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It is one thing to experience a trip, but quite another to be a trip sitter. Then you sit there like all sober while your best buddy has the time of his or her life on magic mushrooms, LSD or other psychedelics. That is, if things are going well. What does it look like from the outside to babysit while your friend, girlfriend or partner seems to be making contact with a dimension invisible to the outsider? In this blog you can read our experiences and we give practical tips on how to be careful while on a psychedelic trip.
Tripsitter with magic mushrooms
Determining the dose
As a sober person on psychedelic drugs, you have quite a responsibility. More about that later. Because being a trip sitter is also a lot of fun and exciting at the same time. What is it like to be a trip sitter on a psychedelic trip?
That depends entirely on the person tripping, the dose and the setting. We mention friends Bert, Maik and Mehmet. Maik has no experience with tripping and therefore it is not advisable to give him a huge amount of magic mushrooms right away. That is why we enter the psychedelic mushroom pool with Maik. In front of us we have a bag of dried Psilocybe cubensis McKennaii. According to the magic mashroom calculator and Maik's preference for Level 2, we should therefore also take no more than 1.23 grams of this species of magic mushrooms.
Intake
Maik would want to know what it's like, but not lose control. A wise choice when taking magic mushrooms, or any psychedelics for the first time. With interest, but also with appropriate excitement, Maik eats the magic mushrooms. Now it's time to wait and see. As a trip sitter, it is also wise to make that clear in the first hour. It takes a while for psychedelics to become active when you eat it. That's because your digestion slowly but surely brings it into your bloodstream.
Onset
After 40 minutes, Maik becomes introspective and even quieter than he already is. A smile follows that stays glued to his face for 3 hours and he hangs out in a chair while we 3 sober people are in the same room. But we neither disturb him nor ignore him. No jokes and no difficult topics of conversation. We give what he asks for. A glass of water, for example.
Peak and come down
Not for a moment do we have to help Maik. He sits comfortably in the chair and apparently enjoys himself while the four of us talk about anything and everything. Maik's first trip was, in his words, "fantastic" and "liberating." He didn't see as many visual effects as he thought he would, but he definitely felt that relaxation and joyful enjoyment.
Be careful when using a higher dose of magic mushrooms
With Mehmet, we have gone to heroic doses on a regular basis. For this reason, he prefers magic mushrooms. Although the effects of magic truffles and magic mushrooms are basically the same, dried magic mushrooms require fewer grams to knock down. This is a blessing for Mehmet, as he doesn't like the taste of either and also gets a little nauseous from both. We then take precautions by putting a bucket down in case it comes to vomiting, but so far that hasn't happened.
The funny thing is that, to the outside world, Mehmet's trips always go the same way. He starts yawning like crazy half an hour after taking it and reports "gummy legs," which makes it hard for him to walk. And that while he likes to walk during a trip. The times we have done this in his familiar living room often require us to react with lightning speed to his rather spontaneous movements to prevent him from hurting himself. If he is rolling on the floor on his "trip blanket," a colorful unzipped sleeping bag, his arms and legs will sometimes seek out a planter or table, which we then move a little further away. Even when going to the toilet, he sometimes needs assistance. Just offer a shoulder to lean on until the door of the toilet and then he is fine. There are times when he can easily stare out in front of him for half an hour without even a sign of emotion on his face, followed by "yes" or "indeed" every 10 seconds.
On the other hand, when we watch Mehmet in nature, he has better control of his movements. He can go wherever he wants and is less agile with his arms. As if he is more overwhelmed by all the input the outside world offers. You really have to hold back your laughter when he stares at a few grass blades for far too long again. As if he is seeing them for the first time.
The intensity of the magic mushrooms comes in waves. So sometimes it's fine to have a conversation with him, but usually not. Then "another wave comes" and we know we have to let Mehmet go nicely. He has not tried to do anything weird before, but we are always on guard. Especially since he moves so much spontaneously in his living room during a trip. Mehmet always feels "reborn" after a heroic dose. Sometimes very emotionally charged and sometimes totally Zen.
Increasing the dose (in a subsequent trip)
Bert is a bit in between Maik and Mehmet. He has had three different trips at three different Levels: 1, 2 and 4. There is no trend yet, except that his intention is always to come out better than when he went in. Due to health issues with his digestion, after years of diagnosis and treatment, he hopes to be more in touch with his own body and so be able to feel the symptoms sooner in relation to his food. Shrooms are not a cure, but who knows, maybe he can be more in touch with what is bothering him. Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms and magic truffles, is known to cause more bizarre personal changes.
Bert can sometimes spontaneously collapse like a house of cards with laughter. When "someone's head suddenly becomes much smaller" or when limbs of others or himself grow disproportionately "like Dhalsim from Streetfighter." That can lead to dangerous situations and so we have to put away the coffee table or just don't trip in the living room but enjoy it on the beach, in a dune or in the woods. He finds all those patterns and colors only distracting as he tries to work on himself under the influence of magic mushrooms. Bert also needs the support of a shoulder to go to the bathroom.
