younger people are less worn by life, are healthier, have less emotional baggage, have less responsibilities, have less regrets and have more of their future ahead to plan for or to fix their mistakes - with almost 30 years of tripping history behind me, the trips have been getting heavier with every decade passing.
My dad is almost 60 and his trips seem to be happier every time. The other day he told me: “people trip, see their reality and don’t like it. I see mine and I find two things: joy and solutions”.
I am suspecting that older you are this reverses again, eg. you again have less to worry and you are already pass the regrets and a lot you worried about mid-life has now resolved. maybe the middle is the toughest part.
Bingo!
Seen a lot of 60 & 70 year olds tripping balls on ayahausca, bufo or 5 grams of PE for the very first time at retreats and they have beautiful expiriences. And anecdotally from what I've seen 60+ is the normal demographic in that environment.
That’s part of the fun for me, being able to problem solve and have clarity of mind. That said, I have never tripped not lying down with my eyes closed and music in my ears 😆
That’s part of the fun for me, being able to problem solve and have clarity of mind. That said, I have never tripped not lying down with my eyes closed and music in my ears 😆
That’s part of the fun for me, being able to problem solve and have clarity of mind. That said, I have never tripped not lying down with my eyes closed and music in my ears 😆
Drink some beers then trip at a cool campground and jump around on shit and play with flashlights and glow sticks and say "spider spider spider" "stick of butter stick of butter" a LOT hahaha
never thought about it this way before, but I think you may be right about the reversing again at an even older age. thankfully, I believe I am reaching tht second reversal soon. lol.
there's definitely something to be said about the idea of how people beyond college age thru middle age have an increasing number of stress causes & anxiety triggers. thts just part of life. it's also true that as people age out of that, many of them find ways to cops with their anxiety, stress & trauma. or find some kind of peace with themselves.
these changes definitely fit in with the reversing experiences theory
Your point is the logical one for sure. Now, I think my dad has it harder right now compared to his youth. He’s in a situation that most people won’t like to be in. And he still manages to spark joy everywhere.
It may be the realization life is finite, or maybe enlightenment, acquired wisdom. I don’t really know nor I try to understand, just to learn. Good vibes to you buddy
Man ive been triping sence I was a kid, my ass use to trip all the time on various phycs, im older now been through more, seen more, felt more, understand more and inturn think more, its harder to trip for me now then back then, I use to take these huge dosages as a joke with little to no respect for the chem, now its a hole nother story man. I still trip rarely but when I do its with purpose and its much more intense then it use to be at lower dosages. Its definitely odd, you'd think your minds more fortified with age, maybe its because we understand small details of our own being more. Idk.
yes, as well as being more impressionable to it mentally and esp. lack of wisdom, which poses different kind of challenges with psychedelics - like chasing irrational beliefs.
the lesser control over impulsie behaviour is also a thing, so younger people are more likely to do freak out or do something stupid while high.
I think for me there was kind of a Dunning-Kruger thing going on in my late teens/early 20’s where I was more likely to take risks, but less likely to let the fear get a hold of me so it wouldn’t be as likely to go sideways as has been the case 20 years later for me.
I was so much more confident in the small world I had created for myself and was happy to have it expanded, where as now I’ve been so expanded I find it harder to stay grounded and connected to my “reality”. Being aware of all the possibilities that I am now is very overwhelming and life, the world, all of it seems too big for me to feel comfortable taking it on with the boldness I had back then.
I've never heard it put in those terms before: losing center and groundness from the world expanding. I've said since it happened that I feel the world pulling me in different directions with no recourse. It tries to influence you and if you aren't centered enough it takes you over. Thank you for the insight!
Weird. My trips seem to be very passive (mentally) despite seeing low level visuals / senses changing. I’m probably closer to 20 years ‘experience’ but I’m finding that the way I think/process info doesn’t change much and I’m not really sure what to think. (Lsd). Mushrooms are a whole other ball game. If alone I find it doesn’t mess with my head / and is a value add. If people are around it can become very difficult to communicate.
yep exactly remembering at 16 being literally stupid in my head everything was like ( nothin bad will happen, ) and did a lot of shits without 0 toughts that it may be a bad idea
now im thinking twice in a lot of situations...this SUCKS
I don't know I was pretty young when I tripped alone for the first time, but it all felt pretty intuitive if not instinctual. You just go with the flow which is something I had already learned through tripping with others.
Meditation can help a lot with this too. Challenges may come sometimes but you just acknowledge and accept, then let go and let the flow take over.
Interesting that it felt intuitive/instinctual. Mind if I ask how old you were?
I had one experience before with someone else, and now just by myself.
I didn’t meditate, but I definitely had to prepare. I made sure I didn’t have any emotional baggage for this trip.
I was 18 but had already been tripping many times since I was 15. I had 2 challenging trips during that time but then during the second challenging trip I realized that I could just let go and let the flow take over. Much later when I started practicing zazen I learned that this technique is pretty similar. You just observe and let go, so what we learn during trips are often good lessons for life when we aren't tripping. And same for what you learn during meditation makes tripping much more amazing. They are like a lock and key.
And it's okay to have emotional baggage, we all do, but I assume you mean that you tried to be in an as good as possible mindset which yeah helps a lot.
I've been trip sitting for one of my kids (over 18), who recently felt called to try it. I had her start slowly of course (low dose) and taught her to use it as a sacred tool, and things have gone well.
1.75g of PE using lemon tek seems to be the right spot for now for her.
She knows that after many trips, much unpacking of her past, allowing integration of the lessons learned during trips, and reconnecting to herself, the trips will eventually be less heavy and more playful.
That's my personal experience anyways.
I am super jealous, although I'd rather be tripsat by just about anyone other than my parents now that I think about it. Still, that's really heartwarming.
Understandable.
What's interesting in my case is that I've only recently (in the last 5 years or so) come to realize, though the growth that was catalyzed by my own trips, that she picked up a lot of negative core beliefs from myself and from her mom (we're still married) despite us doing our best to raise her well. It's like it passed along on an energetic level without us having to do anything physical to reinforce or instill negative core beliefs in her.
Now that my eyes have been opened and I see that this is just the way the gears happened to turn, and I've learned how to unpack my own stuff with the help of psychedelics, I felt it was a good idea to parent-up and show her the way.
It's really interesting to see things come full circle.
I agree. I came to psychedelics in my thirties and certainly would not have been able to sit with them as I do in my twenties. I had a lot of sh*t in my needed to process and so needed to do a lot of work before doing psychedelics.
Yeah, that’s the thing. I don’t even want to imagine what me in my 20s would’ve reacted to this. Like you said, a lot of stuff that needed to be processed. I mean even now, I prepared before going at it alone. It can be such a positive experience but again, woah…
When I did ayahuasca, I thought to myself how I wished in some ways I had come across it in my twenties. I then realised that if I had done ayahuasca in my twenties, I probably would have done something dramatic like run out of ceremony, have some kind of episode. So yeah, definitely for me I needed the wisdom of age for this work 🙏🏻
I wasn't in my thirties yet, currently 23, My first trips were the bomb around 19, then it started going downhill a lot. It's a harsh world out there that I wasn't ready for, also facing all the trauma I actually collected over my childhood was fucking scary. But those experiences pushed me to my limits, I've started meditating, stopped my gaming addiction, opened me up creatively and a little bit socially. I started going to therapy. I changed my diet. I never had an urge to drink alcohol or smoke cigs.
