The devastating risk of irresponsible psychedelic use in an overstimulated world

When working with psychedelics it is important to pay due respect and attention to how you live your life in the period before and after the peak experience. Psychedelics give us the questions, the way we live our lives in response to these questions can potentially give us the answers.

We live in a culture of constant information, fear and communication overload. The media of our modern world pummels us with messages of fear, shame and “not good enough” on a daily basis.

This is not how we as human beings are supposed to be living.

From an evolutionary point of view, it was not long ago that we were spending our days roaming around in fields, interacting with our tribes on a face-to-face basis, coming together regularly to share and be in connection. Things were relatively simple in terms of the amount of information and sensory input we had to digest. We did not feel responsible for the whole world’s problems, because we were unaware of them.

Circumstances change; the world is changing at an extremely fast pace. As human beings, our genetics are not able to keep up with this pace. We are evolving quicker than our genes can cope with, much quicker. Mental illness is the pandemic of our times, and the individual is frequently pathologised because of the sickness in the system, or the sickness of society.

 

So, how does this relate to psychedelics?

Psychedelics have been known to connect people to the earth, to nature and to their core emotional self. When encompassed within a modern, hectic and digitalised lifestyle, the risks of adverse incidents are devastating. Devastating for the individual and devastating for the world of psychedelic healing at large.

Society at large will likely blame the psychedelics for any adverse events, without taking a glimpse at the lifestyle of the person involved.

Whatever is going on for you in the time before your psychedelic journey, will manifest in the experience. So, watch a horror film the night before, the likelihood is you will have a horrifying experience. Completely stressed out with work or toxic relationship dynamics, then you will likely have a stressed out and toxic psychedelic journey.

These experiences are massive. Akin to getting married, having a baby or losing a parent, they can hold a similar level of significance in your life. When prepared for and integrated appropriately, they can have profound and transformative healing potential, like nothing you have ever experienced. When engaged with in a frivolous fashion, they can have dire consequences to yourself, and to the culture at large.

 

Psychedelics when used responsibly are very low risk. It is irresponsible use that is almost always the cause of problems.

Take some holiday time before your psychedelic journey, switch off from the modern world and go nomadic for a while. Stop inputting, or at the very least take control over what you are allowing in. Ideally, no television, social media, reading or hyper-communication. I would advise this for a minimum of five days before your experience, and to start winding down two weeks before. Instead, start outputting: your own ideas, creativity, journalling, art, music. Get out in nature, see what comes up and who you are when you are not engaging with other people’s ideas.

The work begins when you enter into the preparation process, you begin to journey within yourself, connect on a metaphorical level with the medicine and as such you start to feel. You can really solidify and honour your intentions during this time.

By being mindful in this way, you may not necessarily need lots of psychedelic experiences; you may just need one experience done well. This, I believe, may be the safest and most conscientious way to engage in this work.

There may be a time that you wish to come back and have another experience. But try to step off of the “more, more, more, bigger, better, faster” treadmill of the Western and modern world. Instead, do it when it feels right, when you have done all that you can to integrate your last experience, and you are truly ready.

Try to preserve this nomadic and conscientious way of being, for as long as possible post-experience. Your brain is incredibly neuroplastic post-psychedelics, which means it is adaptable to change, so it is a fantastic time to lay down the foundations of new healthy habits.

Endeavour to stay off social media if you can. Avoid comparing your life to the superficial and fake glamour of others, or being around people who drain your energy.

 

Take control of your world, take control of your environment and take control of your people.

Try a daily practice of meditation, breathwork or prayer. Find people to speak to who are interested and open-minded about the psychedelic experience. Go to therapy, this can transform your integration process. Find a therapist who understands psychedelics and the spiritual emergence process.

The integration process, when done well, never really ends. It is a continuous unfolding of the new you and it can be a joy to engage in.

At times it will be disorientating and difficult, as you adjust to the person you are becoming and grieve for what you have lost, this is normal. It is important to stay grounded, engage with the mundane tasks of being an ordinary human being and not to get too lost in the mystical and the transcendent.

And maybe, you will decide to live your life in a simpler fashion, maybe you will choose to disconnect somewhat from the overstimulated world that we inhabit, and instead look after your mind and body instead. To treat yourself in the same way a good mother or father would treat an overstimulated infant.

This is the journey of self-care, growth and evolution, or perhaps devolution.

Life is a journey and you are the only guide who can truly give yourself the medicine that you need.