Psychological Effects of LSD

LSD’s psychological effects (colloquially called a “trip”) vary greatly between persons and places. If the user is in a hostile or otherwise unsettling environment, or is not mentally prepared for the powerful distortions in perception and thought that the drug causes, effects are more likely to be unpleasant than if he or she is in a comfortable environment and has a relaxed, balanced and open mindset.

An LSD trip can have long-term psychological or emotional effects; some users report the LSD experience caused significant long term changes in their personality and life perspective. Widely different effects emerge based on what Timothy Leary called set and setting; the “set” being the general mindset of the user, and the “setting” being the physical and social environment in which the drug’s effects are experienced. Some psychological effects may include a sense that one’s thoughts are spiraling into themselves and a loss of a sense of identity or the ego (known as “ego death”). Many users experience a dissolution between themselves and the “outside world”. This unitive quality may play a role in the spiritual and religious aspects of LSD.

The drug sometimes leads to disintegration or restructuring of the user’s historical personality and creates a mental state that some users report allows them to have more choice regarding the nature of their own personality.