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.
Authors
- Gashi, L.
- Sandberg, S.
- Pedersen, W.
Published
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.”
Research Summary of 'Making “bad trips” good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences'
Introduction
Psychedelic substances have a long history of ritual and therapeutic use, and recent clinical research has renewed interest in their potential to treat psychiatric disorders and to induce lasting positive changes in mood and outlook. At the same time, such substances can produce intensely frightening or challenging experiences—commonly labelled “bad trips”—which may include anxiety, panic, paranoia and profound alterations of the sense of self (often described as ego dissolution). Previous work suggests that context, dose and individual factors (“set and setting”) influence these reactions, but how users make sense of and integrate frightening experiences in everyday, non‑clinical settings remains underexplored. Gashi and colleagues set out to examine the narrative work that stories about bad trips perform among psychedelic users. Using in‑depth qualitative interviews with Norwegian users, the study aims to (1) characterise how bad trips are recounted, (2) show how those narratives convey tacit subcultural knowledge and symbolic boundaries between insiders and outsiders, and (3) analyse how narrators transform frightening episodes into experiences they evaluate as meaningful or valuable. The authors propose that storytelling may be a potent coping mechanism that helps users integrate and continue their psychedelic practice despite unpleasant episodes.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Topics
- APA Citation
Gashi, L., Sandberg, S., & Pedersen, W. (2021). Making “bad trips” good: How users of psychedelics narratively transform challenging trips into valuable experiences. International Journal of Drug Policy, 87, 102997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102997
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