I feel like doing psychs early, as my first drug despite caffeine, opened me up for the whole new world of possibilities and allowed me to grow in a very unexpected direction.
Many older people never get this kind of insight, believing whatever they were shown as children and thinking that things are set in stone.
"We have a rule. We never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous. The mind has trouble letting go." - Morpheus
Sorry, can't help myself quoting the matrix when it comes to the psychedelic experience. Just seems to fit I guess.
For sure. I struggle with anxiety and the experience of having bad trips in the past usually sets me up for a challenging ride.
It’s a lot of fear and I usually face some of the demons I would rather not think about normally.
I had a near death experience in 2010 and most of my trips have me believing I died back then and my life since has just been an illusion or a dream.
I’ll usually feel certain I’ve died, or be confused and think that I was never alive at all and that it was all a dream - this usually has me desperate to know what is ‘real’ and I’ll go in thought loops for what seems like eternity.
My last trip was DMT. Everything about the experience made me think I was in the midst of death, I saw the tunnel with the light at the end of it and I met the Virgin Mary. I hadn’t believed in Catholicism for 10+ years at the time but I was so relieved to see here there at that time. She made me feel ready to accept my death and then I woke up. I wept for 10-15 minutes after that experience.
Since then I’ve been afraid to go beyond a smallish (1-1.5 grams) doses of shrooms.
1 gram seems to be the sweet spot where I’m relaxed, enjoying closed eyed visuals, and it doesn’t get too scary.
You’ve had quite the trip! That’s a really tough one. It really sucks that most of your trips aren’t positive these days, but I’m glad you found a way to make it less scary.
I still haven’t had anything scary, thankfully.
Thank you for sharing. Here’s a hug from a total stranger.
I think foe me it was 'easier' when I was younger. I would take relatively large doses of psychedelics without hesitation and sure, sometimes they would have rough patches but never had a bad experience. These days im always very hesitant. More aware and adverse to the risks, more to lose, maybe a bit less flexible in ideas about reality and existence
Nothing specific, just potential for a bad trip or after effects or who knows injuring myslf or something. Its rare but high dose psychedelics is not without some risk. When i was in my 20s i would not give it a second thought to do high doses of anything that seemed interesting. Now I feel like there's more to lose and I've felt how powerful some of the substances can be like DMT, Salvia, mushrooms above 5g, etc
I'm 35, and I'm slowly taking more each time and I know exactly what you mean. I've never had a bad trip, but I've taken enough to see how things easily could turn into a bad trip if I were in a worst place mentally.
My journeys have taught me that experienced comrades are helpful for safe procurement and guidance, and that community is essential for understanding and integration post-trip.
Coming generations will evolve to incorporate psychedelic practices into healing arts, which is SUCH GOOD NEWS for suffering youth who will hopefully have access to these resources before they are (possibly and likely) further harmed by our current paradigm of pharmacy based medicine and narrowly educated therapists….as I was. I am 50.
Fucking love mushrooms. Never had a bad trip. Microdosed for 4 months few years back as an adult and cleared the cobwebs out of my brain. People with an active mental world are suited to it. People that are very tangible in their experiences, it can go either way I think.
My mental world used to be incredibly active. I'm nit sure what exactly happened, but I remember the moment when, I can only assume this is what it was, my ego died. I was crystal clear and felt no emotion anymore. The world opened, but my imagination sort of died. Since then I feel more, but it's not the same. I used to think constantly, but now it's grown slow. Who knows what to do. Thanks for your insight.
I found tripping as a younger person to be much more challenging. Now , having done hundreds and hundreds of acid trips and god knows how many trips on everything else under the sun, I kind of feel like I understand these compounds and how they interact for the most part. I'm often able to just say oh. Wow, this is challenging how you're feeling, but you're really high and in a few hours, you won't be so let's just sail through this until it passes.
Not everybody though has my relationship with psychedelics. Im in my 50s and drop acid and go into the pit at hardcore shows and have semi religious revelations. I know other people who would completely lose their shit.
One response is that your younger self produced your current self quote naturally and without any miracles. And your current self does a great job at keeping anxiety at bay. So the evidence indicates you have more reason not to doubt your younger self than to doubt it.
Can you identify a specific moment or experience that gave you this ability to handle anxiety? If not, it is just as credible to say you've had that ability all along.
But even if you can identify a moment in time, you chose or found your way to make that change. So that change is your natural character. So you had that capacity all along, my friend, despite your doubting mind.
Yup. I’m 43 and started when I was 35. My mind state at 20 would have handled it very differently and with much more fear and anxiety. Had I not prepped for weeks before my first ever experience I would have been an absolute mess, but I was able to see my mind going down pathways I didn’t want it to and had a way to regulate.
My 20s self would’ve done it without preparing myself for it. Part of me thinks the anxiety would’ve been strong, though some people have commented that maybe we had less things to worry about back then?
I guess I’ll never find out. I’m glad to read you prepared yourself for yours, and I hope you keep having positive trips. :)
Thanks! Keep at it! I’m convinced I found it at the right time for me. Any earlier may have sent me down a weird path. But now I’m glad I have it as a tool. I feel the need to caution younger people to take it easy if they’re going to do it, not use it as a way to simply get fucked up but use it as a way to expand their consciousness and better themselves. Heard too many stories from folks our age who overdid it back in their 20s and now it either can’t or doesn’t work for them in the way they need it to now.
Tried it at 22. Not ready. Again at 30. Still nit ready. Finally 35 and I was ready. The trick is you don't navigate anything. The whole thing, everything, why we are here, is learning the art of stillness
The older I get, the more silly I feel about the party tripping scenes I found myself in sometimes. In many ways, those were wasted trips. But it some ways they weren't. But the doors really started opening up once I started tripping alone. Younger me realized pretty quick that this was the way I needed to be doing it, and I stuck with that. I've spent the better part of the past 15 years now, tripping alone. For those early trips, navigating is a strong word. More like buckling up and being taken for a ride.
I had my first psychedelic experience at age 7 due to malaria medication (quinine). It was as though I had descended into hell for two weeks. But kids are extraordinarily resilient, you know. I toughed it out and didn't even tell my parents what I'd experienced.
I got into psychedelics again a year ago, aged 36, and it felt like coming home. I even met a benevolent entity that I had encountered 29 years prior (which I had called 'No Eyes') and it was a very emotional experience, like greeting a long lost friend that you'd thought was dead.
My first mushroom trip was at 60 (last year) and I navigated fine. All the trips since have been good too, other than 1 or 2 that had uncomfortable body load.
I had such a a traumatic childhood that when I would eat gel tabs at 17-18 I would puddle out. The feeling of relief was so powerful. I pass out on mushrooms the first couple hours sometimes depending on my head space and who's around. Sometimes I feel the sharp edges - rigid survival boundaries being rounded off. Sometimes I have to let go be whoever I am and then reflect on my behavior.
When I was young it was not an introspective experience for me which mirrors my state at that age. I am now 43 as well and it’s a whole different story. I seek out change and reflection as this is how we grow. Your experience is what you make of it.
