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psychsafetyalliance OP t1_itt0js5 wrote

Reply to comment by lysergic_818 in We are Dax Jackson and Ally Lee of Psychedelic Safety Alliance. We are here to provide scientific, no-BS adult harm reduction education around psychedelics. by psychsafetyalliance

We're safety people, so the main questions we think about with solo journeys are:

"What are the things that could go sideways during a solo trip?"

"How many of those things can I prevent in advance with good technique, preparation and awareness?"

"What are the risks I can't fully prevent, and how do I need to set myself up to access whatever help I might need to address those things in the absence of another person?"

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psychsafetyalliance OP t1_itt0s7g wrote

Part of having a trip sitter is to have someone who can take care of you if you need it and the intention behind that is solid, so one way to split the difference would be to trip alone somewhere with a friend close by, like in another room in a house.

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psychsafetyalliance OP t1_itt1dvj wrote

Another safety thing to consider for solo journeys is only dosing yourself with product you've taken before so you know the potency and aren't going to accidentally get too high to navigate your environment safely. This is especially the case with dissociatives like ketamine.

There are high doses one can calculate that still allow you to find a bathroom or use your phone to call for support or help if needed, and then there are high doses where it's hard to tell if the phone or bathroom even exist at allllll, man....

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lysergic_818 t1_itt4uim wrote

Yeah, the one and only time doing Salvia left me with harsh flashbacks for over a decade. But the dissociation was real. I didn't even know my own name, or what a name even meant. Wouldn't suggest a solo trip for that at all.

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lysergic_818 t1_itt4do9 wrote

Thanks for the very thoughtful reply. To digress, it was on a heavy trip that things were very challenging and I confronted my fear of death and suddenly poof, all gone. But up to that point the fear was visceral.

Regardless, I think what you mentioned below is very good safety advice, I think familiarizing oneself with whatever they're taking and dosing lightly for a few times first until they're ready to take a deeper dive is the best practice.

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