Tips for during a psychedelic trip: navigating intense experiences

What do you do when the trip gets intense?

The short answer: you let it come. What makes it difficult is the resistance itself — they are not two separate things. That resistance is there for a reason, so try to be with it: ask that part what it needs to safely let go. That might sound like vague advice, but it’s exactly what researchers at Johns Hopkins and Imperial College London tell their participants before every session. The principle is called “trust, let go, be open” and comes from psychologist Bill Richards, who developed it over decades of guided sessions [1a, 1b]. Research shows that participants who adopt this attitude less frequently experience a trip as difficult [1c].

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. On the contrary. But everything you do works better when it comes from acknowledgment rather than control. For anyone mainly worried about how to prevent a heavy experience: our article on preventing bad trips covers the set and setting choices you make before the session. Below is about what you can do during the trip itself, ordered by the moment in your trip.

Three principles before you start

Before we go into the phases, three things to remember. They’re simple. They’re also the hardest thing to do when you’re in the middle of a peak.

1. The difficulty and the resistance are the same thing. Fear is not an enemy. It’s a part of you trying to protect something. Don’t fight it, don’t push through it — meet it. Ask what that part needs to safely let go. It will pass.

2. Everything you feel is temporary. Oral psilocybin kicks in within 20 to 40 minutes, peaks after 60 to 90 minutes, and is over within 4 to 6 hours [2a]. LSD lasts longer (8 to 11 hours, peak around 1.5 to 2.5 hours) [2c]. Ayahuasca sits in between: onset after 30 minutes, peak after 60 to 120 minutes, total duration 4 to 6 hours [2d]. No matter how heavy it feels at the peak: it gets lighter.

3. Your setting is your anchor. When it’s storming inside, change something on the outside. Different song, different room, glass of water, blanket around you. Small changes work surprisingly well.

Phase 1 — Onset (0 to 60 minutes)

Your body starts feeling it before your mind gets it. That can be uncomfortable. Nausea, restlessness, a strange feeling in your stomach. That’s normal.

Check in with your body. Sit or lie down in an open posture. Arms and legs uncrossed. Sitting upright can help ground you. Feel your feet, your hands, your breathing.

Minimise stimuli. Soft lighting. No phone (on silent, but reachable for your trusted contact). No social media, no news, no mirror selfie camera. Doomscrolling is a known trigger for difficult experiences.

Don’t redose out of impatience. The onset can be slower than expected. Wait at least 90 minutes. Redosing during the onset often leads to an unnecessarily intense peak.

Accept the strangeness. The first hour sometimes feels like a kind of limbo: you’re no longer sober, but you’re not “in” yet either. That’s the substance starting to work. Let it be what it is.

Phase 2 — The peak (60 to 180 minutes)

This is where it happens. And this is where most people struggle. In clinical trials at Johns Hopkins and Imperial College, transient anxiety and nausea are most common around the peak. Even among carefully screened participants, about 30% experience a period of heightened anxiety during the session [8a, 8b]. That’s not exceptional. It’s part of it.

When fear comes up: breathe. There are no randomised trials on breathing exercises specifically for difficult moments in a trip yet, but the general anxiety literature is clear: an extended exhale (longer out than in, about six breaths per minute) activates the vagus nerve and can reduce panic within minutes [6a]. Box breathing also works: four counts in, four counts hold, four counts out, four counts wait. In clinical trials this is routinely offered as the first tool [1b].

Give the fear a name. Say it out loud or in your head: “I feel fear.” That alone creates space between you and the feeling. It’s a part of you that’s protecting, not the whole of who you are.

Music as companion. Research from Imperial College shows that music plays an active role in the psychedelic experience. Not as background, but as an emotional co-author [5a, 5b]. Curated, instrumental playlists work better than random Spotify. Think of the work of Mendel Kaelen (the researcher who developed the clinical playlists, now at Wavepaths), Jon Hopkins (Music for Psychedelic Therapy), or East Forest. Choose music without lyrics for the peak. Avoid tracks with personal memories; they pull you out of the experience.

Eye mask and headphones. The Johns Hopkins “inner journey” stance: lying down, eyes closed or with a mask, headphones on. This helps you go inward rather than getting distracted by the outside world.

Grounding when it gets too much. Cold water on your face. A weighted blanket. Light movement (yoga, walking around your house). These are ways to feel your body again when your mind drifts too far away.

