Bad Trip - Requesting Input

[Tildy]

My brother and I each had an eighth of the same batch of mushrooms (usual type, primarily psylocibin/psylocin, not an amanita). I had a fairly normal trip, but I could tell it was more potent than usual by a fairly significant amount. He, however, had a very bad trip and we almost went to the hospital thinking he was having a stroke. Here are some of the details:
He had eaten almost nothing all day (we started in the evening), the same goes for water.
While the one other person there and I kept occupied with things, he was totally spacing out on the couch not paying attention.
He then tried to get food, but couldn't remember how even though the food was already on the table.
He then began saying that he 'couldn't function', that something 'was not right', and he became worried.

When pressed for clarification, he—with some difficulty—explained that he could not remember the names of things on the table. He recognized the objects to some extent, but could not remember what the objects were called. He explained that he was going to die because he could not function, because he could not access any information in his mind. He could not remember that he had consumed mushrooms, even after having that fact explained to him. It was as though parts of his memory were nonfunctional. He could converse but not acquire any new information. He would go back and forth between suddenly stating that something was seriously wrong and he needed help, to seemingly calming down after we talked to him, then back to worrying again just as suddenly as though he had forgotten everything that just happened again.

He also was completely convinced that the night would continue on forever, with time repeating itself infinitely (the night would 'reset' and happen again forever), and that everything was equally meaningless. He therefore concluded that he must be in the equivalent of "hell". He later confided in us that he had considered killing himself, but was certain that if he did, he would simply wake up again somewhere and the hell would continue.

Has anybody encountered anything like this? Why did it happen? How can it be prevented? How can one distinguish between a stroke, and some of the symptoms he exhibited such as inability to recall names of objects or access at least some portions of memory. He said that he had some history of panic attacks, but certainly nothing like the memory problems and such. He has taken lower doses of mushrooms at least 3 times before with no problems.

Thanks for any information you can provide. I also experienced time dilation, but not a certainty of infinite time, and no such memory issues.

[Shoom]

To me it is pretty obvious what happened. Your brother was undergoing ego-loss and was unable to cope with this process. The ideal advice in this situation is to just "let go". Of course, this is much easier said than done.

In the right situation this experience could have been profoundly different. A dark room, with music and incense for example. Perhaps if you moved him into there, then tried to get him to close his eyes and meditate, he could have eased into an understanding. He complained of looking at a table and seeing objects that he could not understand or name. With eyes closed he would have also seen objects he couldn't name or understand, but the objects and images wouldn't have been the fabrications of civilization, but the manifestations of universal awareness.

When a person is experiencing the symptoms of ego-loss and attempts to fight this sensation, then the outcome is always bad. Alternatively try putting the person outside, in nature. I bet he would have remembered what a tree was. He would have remembered more than he ever knew.

[Tildy]

After I read more about common 'bad trips', I saw a lot of similarities to his, but I have never seen anything about memory loss. That was the most concerning issue, I think. I think he may have really been freaked out if we made it dark, because he didn't know what was happening or that he was on mushrooms half the time anyway.

edit: anyway I still <3 psilocin so much. It's made me more content with life in general and I have what seems like a great understanding of 'how things are'. I get a feeling of awe just thinking about the true nature of things.

[ROX]

I experienced the same "the night will last forever" thing on my bad (but good) acid trip, thinking an hour passed yet looking at a clock only one minute did.

Anyway feeling of imminent death or "not breathing" is common for bad trips and near ego-loss tripping. Memory loss not so much but again, it's a psychedelic, the only thing predictable about the experience itself is that it's unpredictable. It just might have been a thought loop, I myself went to shower at the peak of a trip only to remember when I got in the bathroom that I already did shower, and had previously returned to shower again about five times, each time forgetting that I did shower before already.

Calling the hospital is probably the worst thing you can do, many "symptoms" felt while tripping are fabricated by pessimistic and panicky thoughts of a bad trip, not breathing/functioning and feeling like dying are very common and people needlessly ruin it for themselves and others far more by calling the hospital in these times. A hospital is NEEDLES and COUNTER-EFFECTIVE for dealing with a bad trip properly. Chances are infinity to one that it's only a trip effect and not a medical issue if you feel something during a bad trip. I thought I had cut myself on razor blades while in fact I was opening a marker, looked at my hands for blood and instantly my whole vision turned red, it's placebo, when you fear something has happened your mind will facilitate it even more, when I tasted my fingers I did indeed taste blood. There was no blood. Going out of my mind I came very close from calling the hospital to calling my parents to calling many other people (I tripped alone a very potent rolling stones blotter), but later literally dismantled my cell phone and hid the parts around the room knowing that in a few seconds I won't be able to remember where they are, so I don't call anyone and make a much bigger mess of this. I suggest you do the same, rid yourself of the phone while tripping. It will most likely spare you much bigger trouble with people close to you that don't approve, as well as the law.

Also it sounds like your brother should first familiarize himself with lower doses before trying this again because wanting to kill yourself during a trip is not a good sign.