by Nick Palmer

We at the APS are obviously very keen to spread the word about the amazing benefits that psychedelics can provide. However, taking a psychedelic can be a life-changing experience and this is something that you need to be prepared for. Your entire worldview can quite literally change overnight—something you may have heard referred to as a “paradigm shift”.

Many people are desperate for relief from the conditions they are suffering from—lifelong conditions in some cases. This does not equate to being ready to try psychedelics as an alternative to medications or other forms of therapy, nor does it mean that pharmaceutical medications cannot help you. There also exists the phenomenon known as “spiritual bypassing”, where people take psychedelics in order to seek a spiritual experience, but ignore the need for deeper work on themselves. This can have highly detrimental effects, and be very counterproductive. In some cases, your first psychedelic experience may well deliver some huge spiritual revelations, but this will definitely not be the case every time. At some point, you will almost certainly be forced to face up to yourself, and to the personal issues that you may have been ignoring or suppressing, or may even have been totally unaware of. Be prepared for some hard work—if you are not ready for this, you should wait until you are, or maybe reconsider your reasons for wanting to try psychedelics, although curiosity is as valid a reason as any other.

Do not approach psychedelics out of a fear of missing out (FOMO). The fact that you may have come across someone who calls themselves a facilitator or “shaman” does not mean that they are the right fit for you—there are many of them out there, and the list is growing as interest in psychedelics among the general community increases. Many experienced people will tell you that psychedelics find you when you are ready, and that quite often this will be at a time when you are not actively looking for them.

Also very importantly, no one else can tell you when you are ready to take a psychedelic journey. We would advise you to avoid or ignore anyone who tries to do this. This is your journey, and you need to take it at your own pace.

This is an excerpt from a soon-to-be-released harm reduction guide written by the team at PATCH - the Psychedelically Aware Talking Circle Hub. Another excerpt (‘Solo Journeying with Psychedelics’) can be read here.