanity in relation to this subject..

i tried to google it but couldn't so hopefully someone will read this and know what i am talking about and link it.

i don't trust myself to paraphrase without utterly butchering his sentiment.

I believe it's a mixture of social conditioning, propaganda, and the general unpredictable nature of these substances. People are afraid of the darker side psychedelics may sometimes manifest, though I'm sure this isn't always the case.
Substances like this have been looked down on by society for ages. "Witches" being burned at the stake for their involvement with Tropanes (datura, deadly nightshade, etc.) is a good example of this. People are unsettled by what they don't understand.

Many people associate psycs with schizophrenia, insanity and unpredictable behaviour they only remember stories about a person on LSD going mad and stabbing people thinking theyre the devil or something.
The stories about the man who went into the woods for a few hours and came back a happier person are neither published or remembered as they have no impact and dont confirm any fears..
People in general are scared of what they dont understand especially if it involves such different mind sets.
Being around drunk people when youre tripping now thats scary!

Perhaps people don"t want others round their house when they are tripping because they are just not in the same headspace and that their actions and words could affect the tripper in a negative way. It is not all truth and light when under the influence of psychedelics and maybe an otherwise sarcastic comment or innocent joke could be misinterpreted, leading to a downward spiral of discomfort and paranoia for both the homeowner and tripping visitor.

If someone doesn"t want to be around drunkards, cokeheads, smackheads, stoners, people on psychedelics or straight edges i think the best thing to do is to respect their point of view. If it is important to your spirituality, with the emphasis on the word your, then i don"t see a problem. Just fly solo or with other like minded people.

I"ve seen quite a few drunk people while tripping over years and yes i have found them a little disturbing at times, aswell as being occasionally very funny.

Is it that trippers can be hard to deal with at times? Trippers can act in ways that make no sense to those that aren’t in the same headspace, they can also be loud and obvious sometimes.

This is obviously not the case all the time with all trippers but it can be and might not be so great for the host if they want a quiet, relaxed night in.

Picture someone with some acid inside them standing at the front door who has forgotten how a doorbell works and finds the plant by the door both amazing and hilariously funny. Eventually the host is alerted to the visitor at the door by loud laughter. The host comes to the door and worries whether any of the neighbours have noticed.

I think maybe that is the kind of thing some will worry about (indeed I have) with some trippers.

Being around people that are tripping I have been shat on, spit, vomit, blood and other bodily fluids sprayed on. Food thrown around or made into a "paint". People rip their clothes off, roll around in potted plants, mud, body paint, jump on cars, laugh at everything, cry, fall down stairs, scream/sing play loud music, stomp, break things and generally revert back into cave people some times. Screaming- I do not want to die, or other strange things over and over can cause neighbors to call 911 if they do not know what is going on. Over hearing some talks of hyperspace and entities is enough to throw you off your reality and flip ones world around. If weed is your only drug this can be very unsettling..even to those who like a few stim's or are ok with others partaking in substances. What is happening on the outside is not what is going on inside for trippers, this is a lesson you really do not get until you have experienced it.

This is not for everyone and really can you blame them?!

The stares from a room of trippers is enough to give some people the creeps for years

<3

Ignorance and propaganda for starters.

I think this is connected with people being scared of unknown which is inherent in our nature. We want stability and predictability, that's why it takes so much time for paradigm transformations. If we already believed in something, it is convenient to keep it that way, no matter how ignorant and actually overally debilitating it might be.

So in the case of ingesting psychedelics, people for example are afraid that they might lose themselves. In other words the comfortable and more or less static image of themselves - which they created throughout their whole lives - might occur false and in consequence
lead to very unpleasant emotions.

The case of being around people already tripping was very well explained by above fellow forum members.

I have experienced all of these things with drunk people, but not with people on psychedelics.

Not that they can't happen while you're tripping, just that maybe I've been fortunate enough to stay away from the people who are reckless with their psychedelic use.

The fear is in something they do not understand and believe to be dangerous. But as my statement above points out, alcohol can be just as dangerous.

One of the most traumatic experiences I can think of with mushrooms was when I wandered into a party and was accosted by a hideously drunk female. The smell of her almost made me vomit, her shirt was torn, her hair was a bird's nest, she was using me for balance to keep from falling, telling me how handsome I was and all the filthy things she wanted to do to me. It was extremely disturbing and still is.

I've never thought much of drunk people. I can't even bring myself to laugh at them. All I feel is intense revulsion and perhaps some pity. So I am a bit biased.

Anyhow, that illustrates the differences between the two mindsets. They don't mix very successfully most of the time. So they're naturally kept separate, for good reason.

But I feel you Nathanial. I've been the leper for quite a while now too.

fear of the unknown, i think most would rather not know and stay in there comfort zone. 2 let go/surrender to the unknown takes courage. besides the propaganda/conditioning.. perhaps its also a kind of defense response of the ego, since psychedelics are its worst enemy

As I had this thread open, I saw this quote elsewhere on the internet incidentally, and couldn't help but find it relevant

pretty much everybody says it here.

