Are you tripping comfortably? Investigating the relationship between harm reduction and the psychedelic experience
Harm Reduction Journal July 24, 2022 Madelene Palmer, Olivia Maynard 29 citations
People who use psychedelics recreationally adopt more harm reduction practices with experience, and those practices are linked to more emotional breakthroughs and fewer challenging experiences. In a mixed-methods online survey of 163 participants, greater use of harm reduction strategies in the most recent trip compared to the first trip was associated with higher scores on the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory and lower scores on the Challenging Experience Questionnaire, especially for the first experience. Participants emphasized the importance of 'set and setting' over specific drug details for enhancing positive effects. The findings inform the development of harm reduction advice for recreational psychedelic use.