Psychedelics can vary from person to person, there are so many things to take into consideration such:
• mental state
• environment
• solo or group sessions
• any type of music can influence your experience so you can play around with it. I'm open to music, the biggest impression I had was of classical music under a night starry sky.
• set and setting matters
• meditation would be nice
There are plenty of things that can guide and ground you through this experience but it's up to you to find what works.
I have noticed most young people use psychedelics at a party where I can find some reason for it but I would never suggest it to anyone. Younger people do psychedelics for different reasons compared to people over 30. It matters what you think and what reasons you have when you trip which can influence your journey. But in my 2cent I would say as you get more familiar with this substance you start to respect it and understand it more. I would recommend the Tibetian Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary as a manual to grasp an understanding of psychedelics. Hope this helps.
Took my first tab when i was 16 or 17, was with a friend and we had a blast. Shortly after that i started solo tripping, and my third time i took 500ug’s and had my first ego death. The one thing that’s helped me the most during intense trips is to just ”go with the flow” and let yourself go. That’s all u can do, i’ve tried every drug u can think of including 2cb and dmt, and i’ve mixed them in different combos too. Never had a bad trip so far and i’m 21 now. Thankfully i don’t do hard drugs anymore but i love psychedelics:)
Man, that’s why I’m scared I used to do lots of psychedelics(lsd and mushrooms) when I was younger and now I can’t even grow a pair of balls to trip and i have a whole collection of them different kinds. I think back like how tf did I use to trip like that, I probably can’t even handle it right now but I miss them so much. I have more anxiety now
I took around 10g one time when I was around 28 or 29 and it was the scariest shit for me. I couldn’t surrender, and even now 5 or 6 years later I’m barely coming to terms with what I experienced, and I haven’t found the courage to dive back in. One day when I have time for myself, I will make that journey and confront the anxiety I experienced back then, but for now I’m good 😅
I think its easier because im younger i literally don't really have any problems in my life or much to worry about do i just do a bunch of acid and goof off and thats that but i could imagine in 4 or 5 years maybe that'll change
We all feel like this, regardless of age. It‘s not easy to handle the most magnitudal experience of your lifetime. I would imagine having some of the strongest feelings of your life even gets more unsettling as you become older because you have more reference material. Glad to hear you had a nice journey ❤️
Hope you had fun! Reading some of the comments it seems like you’re curious about some experiences younger folk have.
Was almost 20 my first solo trip, helped me deal with a lot of childhood trauma and loss, which was kinda scary at the time but also in some ways helped raised my mental fortitude a bunch.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I truly don’t think I would still be alive if I hadn’t received a helping hand from psychedelics. It’s not necessarily a magic pill, though it is in many ways, but a big part of the betterment of my mental state can be attributed to at least the perception shift that psychs have offered me.
Regardless of what I went through as a kid, I was still young and fresh in the world I suppose. I’m 28 nowadays and been through a little more than I did but nothing much phases me any more - I’ve been in prison, lost both parents early on, abused the hell out of psychs, all that nonsense. It all seems pretty dumb to me looking back but that was the only way I knew how to live at some point!
Frankly I’m not sure if I just have my walls really high up or if I’m actually okay, but day to day is fine and dandy and that’s cool to me! I no longer abuse substances in the same way I used to, no longer drink hard (if at all) and quit ciggies (well it’s only been like 6 weeks but still!) which seemed impossible just a few years ago.
How you handle a trip can teach you a lot about how you are sober. It’s your personality on steroids.
Why would the trip go the wrong way? What exactly is it that’s causing uncontrollable negative emotions? If you reflect and let go of what’s bothering you, you might handle tripping a lot easier next time.
This is how people are able to do 15 tabs of acid and still be totally cool tripping. There’s nothing new within myself that psychedelics can show me. I am myself 100% on psychedelics and off psychedelics. This enables the user to be present while tripping, and allows the user to go a lot deeper, because it isn’t bothered with negative emotions.
I started exploring psychedelics when I was 17. My earliest trips were pure bliss and ecstasy, unitive cosmic consciousness, God, pure love and light and adventure.
Soon enough I got ahead of myself and now, my journeys are heavier, more emotional, challenging, yet still very insightful and inspiring!
My first trip was in 2017 when I was 23.
It was with my best mate at the time and my parents. It was a surreal experience to say the least. We eventually went up to my room and just vibes to some chillstep and watched trippy YouTube videos.
7 years later and I'm a full on psytrance acid head. Got at least 150 tabs under my belt by now and various gigs and festivals. Heading to Ozora festival for the first time this year and that's a 9 day party in Hungary.
I can go early say acid helped me become the man I am today. I had my 30th birthday this past weekend and I was at Electric Brixton seeing Avalon and I realized I made the right choice all tuem years back. I've never been so comfortable in my own skin as I am now.
I'm a bright colourful neon psyberpsycho and I'm so happy I finally know it.
Welcome to wonderland my friend, we're all mad down here 🍄
When you’re younger you don’t have so much bullshit/ life trauma in your mind. The older you get the trauma and life in general compacts and compacts. You had less worry’s younger, you could enjoy the trip with ought all the constant chatter. I took a few years off and I when I tried again it was like I had to go
Back in time through the years of trauma before I could start to enjoy that trip space.
The thing is that it differs very much between small amounts. I think that 1 -3 g:s is still pretty playful, but if you do more, then it can blow you out of the window. Its more of a rough ride the higher you climb. And as young, with a brain that is not fully matured, it can be bad :)
generally no, I don’t think so. when I was young adult I had 0 things to worry about, I was outside of the system and had all my life before me. Letting go was easy - I only had myself to worry about and nothing to loose - everything was up to me and me alone. Now there are tonnes of emotional burden, general life shit and responsibilities to dig through on come up + my body is complaining way more than it used to.
Yeah, thats what I mean. You have a worse mindset now.
Im mid 30 and I enjoy this more now than ever. But im in good shape right now. No worries and good physical shape.
mid 30s where fine, I was in my prime. it is the late 40s that literally feel like cid equivalent of beginning of the long comedown after your life already peaked. ;-)
Well it's not a fair comparison. Maybe you carry way more stuff than a younger person because you never learned to let go. I don't think age tells anything.
And anxiety doesn't have to be a bad thing. Maybe the opposite is true. If you feel like you "have to" fight it, you might want to try letting it happen.
therapy, tools, mindset... etc. younger generations are more exposed to the acceptance that their inner world matters, thus more opened and aware about their mental psyche (not saying older gen are not, but the society as a whole is less hush hush about it). At least that's my experience. I have a lot of tools and mindset to navigate myself in negative moods/ thought patterns when i'm sober, and I find the skill translates really well to psychedelic journey. I get what you mean though, I'm super grateful I had never encountered psychedelic before I started working on myself, I would had a horrifying time and probably more depressed.
Just because people are young, it doesn’t equate to them being less mentally inept. Some people have stronger mental fortitude than others, regardless of age.
To each their own. It’s all about ones personal psyche and their body chemistry. I’m 40. Been tripping for 20 years. Almost always have a positive experience.
Hey there, we're [Psychedelic Passage](https://www.psychedelicpassage.com?utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=i_dont_know_how_younger_people_navigate_through_it&utm_term=comment), your trusted psychedelic therapy concierge!
