As Psychedelics Revival Rolls On, Don't Downplay Bad Trips

Psychedelics revival coverage should not downplay the risk of “bad trips,” even in carefully run research settings. John Horgan argues that while therapy and screening can reduce harm, mystical experiences can be frightening or “diabolical” as well as consoling. He discusses how William James’s work on religious experience includes both comforting and terrifying visions, and he notes that psychedelic experiences are not inherently uniformly positive. Horgan points to adverse effects reported in psychiatrist Rick Strassman’s DMT study and suggests bad-trip risk cannot be fully eliminated, because altered states can still generate terror and potentially lasting conviction in distressing hallucinations. He adds perspective from Albert Hofmann, who warned LSD can harm or “make you crazy” if misused, while still supporting careful scientific and medical investigation.