Bad Trip - Wikipedia

Unpleasant experience triggered by psychoactive drugs For other uses, see Bad Trip.

A bad trip (also known as challenging experiences, acute intoxication from hallucinogens, psychedelic crisis, or emergence phenomenon) is an acute adverse psychological reaction to the effects of psychoactive substances, namely psychedelics. There is no clear definition of what constitutes a bad trip. Additionally, knowledge on the cause of bad trips and who may be vulnerable to such experiences are limited. Existing studies report that possible adverse reactions include anxiety, panic, depersonalization, ego dissolution, paranoia, as well as physiological symptoms such as dizziness and heart palpitations. However, most studies indicate that the set and setting of substance use influence how people respond.[1]

Bad trips can be exacerbated by the inexperience or irresponsibility of the user or the lack of proper preparation and environment for the trip, and are often reflective of unresolved psychological tensions triggered during the course of the experience.[2][page needed] In clinical research settings, precautions including the screening and preparation of participants, the training of the session monitors who will be present during the experience, and the selection of appropriate physical setting can minimize the likelihood of psychological distress.[3] Researchers have suggested that the presence of professional "trip sitters" (i.e., session monitors) may significantly reduce the negative experiences associated with a bad trip.[4] In most cases in which anxiety arises during a supervised psychedelic experience, reassurance from the session monitor is adequate to resolve it; however, if distress becomes intense it can be treated pharmacologically, for example with the benzodiazepine diazepam.[3]

The psychiatrist Stanislav Grof wrote that unpleasant psychedelic experiences are not necessarily unhealthy or undesirable, arguing that they may have the potential for psychological healing and lead to breakthrough and resolution of unresolved psychic issues.[2][page needed] Drawing on narrative theory, the authors of a 2021 study of 50 users of psychedelics found that many described bad trips as having been sources of insight or even turning points in life.[4]

While some users report benefits, a challenging psychedelic experience can lead to long-term negative consequences, particularly if the individual lacks proper support. A portion of users report being psychologically traumatized afterwards, and some have been diagnosed with PTSD following a particularly difficult trip..[5] In one survey [6], 9% of users reported difficulties lasting at least 24 hours after the trip itself. In another survey of 608 people who all reported post-psychedelic difficulties, one-third of the dataset said the difficulties lasted longer than a year, and one-fifth said the difficulties lasted longer than three years.[7] The most commonly-reported post-psychedelic difficulties in this study were anxiety, feeling traumatized by the experience or uncovering earlier trauma, social isolation, derealization/depersonalization, visual distortions, and existential confusion. Most people recover from these difficulties with the help of accurate information, social support, and therapy.[8]

Signs and symptoms

[edit] See also: Psychosis and Substance-induced psychosis

With proper screening, preparation, and support in a regulated setting symptoms are usually benign.[9] A bad trip on psilocybin, for instance, often features intense anxiety, confusion, agitation, and psychosis.[10] They manifest as a range of feelings, such as anxiety, paranoia, the unshakeable sense of one's inevitable and imminent personal demise or states of unrelieved terror that they believe will persist after the substance's effects have worn off. As of 2011, exact data on the frequency of bad trips are not available.[10]

Treatment

[edit] See also: Trip killer

Medical treatment consists of supportive therapy and minimization of external stimuli. In some cases, sedation is used when necessary to control self-destructive behavior, or when hyperthermia occurs. A trip killer such as alprazolam, diazepam, quetiapine, or trazodone is the most frequently used treatment.[11] Other benzodiazepines such as lorazepam are also effective. Such sedatives will only decrease fear and anxiety, but will not subdue hallucinations. Antipsychotics such as quetiapine, aripiprazole, risperidone, and haloperidol can reduce or stop hallucinations. Haloperidol is effective against acute intoxication caused by LSD and other tryptamines, amphetamines, ketamine, and phencyclidine.[12][13]

Pathophysiology

[edit]

Bad trips may cause range of conditions such as psychosis and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD).[14]

Perspectives

[edit]

Stanislav Grof

[edit]

Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof once said in an interview:

There is a tremendous danger of confusing the inner world with the outer world, so you'll be dealing with your inner realities but at the same time you are not even aware of what's happening, You perceive a sort of distortion of the world out there. So you can end up in a situation where you're weakening the resistances, your conscious is becoming more aware, but you're not really in touch with it properly, you're not really fully experiencing what's there, not seeing it for what it is. You get kind of deluded and caught into this.[15]

