BUMMERS

A bad LSD experience is often called a "bad trip" or a "bummer."  It is estimated that one out of every eight trips is a bummer.

A researcher analyzed 225 reported bad LSD trips with the following results:

• 142 prolonged psychotic reactions
• 11 flashbacks
• 11 suicides
• 28 suicide attempts
• 1 homicide
• 4 homicide attempts
• 28 other serious reactions

These statistics indicate that a person need not take LSD many times before something tragic happens.

The young man shown in the picture at right had used LSD and was having a psychotic reaction.  This was his third suicide attempt.  On the day of his death, he was apprehended by police in the garage of a neighbor.  He said a voice was telling him to kill himself, and he was looking for a way to do it.  Later that afternoon he was found hanging from a tree in a public park.

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