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==Dealing With Psychotic Episodes== | ==Dealing With Psychotic Episodes== | ||
| − | Psychedelic compounds are known to induce psychosis or cause the manifestation of latent mental illness. In this situation contacting emergency services is paramount: identifying and treating someone in the early stages of a psychosis can improve their | + | Psychedelic compounds are known to induce psychosis or cause the manifestation of latent mental illness. In this situation contacting emergency services is paramount: identifying and treating someone in the early stages of a psychosis can improve their long-term outcome. However, it is important to make the distinction between a bad trip and psychosis. Psychosis is generally given to diverse types of hallucinations or delusional beliefs; e.g. grandiosity, delusions of persecution. Individuals who have a substance induced psychosis tend to have a greater awareness of their psychosis and tend to have higher levels of suicidal thinking compared to individuals who have a primary psychotic illness. Primary psychiatric causes of psychosis include the following: |
*Schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder | *Schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder | ||
| − | *Affective (mood) disorders, including severe depression, and severe depression or mania in bipolar disorder (manic depression). People experiencing a psychotic episode in the context of depression may experience persecutory or self-blaming delusions, while people experiencing a psychotic episode in the context of mania may form grandiose delusions | + | *Affective (mood) disorders, including severe depression, and severe depression or mania in bipolar disorder (manic depression). People experiencing a psychotic episode in the context of depression may experience persecutory or self-blaming delusions, while people experiencing a psychotic episode in the context of mania may form grandiose delusions |
*Schizoaffective disorder, involving symptoms of both schizophrenia and mood disorders | *Schizoaffective disorder, involving symptoms of both schizophrenia and mood disorders | ||
*Brief psychotic disorder, or acute/transient psychotic disorder | *Brief psychotic disorder, or acute/transient psychotic disorder | ||
This article covers some basic rules and tips on how to tripsit someone through a drug experience in life. Additional to this page, you can pick up some extra tips on attitudes and what to say on How To Tripsit Online.
A responsible trip sitter assists a drug user before, during, and after their experience; it is their responsibility to help the user by making sure they drink enough water, giving them conversation when needed and assisting them in moving around when needed, and generally doing whatever necessary to ensure their comfort throughout the trip.
It is important that the sitter be a source of stability and safety for the tripper. It is extraordinarily helpful for the tripper to see you as knowledgeable. The responsible trip sitter will thoroughly research the substance which will be ingested (as well as the users) in order to answer all potential questions the user may have, and to prepare for any potential crisis situations it may cause. The sitter will discuss this research in detail with the user; it is also considered important to talk to the user about any ground rules for the session, how to handle any emergencies that may arise, and what, if any, guidance will be wanted during the trip. A trip sitter will also frequently help a drug user create a healthy set and setting for the experience. They do this by making sure the user's surroundings are comfortable and orderly, adjusting lighting, temperature, and music (if any) to suit the desired tone of the trip, and overall doing whatever they can to maximize the user's openness to the experience and minimize their fear.
A good trip sitter will make sure that the person they're sitting is ingesting substances responsibly; eg. not mixing substances which have dangerous interactions, not mixing a substance when taking it for the first time, etc.
When in doubt, it is better to contact emergency services than to be responsible for bodily harm or death. This advice presupposes that you are knowledgeable and capable of distinguishing between benign and potentially life-threatening symptoms.
A sitter typically remains present for the entire experience. In some cases, they may actively guide the experience of the user by adjusting their environment or through guided meditation or visualization. In other cases, they stay uninvolved except when the user has questions, fears, or needs for which the sitter can provide (such as making sure the user drinks enough water). Assistance in facing fears may be especially necessary if the experience turns into a bad trip. In order to maintain the immediate well-being of the drug user, it is important for the sitter to know what situations he/she can or cannot handle on his/her own, and when to call for professional medical assistance.
Although the sitter may be called upon to intervene during a difficult situation, bad trip, or medical crisis, the mere presence of a caring sitter is often enough to keep a user comfortable and even enable deeper exploration of the drug's effects. The experience of being present during an especially powerful experience, such as when the user reaches new insight into themselves or their beliefs about the nature of the universe, is reportedly quite rewarding.
Things to avoid doing include constantly asking the tripper how they are doing or questions such as "What are you seeing?" Questions like this can become quite annoying.
Psychedelic compounds are known to induce psychosis or cause the manifestation of latent mental illness. In this situation contacting emergency services is paramount: identifying and treating someone in the early stages of a psychosis can improve their long-term outcome. However, it is important to make the distinction between a bad trip and psychosis. Psychosis is generally given to diverse types of hallucinations or delusional beliefs; e.g. grandiosity, delusions of persecution. Individuals who have a substance induced psychosis tend to have a greater awareness of their psychosis and tend to have higher levels of suicidal thinking compared to individuals who have a primary psychotic illness. Primary psychiatric causes of psychosis include the following:
Your safety and the user's mental and physical health are more valuable than being questioned by the police or similar. Here are some guidelines for dealing with somebody that is mentally unstable in a situation where you are unable to contact emergency services:
If you believe that the tripper has overdosed, here are some guidelines:
A sitter may help the drug user to integrate or understand their experiences when the trip is complete. Just as they did before, and during the trip, they may reassure the user about any fears or worries that have occurred. This discussion may take place immediately after the drug's effects have worn off, or they may wait until a later date.