"No Such Thing as a Bad Trip" - An Unhelpful Myth

For thirteen years now, on any given week, I’ve sat across from someone who has been harmed by a psychedelic experience, sometimes in very devastating ways. People who feel that madness or death are close at hand. People who haven’t been able to work or leave their house for 6 months. People who now live with a diagnosis and take anti-psychotic medication as a direct result of the trip. At other times they’re just shaken in ways they can’t name, but that won’t go away.

I think of these clients as Psychedelic Casualties, and helping them has become my specialty. I know it’s no fun to hear these stories. I know they don’t line up with the mainstream narrative around psychedelics. Most days of the week I’m also supervising therapists working in clinical psychedelic-assisted therapy - bearing witness to stories of profound healing and change. So…it’s complicated. But in this piece, I want to speak plainly about the myth “No Such Thing as a Bad Trip”, and its unseen cost.

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You’ve likely heard the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a bad trip.” But after more than a decade working with people harmed by psychedelic use, I find that claim comparable to saying car accidents don’t happen. I can see why some people might say this - and we’ll explore their motivations shortly - but as a blanket statement, it falls apart. Some psychedelic experiences derail lives. If a trip leads to diagnosis, medication, job loss, relationship breakdown, or ongoing mental health issues, I think it’s fair to call it “bad.” To me, this slogan has become a well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful, and sometimes dangerous, myth.

One surprising thing is that this myth is often repeated by people who should know better - respected figures in the psychedelic space. I don’t believe they think a ruined life isn’t a bad thing, which makes their insistence more puzzling. But given how widespread this claim is, it won’t do to simply dismiss it. It’s worth exploring why well-intentioned individuals might genuinely believe - or at least promote - the idea that bad trips don’t exist.

Before we unpack this, I want to make one thing clear: a bad trip is not a life sentence. If you’ve had a difficult psychedelic experience and feel worried, know this - you can recover. In fact, when most people do the work of recovery, they emerge with profound insights into their own psyche. With that reassurance in hand, let’s take a closer look at why people continue to say “there is no such thing as a bad trip.”

Reason 1: Ignorance

One possibility is that they simply haven’t seen the full extent of the damage that can be done. In a later article I’ll outline many of the reasons the issue of psychedelic casualties is not as visible as it might be. For now I’ll simply acknowledge that people are often surprised to hear me describe how common severe bad trips can be.

Reason 2: Reducing Stigma

Another possibility is that they are trying to counterbalance decades of fear-mongering and exaggeration that fueled the stigma around psychedelics and contributed to the collapse of research in the 1970s. The worry seems to be that if we emphasize risks and harms, we might jeopardize the psychedelic renaissance. While this is an understandable worry, surely the best path forward is to address these real dangers transparently and openly - neither overstating nor understating them.

Reason 3: Avoiding an Unhelpful Mindset

A third possibility is that they want to avoid making participants fearful, knowing that fear itself can be a key factor in triggering a bad trip. Their intention might be to impart the wisdom that even when something feels frightening or unpleasant, it isn’t necessarily bad, and that trusting the process will most likely lead to resolution.

While I can appreciate this motivation, translating it into a statement like “there is no such thing as a bad trip” is misleading and irresponsible. The analogy of encountering a wild animal helps make this clear. Some wild animals - such as big cats or bears - may interpret fear as a threat or a sign of vulnerability, potentially triggering defensive aggression or dominance behaviours. To prevent fear-driven responses, we might consider telling hikers that big animals aren’t dangerous, thinking this will reduce their fear and lower the risk of harm. It’s easy to see the flaw in that reasoning. Failing to inform hikers of potential dangers doesn’t make the situation safer; it leaves them unprepared and exposed to risk.

It is possible to hold both truths at once: that remaining calm and open is helpful for navigating psychedelic experiences, and that we must also be honest about the possibility of bad trips.

Reason 4: Aiding Integration

A fourth possibility is that the people who say “there is no such thing as a bad trip” are in fact trying to help the person stay open and curious about their experience after the fact. They may be wanting to encourage the participant to recognize that what they thought was “bad” might in fact contain certain important insights or conceal content relevant to their growth and wellbeing, if only they could stay curious about it.

Again, while it is true that curiosity and openness is helpful in the aftermath of a bad trip, I think we can parse the two things apart. We can recognize that bad trips are real, while also acknowledging that approaching them with curiosity after the fact may lead to something meaningful. In other words, it’s possible to validate the distress of the experience and still affirm the potential for growth in its wake.

Reason 5: “You Get the Trip You Need”

A final reason may be the belief in the inherent wisdom or intelligence of the psyche - or the medicine itself - and the idea that it reveals what a person needs to see. This perspective suggests that every trip, no matter how challenging, carries a message or lesson essential for the participant’s growth.

While this contains some truth, it is a partial truth at best. A trip experience arises not only from the content of the psyche but also from the participant’s ability to engage with that content in a meaningful way. This ability is influenced by numerous factors, some beyond the participant’s control. If the person’s system cannot open to the experience - due to overwhelm, fear, unpreparedness or a lack of support - the potential insights may be lost, leaving only distress and trauma.

Believing that “you get the trip you need” can be helpful when framed as an invitation to explore the meaning of the experience after the fact. However, when applied universally, it risks shaming and blaming those who genuinely have bad trips and dismissing the reality of harm.

Dispelling the Myth

I call the idea that, “there is no such thing as a bad trip”, a dangerous myth for several reasons. Not every participant has the psychological readiness, tools or support needed to process what they encounter. Not every difficult trip leads to growth. For some, a bad trip simply results in ongoing harm.

This myth can lead people to underestimate the psychological risks of taking psychedelics, resulting in inadequate discernment or preparation. It can also lead them to underestimate the importance of support. It may encourage the belief that taking another psychedelic is the best solution for feeling stuck after a bad trip - another dangerous myth that could compound harm rather than resolve it. Lastly, it can alienate or stigmatize those who have genuinely bad experiences, making it harder for them to seek help.

Perhaps it’s time to put this myth to rest: there is such a thing as a bad trip. Acknowledging this reality is the first step toward providing effective support - before, during, and after psychedelic experiences.

But Now For the Good News…

Here is how I’d rephrase it: There is no such thing as a bad trip…that you cannot recover from, gain insight from, and ultimately, grow from - IF you get the support you need and do the work of healing. As Peter Levine writes in Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma:

“Trauma need not be a life sentence. Of all the maladies that attack the human organism, trauma may ultimately be one that is recognized as beneficial. I say this because in the healing of trauma, a transformation takes place – one that can improve the quality of life.”

Psychedelic trauma - like any other kind of trauma - can be devastating. But recovery is always possible. More remarkably, within every trauma lies the potential for post-traumatic growth. This outcome, while never guaranteed, remains a real and hopeful possibility. The process of healing, recovery, and growth is what my work with Psychedelic Casualties is all about.

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