What not to do during the peak. Don’t drive. No intense conversations with strangers. Don’t text your ex. Don’t google whether you’re dying. No alcohol or other substances to take the edge off. Those edges are there for a reason. Don’t combine with antidepressants or other medication without reading up on it first — see our article on combining truffles with SSRIs and antidepressants.

Phase 3 — The comedown (3 to 6 hours)

The peak is over, but your mind is still open and receptive. This is the integration window. What happens now colours how you remember the entire trip, more than the peak itself.

Take it easy. Drink water. Eat something light. Soft music. Don’t make decisions about your relationships, your job, or your life. Not now.

Write down one sentence. Not a whole journal. One sentence about what came up. That sentence is your anchor for the days after.

Talk to someone you trust. Or make something: draw, take a walk with voice memos, write. Integration doesn’t have to be talking.

Watch out in the days after. The experience of “ego dissolution” during a trip is temporary and distinct from the condition depersonalisation/derealisation (DPDR). During a trip, your sense of self usually returns within hours [7a]. If you still feel unmoored days or weeks later, that’s not an “aftereffect of the trip” but something to discuss with a professional [7b]. The Trimbos Institute can refer you to care providers who are familiar with psychedelics.

Reaching out after a difficult experience. If you still feel vulnerable, scared or unmoored in the days or weeks after the session, that’s the moment to reach out. To someone you trust, an integration coach who works with psychedelics, or the Trimbos Institute. Processing a difficult experience is not something you have to do alone. Difficult experiences can be a beautiful opening — if you work with them.

Working with a trip sitter

Do you have someone with you? Then agree beforehand: minimal talking, agreed-upon hand signals. “I need water.” “I need space.” “I’d like some reassurance.” The trip sitter observes, doesn’t intervene unless asked. Less is more.

Tripping solo? The same principles apply, but with a trusted contact at a distance. Share what you’re taking, when you’re starting, and when you’ll be responsive. Agree on a check-in message.<!-- TODO: when /en/articles/alleen-paddos-truffels/ ships, add: 'More on this in our article about solo tripping.' -->

Medical emergencies

Most difficult moments are exactly that: moments. They pass. But there are signals where you should not hesitate to call for help.

Call 112 for: unconsciousness or unresponsiveness; breathing difficulties; chest pain or severe heart palpitations; signs of an allergic reaction.

For other concerns, call 113 Suicide Prevention (0800-0113, free, 24/7), your GP after-hours service, or Jellinek drug info (088-505 1220, office hours). Healthcare providers are not the police. They can help you better if they know what you’ve taken.

Sources

1a. Richards WA (2016). Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences. Columbia University Press. ISBN <a href="https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/9780231174060" target="_blank" rel="noopener">978-0231174060</a>.

1b. Johnson MW, Richards WA, Griffiths RR (2008). J Psychopharmacol 22(6): 603-620. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881108093587" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1177/0269881108093587</a>

1c. Haijen ECHM et al. (2018). Front Pharmacol 9: 897. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2018.00897" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.3389/fphar.2018.00897</a>

2a. Hasler F et al. (2004). Psychopharmacology 172(2): 145-156. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-003-1640-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1007/s00213-003-1640-6</a>

2b. Brown RT et al. (2017). Clin Pharmacokinet 56(12): 1543-1554. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40262-017-0540-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1007/s40262-017-0540-6</a>

2c. Dolder PC et al. (2017). Clin Pharmacokinet 56(10): 1219-1230. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40262-017-0513-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1007/s40262-017-0513-9</a>

2d. Riba J et al. (2001). Psychopharmacology 154(1): 85-95. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s002130000606" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1007/s002130000606</a>

5a. Kaelen M et al. (2015). Psychopharmacology 232(19): 3607-3614. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-015-4014-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1007/s00213-015-4014-y</a>

5b. Kaelen M et al. (2018). Psychopharmacology 235(2): 505-519. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4820-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1007/s00213-017-4820-5</a>

6a. Laborde S et al. (2022). Neurosci Biobehav Rev 138: 104711. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104711" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104711</a>

7a. Nour MM et al. (2016). Front Hum Neurosci 10: 269. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00269" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.3389/fnhum.2016.00269</a>

7b. Sierra M, Berrios GE (2000). Psychiatry Res 93(2): 153-164. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-1781(00)00100-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1016/S0165-1781(00)00100-1</a>

8a. Goodwin GM et al. (2022). N Engl J Med 387(18): 1637-1648. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2206443" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1056/NEJMoa2206443</a>

8b. Griffiths RR et al. (2016). J Psychopharmacol 30(12): 1181-1197. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881116675513" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10.1177/0269881116675513</a>