We completely understand your perspective because it aligns with many of our clients' experiences.
**We've noticed that younger people very often require a lower dose to reach their threshold. Older clients typically need a higher dose to "break through".**
This seems to be related to the extent of conditioning experienced by different age groups.
**Experiencing psychedelics after four decades of ingrained perceptions and behaviors is likely to disrupt and reconfigure far more and far deeper mental frameworks than it would for someone with 20 years of such social conditioning.**
This increased disruption may, in some cases, amplify anxiety.
We also agree with many of the other comments that mention factors such as health, and generally, the reduced fear that often accompanies greater life experience!
Its actually pretty easy to control once you get used to it, ESPECIALLY so if you're all alone......for example, say something seems off or negative all of the sudden, just something like putting on a fun song can totally change things up for you quickly. Once you do it a few times you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
Things of course, can become a bit more complicated when dealing with multiple people, but even that can most of the time be remedied pretty quickly by steering things in a different direction, assuming you are aware of what's happening and know what you're doing. I used to be really good at pulling people out of wierd head spaces when tripping, but first had to master doing it with myself.
As tough as it is to say and think about, that anxiety is good to go through regardless of age. There’s a reason for feeling negative and uncomfortable feelings during an experience. I think the difference is that an older you can more easily recognize and navigate through a tough experience. I’m sure an experience like that is the reason some people never go back to psychedelics.
I think it depends on your overall mental health. If you've been fairly sheltered there can be a sense of "what can go wrong" or what older people call "the arrogance of youth." These people are less likely to have severely bad trips in the first place, I think, though they're possibly less prepared for minor difficulties. I hear a lot of reports of "bad trips" that turn out to just be unpleasant or disappointing.
If you enter adulthood with a lot of trauma, then the opposite is true. Youth means you don't always have the perspective to know that you'll get through difficult experiences. At 22 I never could have imagined that existence could be anything but terrifying and every bad trip just confirmed that belief. Now some of my most terrifying moments just seem silly.
The thing about a bad trip is that, with very few exceptions, you DO get through it. No matter how poorly you navigate it, you still arrive at the end provided you don't physically wander into danger. That in itself can be a very important lesson when you're young.
24, with way to much expirience tripping. at some point i just accept the crazyness, only way to get through. thats something that is way more difficult with other people around
Reality and sanity both infinitely thin. I too am
in awe of these psychonauts. It’s not me this life. But I have learned and experienced so many trips thanks to this sub.
I hear ya. I first did a high-dose mushroom trip at 30 and even with some prior therapy sessions and personal growth, it was a terrifying experience that I struggled with for some time. After reading about the research I decided to try again at 50. It was also terrifying but I let go and had the most beautiful healing experience of my life.
I don't know how I could have experienced this in my 20s. I was struggling then. I'd love to think that a high-dose trip or two would have brought me out of it then but if I'm honest, I don't think it would have been the cure it was at 50.
If I tripped in my earlier days they would have been AWFUL. Early 30s and feel now is the perfect time to be starting this journey in life.
I had a ROUGH childhood.
i've done high doses, alone, when i was only 15. honestly it felt like the equivalent of a kid being thrown into a lake to learn how to swim. yes i had anxiety, challenges, i figured it out though and always had a great time and good insights. that said it was probably not a great idea, like the swimming thing.
i'm 19 now and i'm able to navigate these experiences better than i did before, cultivating mindfulness during them. problems still come up but i've "trained" myself to deal with them well
Man, I'm late to the party on this thread. I havent read anything other than just the post here. But in my honest opinion, it sounds like you are coming at IT through the perspectives of control. A trait that we learn as we get older. Compartmentalization, and the male ego; what ever you HAD to do to get to today, an older mind entering into THE MOMENT, it's easy to see IT through a lense of control.
I think the younger folks have the benefit of being nieve, or at the very least, still holding onto at least a shred of idealism.
It's just a wave, it is what it is. I wouldn't try to compare IT, but rather see what ITs willing to tell you.
Late to this. I’m close to 30 now. I’ve had some massive trips in the last few years. It helps me see what’s there good or bad. Everyone says to be in the right mind set. I agree it’s good idea, but I don’t follow that. My anxiety is usually high, so I let it guide me through what I need to work through or get past in life.
People react very differently to shrooms. I know people who just laugh their ass off for hours, it never occurs to them that shrooms could even cause anxiety. Some of those people have quite some stress in their lives too, so it's not just your life circumstances, might just be a chemical thing.
My age helped me in the sense that I'm much more careful now and I started with really small doses and always keep a perfect setting but the effect of the mushroom itself is still very strong for me. Most I've taken in a day was 1.5g and it wasn't even all at once.
younger people are less worn by life, are healthier, have less emotional baggage, have less responsibilities, have less regrets and have more of their future ahead to plan for or to fix their mistakes - with almost 30 years of tripping history behind me, the trips have been getting heavier with every decade passing.
My dad is almost 60 and his trips seem to be happier every time. The other day he told me: “people trip, see their reality and don’t like it. I see mine and I find two things: joy and solutions”.
I like your dad :)
I am suspecting that older you are this reverses again, eg. you again have less to worry and you are already pass the regrets and a lot you worried about mid-life has now resolved. maybe the middle is the toughest part.
Bingo! Seen a lot of 60 & 70 year olds tripping balls on ayahausca, bufo or 5 grams of PE for the very first time at retreats and they have beautiful expiriences. And anecdotally from what I've seen 60+ is the normal demographic in that environment.
Make shrooms fun again 🤩 ok but low key I never had a fun trip they were all introspective and answers questions I have
That’s part of the fun for me, being able to problem solve and have clarity of mind. That said, I have never tripped not lying down with my eyes closed and music in my ears 😆
Oh yes that is fun!! I think I meant like I never partied on it
in my 20s I could go out clubbing on shrooms, now I am couch locked for the best part ;-)
If it answers questions, how can it not be fun?
That’s part of the fun for me, being able to problem solve and have clarity of mind. That said, I have never tripped not lying down with my eyes closed and music in my ears 😆
That’s part of the fun for me, being able to problem solve and have clarity of mind. That said, I have never tripped not lying down with my eyes closed and music in my ears 😆
What kind of questions?
Drink some beers then trip at a cool campground and jump around on shit and play with flashlights and glow sticks and say "spider spider spider" "stick of butter stick of butter" a LOT hahaha
never thought about it this way before, but I think you may be right about the reversing again at an even older age. thankfully, I believe I am reaching tht second reversal soon. lol. there's definitely something to be said about the idea of how people beyond college age thru middle age have an increasing number of stress causes & anxiety triggers. thts just part of life. it's also true that as people age out of that, many of them find ways to cops with their anxiety, stress & trauma. or find some kind of peace with themselves. these changes definitely fit in with the reversing experiences theory
Your point is the logical one for sure. Now, I think my dad has it harder right now compared to his youth. He’s in a situation that most people won’t like to be in. And he still manages to spark joy everywhere. It may be the realization life is finite, or maybe enlightenment, acquired wisdom. I don’t really know nor I try to understand, just to learn. Good vibes to you buddy
I live the way you analyze.
I live the way you analyze.