>Fear of the unknown and unpredictable mental states that are widely known through media to cause negative situations. To get to these states of consciousness you must possess a illegal substance or do some illegal procedure that can ruin jobs/lives, it must be bad if the consequences of having/doing it are that bad.

>>i personally am not very keen on being around when people are tripping hard unless they want me around, because when im tripping i either want to be alone or with my friends that are right along with my state, or at least a couple of them...being tripping with sober people always makes me 'cling' to their state, effectively derailing mine.

There does seem to be a connection between psychedelics and schizophrenia in the modern world view. how many people have been at a job or in public and have seen a homeless/schizophrenic person and heard someone remark "you can tell he/she has done too much acid in their day."

I've heard it so many times. Never mind that these people may have been meth abusers, or just had mental health issues that were never properly handled. I've even heard it spoken of people who may just be a little different from the norm at the workplace.


I'm sure it all stems from people hearing one of many countless urban legends about how something went horribly wrong when someone ate mushrooms or LSD in their parent's day. Language can really effect one's mindset and the perception of other less knowledgeable individuals when used in this manner.



That being said, I myself am terrified of most psychedelic substances... which is seemingly one of the reasons I'm so drawn to them. Something that can elicit this sort of deep rooted fear must be worth while.

i think the connection between psychedelics and Schizophrenia is a pretty valid one. I mean, the word psychedlic means mind manifest, which is a pretty good description of the symptoms of schizophrenia. I think the misconception lies in the publics view of schizophrenia and mental illness in general. Just because someone is schizophrinic doesnt mean they are violent, it just means their perception of reality is altered in some way. Kind of like a psychedlic state, or how a child might see the world. all the tale tell sign of psychosis can be seen in a psychedlic state; delusions, paranoia, halucinations, disorganized thought process, mania and so forth. Schizophrenics just produce these states naturally, which can keep be hard to intergrate in socities such as the one we function in today. Perhaps someone such as John the Baptist today would be labled mentally disturbed and locked away, but at the time he was considered a spiritually enlightend individual. Even jesus wouldnt have lasted a minute in our modern world, with proclamations such as being the son of god, and then further being god himself. We dont have a place for Shamans in modern socitiey, and perhaps thats why we have invented the turn Schizoprenic.

i guess i killed this thread...

You've revived it for me

I must say I agree with Hug46, plus I don't really get why you would want to take psychedelics among people who are not in the mood or mind state? I actually try to do the opposite most of the time. When planning to take psychedelics I make sure that only people who are willing to join are present and maybe a good friend as a sitter. Someone who knows what I will be experiencing and is not afraid of it. I will even ask my girlfriend to leave the house for that one night.

I blame it all on Reefer Madness

I have had constant encounters with this irrationl fearing & demonising of Entheogens and their use. My mother & my father are terrified of the very idea, allthough through reasoning ( and tripping in front of her) I convinced my mother largely to let go of this fear.
My father still thinks I'm playing russian roulette with my sanity. I guess he's just kind of hung up about his youth idol getting stuck on an acid trip and remaining a basket case the rest of his life(a former bandmember of Pink Floyd of which I can't rmember the name).
I guess that's the only association with LSD & psychedelics my dad has. My dad DOES however smoke Cannabis. He's a peculiar person

Most of my family members from my mom's side don't even know I smoke Cannabis and would be deeply shocked to learn I do. It's quite frankly rediculous as all of them enjoy a good drink every now and then. In fact some of them are bordering alcoholism. Who are they to judge my use of drugs, right? Proposterous. So, just to avoid dumb conversations and having to defend myself against the "arguments" of morons, I avoid mentioning it all together .


Allthough generally I think Timothy Leary is KIND of an assclown that did more harm than good in the Psychedelic community, I must really say that he hit the nail on the head with his famous saying:

"LSD is known to cause Psychotic Reactions in those who have NOT taken it"

He's absolutely right. 9 out of 10 times you bring up Psychedelics in a conversation with people who haven't ever done them, they'll have a very Psychotic, fearfull reaction indeed.

It's all too rare, I find from experience, to bring up Psychedelics to people who aren't familiar with them and get a neutral or positive, curious reaction from them.
This makes me very sad.


Shaneduddy is right: Reefer Madness was an incredibly influential propaganda campaign.
You and I see how rediculous it is now, but mind you: These rediculous and fearfull ideas nestled deeply inside MANY people's minds. Many of these people are our parents and grandparents. Many of them have, through raising their kids, passed on these irrational, rediculous fears. Reefer Madness demonised Cannabis, but there were many more campaigns demonising LSD, Peyote and other Psychedelics. Don't underestime the power of a series of stupid, poorly argumented movies demonising psychedelic drug-use. It is the seed of the irrational fear of Psychedelics we still encounter in people today. It's a persistant ideological cancer and it'll take alot of counter-propaganda to get it out.

I believe that they are afraid of their own unconscious. They do not trust themselves.

Psychedelics flip one's unconscious and conscious minds inside out, if one does not trust themselves, or is hiding too much, then one is too afraid to try it.

I am in constant touch with my unconscious, I trust myself, so I do not fear psychedelics at all.