In a 1975 book, Grof suggested that painful and difficult experiences during a trip could be a result of the mind reliving experiences associated with birth, and that experiences of imprisonment, eschatological terror, or suffering far beyond anything imaginable in a normal state, if seen through to conclusion, often resolve into emotional, intellectual and spiritual breakthroughs. From this perspective, Grof suggests that interrupting a bad trip, while initially seen as beneficial, could potentially trap the tripper in unresolved psychological states. Grof also suggests that many cathartic experiences within psychedelic states, while not necessarily crises, may be the effects of consciousness entering a perinatal space.[16]

Rick Strassman

[edit]

Professor of psychiatry Rick Strassman is critical of reframing the experience of bad trips as one of "challenging experiences".[17]

See also

[edit]

• Altered state of consciousness
• Ego death
• Existential crisis
• Hallucinogen
• Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder
• Harm reduction
• Near-death experience
• Out-of-body experience
• Overdose
• Posttraumatic growth
• Posttraumatic stress disorder
• Psychedelic experience
• Psychedelic therapy
• Psychedelic drug
• Risks of psychedelic drugs
• Psychonautics
• Psychosis
• Recreational drug use
• Responsible drug use
• Sensory deprivation
• Set and setting
• Spiritual crisis
• Substance-induced psychosis
• Trip killer

References

[edit]

1. ^ Gashi, Liridona; Sandberg, Sveinung; Pedersen, Willy (2021). "Making "bad trips" good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences". International Journal of Drug Policy. 87 102997. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102997. hdl:10852/81144. ISSN 0955-3959. PMID 33080454.
2. ^ a b Grof, Stanislav (2008). LSD Psychotherapy. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. ISBN 978-0-9798622-0-5.
3. ^ a b Johnson, Matthew W.; Richards, William A.; Griffiths, Roland R. (2008). "Human Hallucinogen Research: Guidelines for Safety". Journal of Psychopharmacology. 22 (6): 603–620. doi:10.1177/0269881108093587. PMC 3056407. PMID 18593734.
4. ^ a b Gashi, Liridona; Sandberg, Sveinung; Pederson, Willy (2021). "Making "bad trips" good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences". International Journal of Drug Policy. 87 102997. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102997. hdl:10852/81144. PMID 33080454. S2CID 224821288.
5. ^ Calder, Abigail E.; Diehl, Vincent J.; Hasler, Gregor (April 29, 2025). "Traumatic Psychedelic Experiences". Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. doi:10.1007/7854_2025_579. PMID 40299143.
6. ^ Simonsson, Otto; Hendricks, Peter S.; Chambers, Richards; Osika, Walter; Goldberg, Simon B. (1 April 2023). "Prevalence and associations of challenging, difficult or distressing experiences using classic psychedelics". Journal of Affective Disorders. 326: 105–110. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.073. PMC 9974873. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
7. ^ Argyri, Eirini K.; Evans, Jules; Luke, David; Michael; Michelle, Katrina; Rohani-Shukla, Cyrus; Suseelan, Shayam; Prideaux, Ed; McAlpine, Rosalind; Murphy-Beiner, Ashleigh; Robinson, Oliver C. (5 May 2025). "Navigating groundlessness: An interview study on dealing with ontological shock and existential distress following psychedelic experiences". PLOS ONE. 20 (5) e0322501. Bibcode:2025PLoSO..2022501A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0322501. PMC 12052184. PMID 40323979.
8. ^ "Difficulties after psychedelics". Challenging Psychedelic Experiences. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
9. ^ Barrett, FS; Bradstreet, MP; Leoutsakos, JS; Johnson, MW; Griffiths, RR (December 2016). "The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms". Journal of Psychopharmacology. 30 (12): 1279–1295. doi:10.1177/0269881116678781. PMC 5549781. PMID 27856683.
10. ^ a b van Amsterdam, Jan; Opperhuizen, Antoon; van den Brink, Wim (2011). "Harm potential of magic mushroom use: A review". Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. 59 (3): 423–429. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2011.01.006. PMID 21256914.
11. ^ Yates, Gregory; Melon, Emily (2024-02-01). "Trip-killers: a concerning practice associated with psychedelic drug use". Emergency Medicine Journal. 41 (2): 112–113. doi:10.1136/emermed-2023-213377. ISSN 1472-0205. PMID 38123961.
12. ^ Giannini, A. James; Underwood, Ned A.; Condon, Maggie (2000). "Acute Ketamine Intoxication Treated by Haloperidol". American Journal of Therapeutics. 7 (6): 389–91. doi:10.1097/00045391-200007060-00008. PMID 11304647.
13. ^ "Sage Journals". Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
14. ^ Bracco, Jessica (May 2019). "The United States Print Media and its War on Psychedelic Research in the 1960s". The Exposition. 5 (1): 9–10.
15. ^ "Beyond Psychotic Experience - Stan Grof interviewed by Jon Atkinson". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
16. ^ Grof, Stanislav (1975). realms of the human unconscious - Observations from LSD research. souvenir press. pp. 95–153. ISBN 0-285-64882-9.
17. ^ "Misguided Mainstreaming of Psychedelic Drugs: Challenging Experiences". Rick Strassman MD. 25 October 2017.

