Can you prevent negative long-term effects of bad trips with sleep deprivation?
post by Anton Rodenhauser (anton-rodenhauser) · 2023-06-24T14:05:41.950Z · LW · GW · No commentsThis is a question post.
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Answers 2 Ustice 1 bvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv None No comments
The idea is that you need sleep in order to consolidate your memories. If you deprive yourself of that after a bad trip on psychedelics, or after a traumatic event or re-traumatization, the newly formed bad memories don't consolidate.
I’ve heard that people are way less likely to get PTSD after a traumatic event if they experience strong sleep deprivation afterwards - as has happened to soldiers in war for example. I’ve also heard in conversations that this works in rats that are subjected to sleep deprivation after being put under traumatic stress.
If this were true, wouldn't this be an amazing hack to make psychedelic trips way safer? Now, I know that sleep deprivation is not easy and very unpleasant and probably the last thing you want to do after a bad trip - but it's a much less bad option compared to long-term negative effects of bad trips. And uppers like caffein, modafinil or amphetamines would make it easy to do.
I'd personally find it very nice if this option exists as a fallback plan B. For me, it would take away the “fear of fear”, or the "fear of a bad trip", because I would know that the worst thing that can happen is that I have a really bad time and maybe feel destabilized for a few weeks after, but there won't be any serious negative long-term effects - because I can always just skip a day or two of sleep afterwards!
Does anyone know if this would work?
Answers
Even my terrifying experiences were good afterwards. I think of them similarly to watching a scary movie, or riding a roller coaster: it’s simulated danger. The ones I tried are fairly safe, so even when I had the emotional experience that my mind interpreted as dying, there was still that thought in the back of my head that it was all a simulation.
Of course your experience may be different, but I wouldn’t want to forget them. The details always are very fuzzy, and maybe dream-like in some ways. Also my “bad trips” were only scary for part of the time. Later, I enjoyed myself.
I’m not encouraging you to take hallucinations, but if you chose to, I encourage you to not overthink it too much beyond finding a safe place, with safe people, doing things that you enjoy doing.
↑ comment by Anton Rodenhauser (anton-rodenhauser) · 2023-06-27T12:50:41.400Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
No it's NOT simulated danger! The danger of permanently and seriously reprogramming yourself in a bad way during bad trips is real. It does sometimes happen. It's not guaranteed that psychedelics change you to the better. If bad trips were only extremely unpleasant and maybe very destabilizing for a few weeks or months, I wouldn't be afraid of bad trips. But this is not how it is.
In my experience opinion. A good deal of bad trips are actually caused by being sleep deprived.
↑ comment by Anton Rodenhauser (anton-rodenhauser) · 2023-06-27T12:47:09.719Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Well, obviously the idea is to only sleep-deprive yourself right AFTER (and only IF) the bad has already happened. So instead of going to sleep after being completely sober again after the trip, you would take some uppers instead and keep yourself awake for as long as possible
Replies from: bvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv↑ comment by bvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv · 2023-06-27T13:54:23.020Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
That would most certainly cause a bad trip at night. As taking uppers to stay awake for long will also increase anxiety, which will not be helped by the residual hallucinations from the earlier hallucinogenic.
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