I’ve never heard it referred to as a “psychedelic hangover” …that’s my term. But that’s how I describe what many of my clients and students have been talking to me about since I began teaching Emotional Liberation nearly 10 years ago.
What’s been expressed in the intake interviews I do with them goes something like this, “Yeah, I tried psychedelics to feel better (ayahuasca, LSD, psilocybin, peyote, etc) but it didn’t help.” And often a follow-up comment like: “I felt better for a little while but the [fill in the blank emotion] ________ (anxiety, shame, depression, sadness, etc) came back. OR I heard, “I’ve never felt quite right since that psychedelic experience.”
It’s a disturbing and important issue and there’s a lot to be said so I am sharing it with you in this video.
Transcript
So, I want to talk about what I call, “psychedelic hang-overs” …that is not such great outcomes from psychedelic trips. Now since my emotions work is at the intersection of spirituality, mental health, emotions, and plant medicine, I keep my finger on the pulse of a lot of resources – it’s important to stay current with my practice.
And one of my favorite experts in the area of psychedelics is Jules Evans. Jules is the Director of the Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project.
And Jules has been bringing to light an important but little discussed issue around people doing psychedelics, and that is the downside to psychedelics … what’s referred to as “lingering challenges following psychedelic experiences.” And the results are quite stunning.
For example, in one study, a survey of 3-thousand respondents – 3-thousand – who said they used LSD or mushrooms mostly for depression and anxiety, 22 and a half percent, nearly 1-in-4 reported adverse effects, including confusion, memory issues, racing thoughts and feeling disconnected from the world around them.
Jules also discusses a survey in which they asked: “After a psychedelic trip, have you ever had difficulties lasting longer than a day?”
He says, they got over 600 responses and 40% of them reported having difficulties lasting longer than a year with fear and anxiety and social disconnection being the most common effects reported.
What we’re talking about here is “Integration,” which essentially means what happens AFTER the psychedelic experience. How do you integrate it … you’re broken open and how do you bring together the spiritual, the emotional, the mental, the physical and your relationships in the world. And how do you make meaning of it all when big healing changes have taken place.
And this has been my work … my work is about helping people make changes in their lives, releasing difficult emotion, we need to align their inner life with their outer life. And this is whether people are recovering from psychedelic experiences, or never even had one … they’re just grappling with difficult emotions. And my work is about helping them release and process and integrate.
Often times, some of my tools include microdosing… small judicious amounts of psilocybin or cannabis – when it’s needed. On my website, BeccaWilliams.org, you’ll find students and clients discussing how it worked for them. I invite you to take go there and take a listen.
And if you find yourself grappling with difficult emotions, whether it’s in the wake of a psychedelic trip or you’ve been dealing with these emotions for years, come and join me in Portugal for 7-days of soul nourishment and life-changing experiences, that will get you back on your path. I am dedicated to helping you work through any challenges you may be facing and improve your overall well-being.
I’m Becca Williams and I want you to lead your most magnificent life and I want to help you do that.
Resources I mention in this video
1) Challenging Psychedelic Experiences Project: https://challengingpsychedelicexperiences.com
2) Psychedelic integration challenges: Participant experiences after a psilocybin truffle retreat in the Netherlands: https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/6/3/article-p211.xml
3) The Psychedelic Podcast interview with Jules Evans: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-191-jules-evans/
4) Global Ayahuasca Survey Results Published on Adverse Effects:
https://www.iceers.org/global-ayahuasca-survey-results-adverse-effects/
I had an experience with this in my early 20’s and the side effects lasted almost 6 months. It’s so important that people understand that there can be negative impacts.
I agree … and what to do to mitigate them!