External links

[edit]

Classification	D ICD-10: F16.0 ICD-9-CM: 305.3

• Crisis Intervention in Situations Related to Unsupervised Use of Psychedelics
• Psychedelic Crisis FAQ: Helping someone through a bad trip, psychic crisis, or spiritual crisis
• Psychedelic Harm Reduction Archived 2014-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Policy lecture in the Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century conference in 2010.
• Psychedelics in the Psychiatric ER - Julie Holland, M.D. lecture in the Psychedelic Science in the 21st Century conference in 2010.
• The Psychedelic crisis (bad trip) entry at Drugs-Wiki

v t e Psychoactive substance-related disorders
General	SID Substance intoxication / Drug overdose Substance-induced psychosis Withdrawal: Neonatal withdrawal Post-acute-withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) SUD Substance abuse / Substance-related disorders Physical dependence / Psychological dependence / Substance dependence
Combinedsubstance use	SUD Polysubstance dependence SID Combined drug intoxication (CDI)
Alcohol	SID Cardiovascular diseases Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACM) Alcohol flush reaction (AFR) Gastrointestinal diseases Alcoholic liver disease (ALD): Alcoholic hepatitis Zieve's syndrome Auto-brewery syndrome (ABS) Endocrine diseases Alcoholic ketoacidosis (AKA) Nervous system diseases Alcohol-related dementia (ARD) Alcohol intoxication Hangover Neurological disorders Alcoholic hallucinosis Alcoholic polyneuropathy Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS): Alcoholic hallucinosis Delirium tremens (DTs) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) Korsakoff syndrome (KS) Marchiafava–Bignami disease (MBD) Positional alcohol nystagmus (PAN) Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) Respiratory tract diseases Alcohol-induced respiratory reactions Alcoholic lung disease SUD Alcoholism (alcohol use disorder (AUD)) Binge drinking
Caffeine	SID Caffeine-induced anxiety disorder Caffeine-induced psychosis Caffeine-induced sleep disorder Caffeinism Caffeine withdrawal SUD Caffeine dependence
Cannabis	SID Cannabis arteritis Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) SUD Cannabis use disorder (CUD) Synthetic cannabinoid use disorder
Cocaine	SID Cocaine intoxication Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) SUD Cocaine dependence
Hallucinogen	SID Acute intoxication from hallucinogens (bad trip) Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD)
Nicotine	SID Nicotine poisoning Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS) Nicotine withdrawal SUD Nicotine dependence
Opioids	SID Opioid overdose Opioid withdrawal Opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) Opioid-induced endocrinopathy (OIE) Opioid-induced constipation (OIC) SUD Opioid use disorder (OUD)
Sedative /hypnotic	SID Kindling (sedative–hypnotic withdrawal) benzodiazepine: SID Benzodiazepine overdose Benzodiazepine withdrawal SUD Benzodiazepine use disorder (BUD) Benzodiazepine dependence barbiturate: SID Barbiturate overdose SUD Barbiturate dependence
Stimulants	SID Stimulant psychosis amphetamine: SUD Amphetamine dependence
Volatile solvent	SID Sudden sniffing death syndrome (SSDS) Toluene toxicity Inhalant withdrawal SUD Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy Inhalant abuse
Related	Anabolic-androgenic steroids SUD Anabolic-androgenic steroids abuse Cannabis Amotivational syndrome Chocolate Chocoholic Cocaine Cocaine-induced midline destructive lesions Levamisole induced necrosis syndrome Methamphetamine Meth mouth