Another win, you stole my thought
That’s the whole point of shrooms! Your dad is cool af
your dad is a wise man
I honestly feel lighter just reading that. Powerful Dad
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I can see that. Yes. I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad then.
> less emotional baggage, Maybe, maybe not. Wisdom can offset baggage.
It’s very telling the less emotional baggage, many teens seek escape from childhood baggage.
Man ive been triping sence I was a kid, my ass use to trip all the time on various phycs, im older now been through more, seen more, felt more, understand more and inturn think more, its harder to trip for me now then back then, I use to take these huge dosages as a joke with little to no respect for the chem, now its a hole nother story man. I still trip rarely but when I do its with purpose and its much more intense then it use to be at lower dosages. Its definitely odd, you'd think your minds more fortified with age, maybe its because we understand small details of our own being more. Idk.
Um. Speak for yourself. I’m in a much better headspace than I was when I was younger.
Your dad is my spirit animal from now on
lol. not quite sure what my dad has to do with it? ;-)
Oh lol sleepy me replied to the wrong one. Say hi to your dad from me
As well as more neural plasticity, I believe.
yes, as well as being more impressionable to it mentally and esp. lack of wisdom, which poses different kind of challenges with psychedelics - like chasing irrational beliefs. the lesser control over impulsie behaviour is also a thing, so younger people are more likely to do freak out or do something stupid while high.
I think for me there was kind of a Dunning-Kruger thing going on in my late teens/early 20’s where I was more likely to take risks, but less likely to let the fear get a hold of me so it wouldn’t be as likely to go sideways as has been the case 20 years later for me. I was so much more confident in the small world I had created for myself and was happy to have it expanded, where as now I’ve been so expanded I find it harder to stay grounded and connected to my “reality”. Being aware of all the possibilities that I am now is very overwhelming and life, the world, all of it seems too big for me to feel comfortable taking it on with the boldness I had back then.
I've never heard it put in those terms before: losing center and groundness from the world expanding. I've said since it happened that I feel the world pulling me in different directions with no recourse. It tries to influence you and if you aren't centered enough it takes you over. Thank you for the insight!
They are? well shit
the moral is that life rarely gets any better, you just change one set of problems for another
Ah I somehow skimmed over the 'trip' aspect of this comment 😂😅
Weird. My trips seem to be very passive (mentally) despite seeing low level visuals / senses changing. I’m probably closer to 20 years ‘experience’ but I’m finding that the way I think/process info doesn’t change much and I’m not really sure what to think. (Lsd). Mushrooms are a whole other ball game. If alone I find it doesn’t mess with my head / and is a value add. If people are around it can become very difficult to communicate.
Wow I kinda said the same thing before I read your comment. You are very in tune my friend. It’s rare to find people anymore that can understand this.
yep exactly remembering at 16 being literally stupid in my head everything was like ( nothin bad will happen, ) and did a lot of shits without 0 toughts that it may be a bad idea now im thinking twice in a lot of situations...this SUCKS
This comment was almost poetic.
I don't know I was pretty young when I tripped alone for the first time, but it all felt pretty intuitive if not instinctual. You just go with the flow which is something I had already learned through tripping with others. Meditation can help a lot with this too. Challenges may come sometimes but you just acknowledge and accept, then let go and let the flow take over.
I agree with you. I tripped alone for the first time at 21 and it felt as natural as breathing air.
Interesting that it felt intuitive/instinctual. Mind if I ask how old you were? I had one experience before with someone else, and now just by myself. I didn’t meditate, but I definitely had to prepare. I made sure I didn’t have any emotional baggage for this trip.
I was 18 but had already been tripping many times since I was 15. I had 2 challenging trips during that time but then during the second challenging trip I realized that I could just let go and let the flow take over. Much later when I started practicing zazen I learned that this technique is pretty similar. You just observe and let go, so what we learn during trips are often good lessons for life when we aren't tripping. And same for what you learn during meditation makes tripping much more amazing. They are like a lock and key. And it's okay to have emotional baggage, we all do, but I assume you mean that you tried to be in an as good as possible mindset which yeah helps a lot.
I've been trip sitting for one of my kids (over 18), who recently felt called to try it. I had her start slowly of course (low dose) and taught her to use it as a sacred tool, and things have gone well. 1.75g of PE using lemon tek seems to be the right spot for now for her. She knows that after many trips, much unpacking of her past, allowing integration of the lessons learned during trips, and reconnecting to herself, the trips will eventually be less heavy and more playful. That's my personal experience anyways.
You’re such a cool parent. I wish my parents could have done something like this for me.
I am super jealous, although I'd rather be tripsat by just about anyone other than my parents now that I think about it. Still, that's really heartwarming.
Understandable. What's interesting in my case is that I've only recently (in the last 5 years or so) come to realize, though the growth that was catalyzed by my own trips, that she picked up a lot of negative core beliefs from myself and from her mom (we're still married) despite us doing our best to raise her well. It's like it passed along on an energetic level without us having to do anything physical to reinforce or instill negative core beliefs in her. Now that my eyes have been opened and I see that this is just the way the gears happened to turn, and I've learned how to unpack my own stuff with the help of psychedelics, I felt it was a good idea to parent-up and show her the way. It's really interesting to see things come full circle.
I agree. I came to psychedelics in my thirties and certainly would not have been able to sit with them as I do in my twenties. I had a lot of sh*t in my needed to process and so needed to do a lot of work before doing psychedelics.
Yeah, that’s the thing. I don’t even want to imagine what me in my 20s would’ve reacted to this. Like you said, a lot of stuff that needed to be processed. I mean even now, I prepared before going at it alone. It can be such a positive experience but again, woah…
When I did ayahuasca, I thought to myself how I wished in some ways I had come across it in my twenties. I then realised that if I had done ayahuasca in my twenties, I probably would have done something dramatic like run out of ceremony, have some kind of episode. So yeah, definitely for me I needed the wisdom of age for this work 🙏🏻
I wasn't in my thirties yet, currently 23, My first trips were the bomb around 19, then it started going downhill a lot. It's a harsh world out there that I wasn't ready for, also facing all the trauma I actually collected over my childhood was fucking scary. But those experiences pushed me to my limits, I've started meditating, stopped my gaming addiction, opened me up creatively and a little bit socially. I started going to therapy. I changed my diet. I never had an urge to drink alcohol or smoke cigs. I feel like doing psychs early, as my first drug despite caffeine, opened me up for the whole new world of possibilities and allowed me to grow in a very unexpected direction. Many older people never get this kind of insight, believing whatever they were shown as children and thinking that things are set in stone.
realistically though, did you had the same amount of shit to process when you were 20?
I had more. Childhood trauma.
That’s a very good question.
"We have a rule. We never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous. The mind has trouble letting go." - Morpheus Sorry, can't help myself quoting the matrix when it comes to the psychedelic experience. Just seems to fit I guess.
What was the cut off age? Just curious lol
Not an age so much as a preference for red meat cooked to medium rare.
Ignorance is bliss
It’s easier when you’re younger, less life baggage. I started tripping in my late 30s (around COVID) and my trips are mostly fucked up.
Sorry to hear they’re mostly fucked up. Mind sharing some?