Floppy legs and a distorted reality; like that character from Street Fighter with those long arms.
Becoming a trip sitter: practical tips
So you see, from the outside looking in, there is quite a difference in the unfolding of such a psychedelic trip, but there are certainly similarities as well. That's why we give you a handful of practical tips expressed in the form of do's and don'ts for the beginning tripsitter. When we mention tripsitter, it's the one who babysits. The tripper is the one who has taken the drug and is tripping.
✔️ Read up! You are expected to be the expert. If you have not been babysitting on a trip before, the best thing you can do is read blogs like this one. Also read all about the drug being taken. To do so, start with the blogs we already link to throughout this article.
These and more blogs we base on our own experiences, countless books and documentaries, hours of the best YouTube videos on the subject and the best resources on the Internet about psychedelics:
The most important thing you need to know is how long it lasts and what the most common effects are at the dose decided.
✔️ Determine the setting. The setting (environment and atmosphere) sets the tone for the course of the trip. Facilitate (give) only psychedelics in a setting that is safe and that the person tripping is comfortable with. You can also take many enlisted steps to make the atmosphere more pleasant.
- Provide calmness.
- Dim the lights.
- Turn off modern electronics.
Should you really want to go all shamanic, you can use singing bowls, light incense or put up cool posters. Check out our shaman category. You will be amazed.
✔️Determine the dose together. Discuss with the person who will be tripping what the expectation is. Then figure out the level or grade that fits that. In our book there are 5 different levels. You can find them in the blog under our mushroom and truffle dose calculator.
❌ Don't suddenly offer more than you determined beforehand. The wavy nature of psychedelics can make a trip quite suddenly more intense, as well as less intense. If you have determined the dose beforehand, never give more than that. Not even after two hours when you think the peak is over.
✔️ Make sure they are comfortable. Sort of an extension of the golden tip above. You often get a little cold when you start tripping, or you become more sensitive to it. So turn on the heater and lay out a blanket or plaid. Oh, and put plenty of water on the table so it's accessible to take a sip.
✔️ Stay sober yourself. No beer on the side, no joints in your hand. S As a trip sitter you should stay sober so you can intervene quickly. Be aware that in the worst case you have to call the emergency line.
✔️ Stay alert and be patient. This one is tricky. Because depending on the drug and the dose, a trip can last several hours. If your attention wanes during the peak, accidents can happen. So keep your head up.
✔️ Monitor time. Time is a strange concept on psychedelics. A trip can fly by for someone with a few grams of magic mushrooms in their belly or take forever. You, as the trip sitter, know if the peak of the trip is still coming or if it will slowly diminish from here on out.
✔️ Let the tripper be in his/her world for a bit. It's not just time that's going crazy. For the tripper, just about everything comes alive. Also, memories can suddenly become current. For that reason, you shoul let a tripper be a little. It's okay to get a little into it, as long as the person is enjoying it. "Wow, I see patterns and eyes everywhere!", may just be words you hear as a tripsitter. A good response might be "oh cool, man" or "that's fun!".
❌ Don't make fun of the tripper. What you absolutely shouldn't do is invalidate it: "No, I don't see that" or "What nonsense, act normal." The tripper is essentially placing enormous trust in you as a tripsitter. Deal with that respectfully and openly, even if it gets personal or uncomfortable.
❌ Don't try to be the psychologist. Chances are slim that you are reading this as a trained psychiatrist and at the same time a licensed magic mushroom facilitator. You're not supposed to be picking on the person who's tripping about all sorts of things. Keep it fun and be open to what the tripper desires, but again: don't steer the trip as long as it's going well.
❌ No exciting stories. Anything you tell can affect your buddy's trip. A conversation can suddenly get arms and legs via vivid fantasy and become the start of a bad trip.
❌ Don't get too involved. Everyone finds a fly or a mosquito irritating if it is constantly buzzing around your head. Don't be an irritating fly to your buddy by repeatedly asking "are you okay?", "how are you?", or "can I do something for you?". You are welcome to anticipate; gladly so, but as a tripsitter, you need to keep a certain distance from the tripper. You are there for the tripper, but you are also not there. Read the situation and know the tripper's needs for the best balance.
✔️ In the case of an unpleasant experience/bad trip: now you may take a more active role as a trip sitter. You can try to steer the trip toward positivity and especially that it has an end. After all, every trip passes. Golden tip: take someone into another room if things are not going well. Changing the environment works very well. Read more in this blog specifically about a bad trip.
If you want to help someone out of the trip because they are telling you to: give them something sweet and something savory to eat. Coffee or cola is not recommended because caffeine makes you restless. Better are valerian and dextrose. With our Trip Stoppers you kill two birds with one stone. As a trip sitter, you should always have these on the table. If the tripper knows in advance that there is a way out, it gives peace of mind and the trip will be more enjoyable.
❌ Don't introduce other substances. Some trippers get the hang of it when they are comfortable. They may feel the need to light up a joint or crack open a beer. Especially on a first or second time, we advise you not to give that. Let the trip end naturally and keep a close eye on the time. Don't let it become a “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.