LSD and Depression

I don't know much about it, but it's out there. Rumors that LSD cures depression. Is it possible?

I was in a slump of depression before I ever tried acid, I was good my first trip. But LSD kind of brought me into a really depressive dark place for some months. It wasn't direct because some days I would be perfectly fine denying I was ever depressed. Other times I didn't want to not be depressed because I knew that world, I was.. comfortable with it. But eventually I gave it up. I stopped taking LSD and I also stopped being depressed.

But I can't help think that LSD brought me out of depression by making me face it head on. My real dilemma is I wish to try it again. I've done a lot since I last tasted an experience. But I don't want to bring my life down.

What are others opinions on this?

 

Try it again. Worked for me as well
:grouphug:

 

It's good to see you back around here BL. I'm sorry to hear that you've had a falling out with lucy. I'm interested to hear how you feel LSD may have affected your depression, both positively and negatively. I dont see any reason to believe that tripping again would cause your depression to worsen. The truth is, I could think of a convincing argument for why it might help, hurt, or make no difference at all. It's such an unpredictable thing its hard to speculate as to what effect a trip will have.

 

^its hard to explain because I don't truly understand it. Honestly, maybe it's just biased memory but my first trip was perfect, it had bad parts but it felt right. Like I was suppose to have taken it. I wouldn't be where I wanted to be without it.

But there were about three trips I have had that I think were not suppose to happen, if you believe in fate or anything. Or to put it simply, I took LSD for the wrong reasons in those circumstances.

I have had glimpses of depression long before LSD. It seemed to happen along the lines of my first relationship. Maybe hormones? I understand LSD has some affects with your hormones, maybe this was related. But for all I know I just spoke some bs just now.

I want to try it tonight, and avoid paranoia. Learn, recollect my life's thoughts. When I first tried it was to learn. Then it became an escape from reality. Now I kind of think of it as a way to make life just a little bit longer, enjoy life. That sounds good to me. I believe in god, and though it may be seen as controversial. I believe god would want us to experiment with the planet, I essentially became who I am with LSD. It saved me, but it also scared me sometimes.

I don't want be paranoid if I take it again. But I guess I just want to be sure that LSD can't trigger depression if it already "cured it"

 

were you paranoid when you took LSD before?

we tried to warn you, BL....
after that first trip you were so gung-ho about LSD. (it's hard not to be)
i agree that in those circumstances you were taking LSD for the "wrong reasons." thought, to be honest, i think i take it for the same escape that you mentioned...not to escape anything bad in my life, but i guess just to have fun and "escape" normalcy.

no one should tell you that lsd can't trigger depression that it already "cured"...because dude, it might. like he said above, it's very unpredictable.

but i find that if i take LSD when i'm truly happy (not depressed) that my trip is happy.

 

This is most likely the reason, or rather you put that notion into your mind that it "must" be taken for the "right" reasons.

Nope, LSD doesn't do anything with hormones nor does it do anything with anything physiologically in that regard. Whole milk probably does more with your hormones than LSD
It's pretty much out of your system within a few hours.
But you already know these things.

My advice, for what it's worth, if anything, is that you have fallen into the trap of attributing too much reverence and significance to the substance.
Lighten up a bit concerning psychedelics.
They can be awesome psychological/spiritual catalyst, but that is all it is, a catalyst to get things moving along and reactions started, the rest is you.

LSD can be taken with a lighter attitude and every trip doesn't have to be some heavy soul search.
Don't burden yourself and your psychedelic experiences with so much unneeded baggage, just let it roll.

It may help you sort out the source or reason for being depressed,
but go easy on yourself a bit.
Or do I as I do and laugh at it all and yourself realizing it's all a grand comedic play and enjoy the show.

 

I have ongoing depression/anxiety and that is mainly why I pursue cid.

I feel that we have many layers of subconscious muck that keep us from seeing the depressed aspects of ourselves. IMHO a good psychedelic will allow us to face our demons and address them thus restoring balance within our psyche.

 

At this point in the paragraph if I were to substitute Ketamine, Heroin or alcohol with LSD I'd say it would be really foolish to go back to it. (And I have been foolish with a couple of those drugs myself)

After that first paragraph, it then boggles my mind how you come to this conclusion but if you try LSD again, I'd agree try it in a good mood, don't use it as a fix for your depression but instead attempt to use it maybe more as a catalyst for working on the possible factors that may be contributing to depression and integrate lessons from your LSD experience into tangible concepts that can be applied to sober consciousness.

I tend to get a cynical, slightly down day or two after some of my LSD trips. So I agree with Noxious and don't let that get you down if you experience something similar.

 

After an LSD trip last year, I experienced depression and anxiety but I later found out it was actually derealization. It completely took meaning away from everything. I never experienced actual depression (or anxiety) before that. Earlier experiences with the drug were very meaningful. I used it in a terrible setting, though it's completely possible I could have had the same reaction in a more appropriate setting, even with less recreational intent. Since this experience I've read a lot about psychedelic healing. It certainly seems that psychedelics when used in a psychotherapeutic context can bring about desired changes in personality. But it certainly seems much more difficult to do without the guidance of a therapist. Or shaman, with ayahuasca. Though, there absolutely are examples of people using psychedelics alone and having positive effects on their depression.

 

Yes BL, nice to "see you" around...

Remember that thing you heard, read, thought about early on?

Set. Setting. Intention?

That is well put. As is this...