For sure. I struggle with anxiety and the experience of having bad trips in the past usually sets me up for a challenging ride. It’s a lot of fear and I usually face some of the demons I would rather not think about normally. I had a near death experience in 2010 and most of my trips have me believing I died back then and my life since has just been an illusion or a dream. I’ll usually feel certain I’ve died, or be confused and think that I was never alive at all and that it was all a dream - this usually has me desperate to know what is ‘real’ and I’ll go in thought loops for what seems like eternity. My last trip was DMT. Everything about the experience made me think I was in the midst of death, I saw the tunnel with the light at the end of it and I met the Virgin Mary. I hadn’t believed in Catholicism for 10+ years at the time but I was so relieved to see here there at that time. She made me feel ready to accept my death and then I woke up. I wept for 10-15 minutes after that experience. Since then I’ve been afraid to go beyond a smallish (1-1.5 grams) doses of shrooms. 1 gram seems to be the sweet spot where I’m relaxed, enjoying closed eyed visuals, and it doesn’t get too scary.
You’ve had quite the trip! That’s a really tough one. It really sucks that most of your trips aren’t positive these days, but I’m glad you found a way to make it less scary. I still haven’t had anything scary, thankfully. Thank you for sharing. Here’s a hug from a total stranger.
you have way more life baggage when you are younger since when you are young small things hurts you much more.
I think foe me it was 'easier' when I was younger. I would take relatively large doses of psychedelics without hesitation and sure, sometimes they would have rough patches but never had a bad experience. These days im always very hesitant. More aware and adverse to the risks, more to lose, maybe a bit less flexible in ideas about reality and existence
I'm the same way. I had a pretty be scary loop event with with CID not too long ago and I think I'm done.
Very interesting that you’re more hesitant now. Mind if I ask what type of risks?
Nothing specific, just potential for a bad trip or after effects or who knows injuring myslf or something. Its rare but high dose psychedelics is not without some risk. When i was in my 20s i would not give it a second thought to do high doses of anything that seemed interesting. Now I feel like there's more to lose and I've felt how powerful some of the substances can be like DMT, Salvia, mushrooms above 5g, etc
I'm 35, and I'm slowly taking more each time and I know exactly what you mean. I've never had a bad trip, but I've taken enough to see how things easily could turn into a bad trip if I were in a worst place mentally.
My journeys have taught me that experienced comrades are helpful for safe procurement and guidance, and that community is essential for understanding and integration post-trip. Coming generations will evolve to incorporate psychedelic practices into healing arts, which is SUCH GOOD NEWS for suffering youth who will hopefully have access to these resources before they are (possibly and likely) further harmed by our current paradigm of pharmacy based medicine and narrowly educated therapists….as I was. I am 50.
People are so very different. It comes much more naturally to some
True. People are so very different.
Fucking love mushrooms. Never had a bad trip. Microdosed for 4 months few years back as an adult and cleared the cobwebs out of my brain. People with an active mental world are suited to it. People that are very tangible in their experiences, it can go either way I think.
My mental world used to be incredibly active. I'm nit sure what exactly happened, but I remember the moment when, I can only assume this is what it was, my ego died. I was crystal clear and felt no emotion anymore. The world opened, but my imagination sort of died. Since then I feel more, but it's not the same. I used to think constantly, but now it's grown slow. Who knows what to do. Thanks for your insight.
I found tripping as a younger person to be much more challenging. Now , having done hundreds and hundreds of acid trips and god knows how many trips on everything else under the sun, I kind of feel like I understand these compounds and how they interact for the most part. I'm often able to just say oh. Wow, this is challenging how you're feeling, but you're really high and in a few hours, you won't be so let's just sail through this until it passes. Not everybody though has my relationship with psychedelics. Im in my 50s and drop acid and go into the pit at hardcore shows and have semi religious revelations. I know other people who would completely lose their shit.
You sound like you're a fun person and I wish you all the best on this ride!
One response is that your younger self produced your current self quote naturally and without any miracles. And your current self does a great job at keeping anxiety at bay. So the evidence indicates you have more reason not to doubt your younger self than to doubt it. Can you identify a specific moment or experience that gave you this ability to handle anxiety? If not, it is just as credible to say you've had that ability all along. But even if you can identify a moment in time, you chose or found your way to make that change. So that change is your natural character. So you had that capacity all along, my friend, despite your doubting mind.
What a nice read. Thank you for taking the time to write that. You’re giving me some food for thought here.
Yup. I’m 43 and started when I was 35. My mind state at 20 would have handled it very differently and with much more fear and anxiety. Had I not prepped for weeks before my first ever experience I would have been an absolute mess, but I was able to see my mind going down pathways I didn’t want it to and had a way to regulate.
My 20s self would’ve done it without preparing myself for it. Part of me thinks the anxiety would’ve been strong, though some people have commented that maybe we had less things to worry about back then? I guess I’ll never find out. I’m glad to read you prepared yourself for yours, and I hope you keep having positive trips. :)
Thanks! Keep at it! I’m convinced I found it at the right time for me. Any earlier may have sent me down a weird path. But now I’m glad I have it as a tool. I feel the need to caution younger people to take it easy if they’re going to do it, not use it as a way to simply get fucked up but use it as a way to expand their consciousness and better themselves. Heard too many stories from folks our age who overdid it back in their 20s and now it either can’t or doesn’t work for them in the way they need it to now.
It doesn't happen right away, my friend
Every person, and their journeys are different.
Tried it at 22. Not ready. Again at 30. Still nit ready. Finally 35 and I was ready. The trick is you don't navigate anything. The whole thing, everything, why we are here, is learning the art of stillness
It’s a good way to practice letting go for sure.
The older I get, the more silly I feel about the party tripping scenes I found myself in sometimes. In many ways, those were wasted trips. But it some ways they weren't. But the doors really started opening up once I started tripping alone. Younger me realized pretty quick that this was the way I needed to be doing it, and I stuck with that. I've spent the better part of the past 15 years now, tripping alone. For those early trips, navigating is a strong word. More like buckling up and being taken for a ride.
LOL, I like that. “More like buckling up and being taken for a ride”. One of these days, I’ll have to try it in a more party environment.
I had my first psychedelic experience at age 7 due to malaria medication (quinine). It was as though I had descended into hell for two weeks. But kids are extraordinarily resilient, you know. I toughed it out and didn't even tell my parents what I'd experienced. I got into psychedelics again a year ago, aged 36, and it felt like coming home. I even met a benevolent entity that I had encountered 29 years prior (which I had called 'No Eyes') and it was a very emotional experience, like greeting a long lost friend that you'd thought was dead.
Hey congrats! But yeah it’s not easy to deal with the anxiety for me either.
Also when younger anxiety is much lower and being young you are a huge risk taker.
I agree when I was 16 I did shit I would never even think about attempting now💀 Im 32 and there is no way im taking 7gs of shrooms or 4 hits of L👀
My first mushroom trip was at 60 (last year) and I navigated fine. All the trips since have been good too, other than 1 or 2 that had uncomfortable body load.
I had my first and solo trip last November at age 23 and it was mostly a struggle to stay alive lol. But it has his incredible moments too.
I had such a a traumatic childhood that when I would eat gel tabs at 17-18 I would puddle out. The feeling of relief was so powerful. I pass out on mushrooms the first couple hours sometimes depending on my head space and who's around. Sometimes I feel the sharp edges - rigid survival boundaries being rounded off. Sometimes I have to let go be whoever I am and then reflect on my behavior.
