First-time psilocybin: mistakes you wish you'd avoided
118 replies · Harm Reduction
I'm planning my first psilocybin experience and have done my research. But I'd love to hear from people who have experience: what mistakes did you make that you wish you'd avoided, that you wouldn't have known to avoid from reading alone?
Taking too high a dose for a first session. The standard harm-reduction guidance (start low) exists because you don't know your individual sensitivity until you've experienced it. 1-1.5g is enough for a first session to tell you how you respond. A bad first experience at too high a dose can create lasting apprehension that takes years to work through.
Being alone. Intellectual confidence that you can handle anything doesn't account for how profoundly unfamiliar the subjective state is. A trusted sober person who knows what you're doing and has agreed to be available provides safety you can't replicate with preparation alone. You don't have to have a professional guide — just someone you trust.
Not setting an intention. The experience responds to what you bring to it. Going in with no direction often means the experience finds its own direction, which may or may not be what you needed. A simple, honest intention — not a goal or demand, but a direction — gives the experience something to work with.
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