Making “bad trips” good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences

This interview study (n=50) of Norwegian psychedelic users found that narrative techniques helped them deal with/recontextualize ‘bad’ trips.

Abstract

“Background We study the significance of stories about bad trips among users of psychedelics. Drawing on narrative theory, we describe the characteristics of such stories and explore the work they do.

Methods In-depth qualitative interviews with 50 Norwegian users of psychedelics.

Results Almost all participants had frightening experiences when using psychedelics and many described these as bad trips. The key feature of a bad trip was a feeling of losing oneself or going crazy, or ego dissolution. Most users said that these experiences could be avoided by following certain rules, based on tacit knowledge in the subcultures of users. Possessing such knowledge was part of symbolic boundary work that distinguished between drug culture insiders and outsiders. Some also rejected the validity of the term bad trip altogether, arguing that such experiences reflected the lack of such competence. Finally, and most importantly, most participants argued that unpleasant experiences during bad trips had been beneficial and had sometimes given them deep existential and life-altering insights.

Conclusion Bad trip experiences are common among users of psychedelics. Such experiences are often transformed into valuable experiences through storytelling. Bad trip narratives may be a potent coping mechanism for users of psychedelics in non-controlled environments, enabling them to make sense of frightening experiences and integrate these into their life stories. Such narrative sense-making, or narrative work, facilitates the continued use of psychedelics, even after unpleasant experiences with the drugs.”

Authors: Liridona Gashi, Sveinung Sandberg & Willy Pedersen

Notes

The challenging experiences were taken from the perspective of the participants in the study, but the study does mention the Challenging Experience Questionnaire (Barrett et al., 2016) that dives deeper into the different aspects of a challenging experience (bad trip).

“Almost all participants had experienced frightening bad rips. However, looking back, they were convinced that these were important experiences, resulting in deep insights. Although sometimes hesitant to use the term itself, bad trips were typically narrated as valuable, sometimes as an important turning point in a larger life history.”

This quote summarizes best what is presented (with quotes from participants) in the article. It highlights how the stories we tell ourselves help make sense of our world, the same goes for a (challenging) psychedelic experience.

Summary

We studied the significance of stories about bad trips among users of psychedelics. Most participants had frightening experiences when using psychedelics, but most also said that such experiences could be avoided by following certain rules.

Introduction

Psychedelic substances have been used for millennia for religious and spiritual purposes, and have shown promise in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders. However, some people find psychedelics frightening, and so-called “ego dissolutions” may be experiencedasscaring.

Psychedelicsandbadtrips

Studies show that psychedelics may be useful in the treatment of a number of disorders, including depression, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety about dying. However, there are many potential downsides to psychedelic use, including anxiety, panic, depersonalization, ego dissolution, paranoia, as well as somatic symptoms such as dizziness and heart palpitations.

Narrativetheory

Narratives are essential building blocks of all cultures, and are used to structure, explain and interpret experience. Narratives are also used to draw boundaries between users and non-users, and to communicate edginess and subtle opposition to mainstream society.

Narratives are important for processing emotions and experiences, and integrating life through simplification. Bad trip narratives are used by participants to process and come to terms with unpleasant experiences, and to draw boundaries towards other users and explore the narrative process of transforming negative experiences into positive ones.

Methods,dataandanalysis

We recruited 50 participants from a closed Facebook group for users of psychedelics, and conducted in-depth interviews with them. The participants’ narratives were analysed in more detail to develop our analysis of badtrip narratives, and we only use excerpts from 10 participants’ in the analysis below.

Bad trip stories as symbolic boundary work

Christina blamed bad trips on users without sufficient knowledge about psychedelic drugs, and knowledge of how to manage drug-related challenges. Nicholas explained how he survived intense psychedelic experiences by breathing, focusing on the breath, and observing everything without judgement.

Some participants were skeptical about the term “bad trip”, while others blamed themselves for their unpleasant experiences. These stories are an important part of the self-narrative of psychedelic drug users, who position themselves as confident, competent and sensible users of psychedelics.

The narrative work of making bad trips good

Almost all participants had experienced frightening bad trips, but were convinced that these were important experiences that resulted in deep insights. Many participants valued the experiences that came with bad trips, sometimes because they had enabled them to face and resolve deep-rooted emotional barriers, interpersonal relationships or taught them to control their life.

Conclusion

Effective psychotherapy often involves changes in patient’s meaning-making processes. Bad trip narratives may be a potent coping mechanism, opening for fruitful meaning-making and enabling users to make sense of rightening experiences, while at the same time removing an important threshold against psychedelic drug use.