I hesitate to sound like I know something about depression, because I dont really. Take this fwiw.
There is being down, depressed, and then there is serious real chemical imbalance. I dont know whats up with your thing. I will say though, people get depressed. They get down. Most everyone does and anyone who says they don't is probably not truthful.
The chemistry thing is out of my league, and I wouldn't dish advice. Now if we're talking 'down in the dumps'... bummed out, even long periods... I feel that's a sign that you might have a little work to do. And that is, like GB said, getting to the heart of matters. LSD can do that. But I don't feel that its just "pop a tab, feel better in the morning".
Note this again...

Identifying these factors is a step. Getting outside yourself, to look in through the outside if you will, is another. Talking with someone close about what they may or may not have noticed in your life.
These are things that have found new and different connections during an LSD session, for me. Connections that have given me (sometimes) a dramatically different perspective. And in the end I believe perspective is a big part of "the blues".
Wishing you peace and all the best.

 

For me it didn't cure me of depression but it helped my deal with it. In 1986 when my first wife divorced me and took my kids away I took some acid went for a long bike ride to clear my head ended up crying like never in my life. I got so emotional I remember to this day sitting on the guardrail by the road just bawling as cars drove by oblivious to them. It took a long time for the acid trip to make a positive change with my help but it did no curing of the depression I was going through at the time. But I'm only speaking about myself I imagine every trip is different for each person.

 

Reading your post made me wanna comfort you man... I can only imagine what that feeling was like on an acid trip.

I am trying to get hold of some L atm, if my luck works out I'll post a report, I'm currently going through some stuff and I'm hoping lucy can walk me through it.

 

what is depression besides a subjective illness created by the psychiatry system's view?

people have problems, and have spiritual and social needs. these are things that need to be adressed, not depression.

i wouldn't typically trip if i was not in a good place in my life. however there have been times before where i have tripped while not doing so great and it really helped me to see the good in life and increase my positive attitude.

it all just depends on how you take it. even the hardest times can be good with the right mindstate -- which is really what lsd helped me see. to obtain a birds eye is to turn a blizzard to a breeze.

but if you trip while in a good place in your life, then your experiences are going to be better.

 

since the chemistry thing is sort of in my league, i just wanted to point out that, as far as i know, there isn't any evidence for the chemical imbalance that they like to show cartoons of in anti-depressant commercials. it's possible, and i believe that depression can be a real serious ailment, but as of now, they are really trying to treat something that they just don't understand

 

Agreed with Desos & Pork's last post.

Depression is a slippery issue. The people who would diagnose it don't understand it, and many of the treatments for it seem odd.

Notice that one of the hallmarks of depression is laziness and lost productivity...no wonder society wants to fix people who have this supposed disorder; we've got to remain good little worker-bees for the sake of the economy, don't we?

I've often thought that to live in modern society and not be deeply depressed is more mentally-ill than the other way round. The expectation that people should be mostly happy, and only sad in short and socially-acceptable spurts, will get harder and harder to maintain as our society fractures more deeply, the future becomes darker, and people become more lonely.

As for the question of LSD and depression, I can relate to the OP. First time I took LSD was in the midst of one of the darkest chapters of my life. Set and setting and dose were perfect, though, and I came through with a much better outlook on my problems.

Subsequent trips with less-than-ideal set and setting (and set INCLUDES intention, absolutely) have given me great emotional turmoil and made me feel worse about my problems.

I think LSD makes bullshit weaken and Truth become more apparent. Sometimes the Truth can be helpful, sometimes it can be very upsetting.

 

I have a paper that I should be writing, and so can't read as much as I should in this thread-will later.

But from what I got, it seems that you got a bit more in touch with yourself on acid, and it brought out "latent" depression-as you said, made you face it-which is something acid is famous for. I think it's possible this could have been avoided by being more prepared and understanding acid better-but at the same time, if you had been that prepared, maybe you wouldn't have had this depression lurking under the surface in the first place, ehh?

I don't see it being hormonal or anything.

I think as you said, using acid in the wrong way may have built on what it brought out.

I think taking more may bring it back. But I'm also the type to face things head on and immediately (assuming we're not talking about writing research papers). I suggest that you read a lot more about psychedelics, because of some of the things I've seen%

 

Neuroscience has pointed to evidence to suggest there is chemical imbalance involved with depression. The thing is that like many disorders major depression is probably a combination of internal and external causes and medications can't account for external causes and I'd assume some current drugs aren't as pinpoint accurate in being able to account for things like breakdown rate of certain chemicals like this paragraph suggests...

http://psychcentral.com/news/2006/11/09/depressions-chemical-imbalance-explained/398.html

So I think a holistic approach of medication and therapy would be the most efficient in combating depression, but most people can't dish out money for medication as well as therapy on top of that, and the current medications are probably ineffective for many. So some of these limitations and yes the fact it is still an elusive condition, often open the floodgates for radically alternative theories and what not.

 

well i guess my statement would have been true before this study in 2006..so i'm just a few years off.

but it still stands that their understanding is fuzzy at best. think of the commercial, they make the cartoon so simple and the drugs action so simple. read about what wellbutrin does on wikipedia. if affects like 10 things in the brain. it's delivered dose btwn individuals can differ by 5X.

i actually tried to look at the data for that study so i could blow some holes in it. first graph looked pretty convincing though, maybe small sample size

 

:sunny:

 

I highly doubt it accounts for the original reason of the imbalance. It may fix the imbalance, but while in some cases there may simply be a chronic problem beyond their control, in others, it makes perfect sense that the imbalance is caused by a realtime force causing depression...... Emotions ARE chemicals, not just effected by them.