Integration: Coming Down from a Trip

Regular readers know that I often have a problem keeping my mood up during a comedown off of hallucinogens. This period of digestion and returning to sobriety is called "integration" and landing can be a little rough for a lot of people. Depression and hopelessness have a tendency to set in, leaving me feeling sad after an otherwise awesome trip. Obviously, this is related to acid's tendency to screw with your serotonin, but I would still rather avoid the unpleasantness so the fun of my trip can continue into my daily life. Here's how I go about it: 

• My favorite method of integration is reading poetry. I find that Ginsberg's style and subject matter complement a comedown especially nicely, but I like Rumi and Whitman as well. If you're not into poetry, you can of course opt for some other form of light reading. I love to read on a comedown because it really brings the words alive and gets you involved in the story.
• If you tripped with others, stay with them and keep having fun until you're fully sober. They will keep you occupied and help you digest your shared experiences.
• Do something you love with the energy and creativity leftover from your trip.
• Smoke a bowl to ease yourself into sobriety.
• Go swimming. There is none of the safety issues of swimming while tripping (I don't trust myself to do it, but then again I'm not a strong swimmer) but all of the sensual delights.
• Have sex. I find my libido to be nonexistent when I'm on LSD, but afterwards it's all I want to do.
• Sit quietly and connect with the trip you just had. Connect with anything interesting or enlightening that grabs your attention.
• Write. Though I write a variety of things, I find that trip reports can be a really interesting way to integrate your acid-mind into your sober thoughts.
• Once you're sober, go to sleep and wake up refreshed.

For more information on integration, NeuroSoup has done a really good series about it. Links are below.

Introduction: The importance of integration

A guided meditation for those who have had a bad trip

Integration through education

Integration through creativity & art

Integration through journal

Integration through volunteering

Meditation for integration & invoking a trip

Conclusion of integration series

Do you have trouble integrating your hallucinogenic experiences into your daily life? How do you go about returning to reality?

BDSM and Psychedelics

This is just going to be a quick PSA.

Someone arrived at Furthur by searching for just that (see the title) and I don't know whether they found what they were looking for, but I am quite into both of those things. However, they are NOT a good mix. BDSM is a risky behavior, and although that isn't inherently a bad thing, one should be taking the precaution of remaining sober while engaging in power-play activity, whether they are the dominant or the submissive.

Stay safe, psychonauts!

LSD vs Psilocybin

What's the difference between the two?This question is often discussed in psychonaut circles, and everyone seems to have a different answer. It's most often asked by newbies who have only tried one or the other and are curious about the other substance. I'll give you my assessment of the differences, but I'd love to hear from other psychonauts about their experiences.

Disclaimer: Dedicated readers will already know that I have only done shrooms twice, and therefore I'm not as much of an expert on that substance as others are. Please fill out my knowledge with your comments. :)

• On LSD, I experienced a heightening of my existing synesthesia (crossing of the senses). Those that don't already have the condition often develop it while on acid. On psilocybin, I did not experience any particular synesthesia, but my sense of taste became really decadent. Eating organic honey while on shrooms made it one of my favorite foods.
• While we're on the topic of taste, LSD totally obliterates my appetite, rendering me unable to eat, whereas psilocybin does not affect my interest in food.
• LSD causes depersonalization. My first trip illustrates this: on my comedown, I remembered I was a human with a past and a personality and it felt very strange integrating these ideas with the "no-one-ness" I had been experiencing for the last few hours. Psilocybin, on the other hand, causes what I like to call "repersonalization," meaning you become convinced of being someone other than yourself. I became an aztec goddess for eight hours, and felt very powerful and sexual. Someone else I know found himself to be a gorilla and stripped off his clothes and ran around town, eventually getting arrested (true story).
• On LSD, my closed-eye visuals mainly consist of blobby but colorful patterns, like a more extreme version of what you get every time you close your eyes. On psilocybin, my eyelids became a jungle of weird (but by no means scary) little centipedes with hundreds of eyes and hundreds of legs.
• LSD trips are longer than psilocybin trips by a couple of hours.
• LSD trips peter off into a sort of "hangover" where I'm very sensitive to motion in the corners of my eyes and I feel a little off-kilter for a day. The effects of shrooms ended promptly after eight-or-so hours, leaving me feeling clean and refreshed.
• LSD tends to create a variety of emotions in me throughout a single trip, including discomfort and anxiety. Psilocybin tends to be an unfailingly positive experience, making me giggly and energetic.
• Psilocybin mushrooms can cause vomiting, but LSD really cannot on its own. This is the sole reason that I have more experience with LSD, because I have a phobia of vomit.

A user on a forum summed it up as "LSD is electric, mushrooms are organic." What do you guys think?

Sex on Acid vs. Sex on Shrooms

This is really a question for you guys, out of my own curiosity.

I personally prefer psilocybin sex. I am not as experienced with shrooms as I'd like to be, but on my strongest trip I was convinced I was an Aztec goddess and that my then-boyfriend was a sun god. It made for some pretty interesting fucking. On acid, my newfound Buddha-consciousness tends to distract me from what is happening around me, and I only periodically remember that I'm getting fucked. Not really worth it.

How about you? Which do you prefer? How are they different?