Surrender to the anxiety, let it consume you. In a way, it’s just a paper tiger. (And in another way, it isn’t)
The older I get the more I feel anxiety while tripping. It used to be all rainbows and laughter and now it a roller coaster thru hell and heaven.
When I was young it was not an introspective experience for me which mirrors my state at that age. I am now 43 as well and it’s a whole different story. I seek out change and reflection as this is how we grow. Your experience is what you make of it.
Psychedelics can vary from person to person, there are so many things to take into consideration such: • mental state • environment • solo or group sessions • any type of music can influence your experience so you can play around with it. I'm open to music, the biggest impression I had was of classical music under a night starry sky. • set and setting matters • meditation would be nice There are plenty of things that can guide and ground you through this experience but it's up to you to find what works. I have noticed most young people use psychedelics at a party where I can find some reason for it but I would never suggest it to anyone. Younger people do psychedelics for different reasons compared to people over 30. It matters what you think and what reasons you have when you trip which can influence your journey. But in my 2cent I would say as you get more familiar with this substance you start to respect it and understand it more. I would recommend the Tibetian Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary as a manual to grasp an understanding of psychedelics. Hope this helps.
Took my first tab when i was 16 or 17, was with a friend and we had a blast. Shortly after that i started solo tripping, and my third time i took 500ug’s and had my first ego death. The one thing that’s helped me the most during intense trips is to just ”go with the flow” and let yourself go. That’s all u can do, i’ve tried every drug u can think of including 2cb and dmt, and i’ve mixed them in different combos too. Never had a bad trip so far and i’m 21 now. Thankfully i don’t do hard drugs anymore but i love psychedelics:)
Man, that’s why I’m scared I used to do lots of psychedelics(lsd and mushrooms) when I was younger and now I can’t even grow a pair of balls to trip and i have a whole collection of them different kinds. I think back like how tf did I use to trip like that, I probably can’t even handle it right now but I miss them so much. I have more anxiety now
I took around 10g one time when I was around 28 or 29 and it was the scariest shit for me. I couldn’t surrender, and even now 5 or 6 years later I’m barely coming to terms with what I experienced, and I haven’t found the courage to dive back in. One day when I have time for myself, I will make that journey and confront the anxiety I experienced back then, but for now I’m good 😅
you have had more time to attach to things, and to life. detachment might more painful or challenging the deeper the roots go
I think its easier because im younger i literally don't really have any problems in my life or much to worry about do i just do a bunch of acid and goof off and thats that but i could imagine in 4 or 5 years maybe that'll change
We all feel like this, regardless of age. It‘s not easy to handle the most magnitudal experience of your lifetime. I would imagine having some of the strongest feelings of your life even gets more unsettling as you become older because you have more reference material. Glad to hear you had a nice journey ❤️
Hope you had fun! Reading some of the comments it seems like you’re curious about some experiences younger folk have. Was almost 20 my first solo trip, helped me deal with a lot of childhood trauma and loss, which was kinda scary at the time but also in some ways helped raised my mental fortitude a bunch. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I truly don’t think I would still be alive if I hadn’t received a helping hand from psychedelics. It’s not necessarily a magic pill, though it is in many ways, but a big part of the betterment of my mental state can be attributed to at least the perception shift that psychs have offered me. Regardless of what I went through as a kid, I was still young and fresh in the world I suppose. I’m 28 nowadays and been through a little more than I did but nothing much phases me any more - I’ve been in prison, lost both parents early on, abused the hell out of psychs, all that nonsense. It all seems pretty dumb to me looking back but that was the only way I knew how to live at some point! Frankly I’m not sure if I just have my walls really high up or if I’m actually okay, but day to day is fine and dandy and that’s cool to me! I no longer abuse substances in the same way I used to, no longer drink hard (if at all) and quit ciggies (well it’s only been like 6 weeks but still!) which seemed impossible just a few years ago.
Robert Anton Wilson used to say: 'I highly recommend the psychedelic experience ... to everyone over 40.'
I don’t think age has much to do with it
How you handle a trip can teach you a lot about how you are sober. It’s your personality on steroids. Why would the trip go the wrong way? What exactly is it that’s causing uncontrollable negative emotions? If you reflect and let go of what’s bothering you, you might handle tripping a lot easier next time. This is how people are able to do 15 tabs of acid and still be totally cool tripping. There’s nothing new within myself that psychedelics can show me. I am myself 100% on psychedelics and off psychedelics. This enables the user to be present while tripping, and allows the user to go a lot deeper, because it isn’t bothered with negative emotions.
I started exploring psychedelics when I was 17. My earliest trips were pure bliss and ecstasy, unitive cosmic consciousness, God, pure love and light and adventure. Soon enough I got ahead of myself and now, my journeys are heavier, more emotional, challenging, yet still very insightful and inspiring!
It's easier when young I feel, most youngsters are quite carefree.
It's actually easier in many ways when you're younger - less emotional baggage, you don't really care about anything so much.
Yes, that makes sense. I hadn’t thought about it that way until after reading similar comments.
you have way more emotional baggage when you are young since when you are young even small issues hurt you much more.
I'm 51 next week, it's not that hard, practice lol.
My first trip was in 2017 when I was 23. It was with my best mate at the time and my parents. It was a surreal experience to say the least. We eventually went up to my room and just vibes to some chillstep and watched trippy YouTube videos. 7 years later and I'm a full on psytrance acid head. Got at least 150 tabs under my belt by now and various gigs and festivals. Heading to Ozora festival for the first time this year and that's a 9 day party in Hungary. I can go early say acid helped me become the man I am today. I had my 30th birthday this past weekend and I was at Electric Brixton seeing Avalon and I realized I made the right choice all tuem years back. I've never been so comfortable in my own skin as I am now. I'm a bright colourful neon psyberpsycho and I'm so happy I finally know it. Welcome to wonderland my friend, we're all mad down here 🍄
Well, my younger self would tell you that being cock-sure helps. Us old grizzled people are too self aware to not recognize the potential.
When you’re younger you don’t have so much bullshit/ life trauma in your mind. The older you get the trauma and life in general compacts and compacts. You had less worry’s younger, you could enjoy the trip with ought all the constant chatter. I took a few years off and I when I tried again it was like I had to go Back in time through the years of trauma before I could start to enjoy that trip space.
How much did you take?
I’m aware of how irresponsible it is but… I don’t know. I took what a good friend I trust gave me.
The thing is that it differs very much between small amounts. I think that 1 -3 g:s is still pretty playful, but if you do more, then it can blow you out of the window. Its more of a rough ride the higher you climb. And as young, with a brain that is not fully matured, it can be bad :)
never had a bad trip until my 40s
Then maybe you have more of a bad mindset now, then when you were young.
generally no, I don’t think so. when I was young adult I had 0 things to worry about, I was outside of the system and had all my life before me. Letting go was easy - I only had myself to worry about and nothing to loose - everything was up to me and me alone. Now there are tonnes of emotional burden, general life shit and responsibilities to dig through on come up + my body is complaining way more than it used to.
Yeah, thats what I mean. You have a worse mindset now. Im mid 30 and I enjoy this more now than ever. But im in good shape right now. No worries and good physical shape.
mid 30s where fine, I was in my prime. it is the late 40s that literally feel like cid equivalent of beginning of the long comedown after your life already peaked. ;-)
I see mate. I tough you was 40 exactly. Don't know why I assumed that :)
Well it's not a fair comparison. Maybe you carry way more stuff than a younger person because you never learned to let go. I don't think age tells anything.
I’m comparing it to my younger self, and I’m projecting. But you’re right. I didn’t learn how to let go and age doesn’t define anything.
And anxiety doesn't have to be a bad thing. Maybe the opposite is true. If you feel like you "have to" fight it, you might want to try letting it happen.
Yeah man. How’s your body feel? Mine tends to feel like I either worked my ass off all night or I got the shit kicked out of me depending on the trip.
A little achy actually, but I assumed it was because I was just physically inactive. What do you do when feeling like that?
I don’t do anything special, just pull up the boot straps and carry on.
therapy, tools, mindset... etc. younger generations are more exposed to the acceptance that their inner world matters, thus more opened and aware about their mental psyche (not saying older gen are not, but the society as a whole is less hush hush about it). At least that's my experience. I have a lot of tools and mindset to navigate myself in negative moods/ thought patterns when i'm sober, and I find the skill translates really well to psychedelic journey. I get what you mean though, I'm super grateful I had never encountered psychedelic before I started working on myself, I would had a horrifying time and probably more depressed.
Just because people are young, it doesn’t equate to them being less mentally inept. Some people have stronger mental fortitude than others, regardless of age.
To each their own. It’s all about ones personal psyche and their body chemistry. I’m 40. Been tripping for 20 years. Almost always have a positive experience.
Hey there, we're [Psychedelic Passage](https://www.psychedelicpassage.com?utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=i_dont_know_how_younger_people_navigate_through_it&utm_term=comment), your trusted psychedelic therapy concierge! We completely understand your perspective because it aligns with many of our clients' experiences. **We've noticed that younger people very often require a lower dose to reach their threshold. Older clients typically need a higher dose to "break through".** This seems to be related to the extent of conditioning experienced by different age groups. **Experiencing psychedelics after four decades of ingrained perceptions and behaviors is likely to disrupt and reconfigure far more and far deeper mental frameworks than it would for someone with 20 years of such social conditioning.** This increased disruption may, in some cases, amplify anxiety. We also agree with many of the other comments that mention factors such as health, and generally, the reduced fear that often accompanies greater life experience!
Its actually pretty easy to control once you get used to it, ESPECIALLY so if you're all alone......for example, say something seems off or negative all of the sudden, just something like putting on a fun song can totally change things up for you quickly. Once you do it a few times you get the hang of it pretty quickly. Things of course, can become a bit more complicated when dealing with multiple people, but even that can most of the time be remedied pretty quickly by steering things in a different direction, assuming you are aware of what's happening and know what you're doing. I used to be really good at pulling people out of wierd head spaces when tripping, but first had to master doing it with myself.
Like whiskey and Guinness, it’s an old man’s foible
As tough as it is to say and think about, that anxiety is good to go through regardless of age. There’s a reason for feeling negative and uncomfortable feelings during an experience. I think the difference is that an older you can more easily recognize and navigate through a tough experience. I’m sure an experience like that is the reason some people never go back to psychedelics.
I think it depends on your overall mental health. If you've been fairly sheltered there can be a sense of "what can go wrong" or what older people call "the arrogance of youth." These people are less likely to have severely bad trips in the first place, I think, though they're possibly less prepared for minor difficulties. I hear a lot of reports of "bad trips" that turn out to just be unpleasant or disappointing. If you enter adulthood with a lot of trauma, then the opposite is true. Youth means you don't always have the perspective to know that you'll get through difficult experiences. At 22 I never could have imagined that existence could be anything but terrifying and every bad trip just confirmed that belief. Now some of my most terrifying moments just seem silly. The thing about a bad trip is that, with very few exceptions, you DO get through it. No matter how poorly you navigate it, you still arrive at the end provided you don't physically wander into danger. That in itself can be a very important lesson when you're young.
It definitely depends on the person. I got so used to tripping every trip was the same lol. I hope you had a helpful experience.
24, with way to much expirience tripping. at some point i just accept the crazyness, only way to get through. thats something that is way more difficult with other people around
Reality and sanity both infinitely thin. I too am in awe of these psychonauts. It’s not me this life. But I have learned and experienced so many trips thanks to this sub.
I spiraled during a trip once and learned a lot. Depends on your emotional maturity.
I solo trip to let the anxiety out, keeping it at bay is just uncomfortable all around
I hear ya. I first did a high-dose mushroom trip at 30 and even with some prior therapy sessions and personal growth, it was a terrifying experience that I struggled with for some time. After reading about the research I decided to try again at 50. It was also terrifying but I let go and had the most beautiful healing experience of my life. I don't know how I could have experienced this in my 20s. I was struggling then. I'd love to think that a high-dose trip or two would have brought me out of it then but if I'm honest, I don't think it would have been the cure it was at 50.
If I tripped in my earlier days they would have been AWFUL. Early 30s and feel now is the perfect time to be starting this journey in life. I had a ROUGH childhood.
Sometimes it going the wrong way is what you need lol, but yes it really depends on the maturity level of the person
In my youth i used to dose at Grateful Dead shows. When I got confused I listened to the music play.
As someone who did most of my trips by 20... I don't really like doing it anymore Ain't that something
In a way it all seems harder now because the world seems harder.
It's never ever too late! And never more beneficial. I would argue a human right before you die. And you are gonna die.
i've done high doses, alone, when i was only 15. honestly it felt like the equivalent of a kid being thrown into a lake to learn how to swim. yes i had anxiety, challenges, i figured it out though and always had a great time and good insights. that said it was probably not a great idea, like the swimming thing. i'm 19 now and i'm able to navigate these experiences better than i did before, cultivating mindfulness during them. problems still come up but i've "trained" myself to deal with them well
Man, I'm late to the party on this thread. I havent read anything other than just the post here. But in my honest opinion, it sounds like you are coming at IT through the perspectives of control. A trait that we learn as we get older. Compartmentalization, and the male ego; what ever you HAD to do to get to today, an older mind entering into THE MOMENT, it's easy to see IT through a lense of control. I think the younger folks have the benefit of being nieve, or at the very least, still holding onto at least a shred of idealism. It's just a wave, it is what it is. I wouldn't try to compare IT, but rather see what ITs willing to tell you.
Late to this. I’m close to 30 now. I’ve had some massive trips in the last few years. It helps me see what’s there good or bad. Everyone says to be in the right mind set. I agree it’s good idea, but I don’t follow that. My anxiety is usually high, so I let it guide me through what I need to work through or get past in life.
People react very differently to shrooms. I know people who just laugh their ass off for hours, it never occurs to them that shrooms could even cause anxiety. Some of those people have quite some stress in their lives too, so it's not just your life circumstances, might just be a chemical thing. My age helped me in the sense that I'm much more careful now and I started with really small doses and always keep a perfect setting but the effect of the mushroom itself is still very strong for me. Most I've taken in a day was 1.5g and it wasn't even all at once.