[sammalloy]

> How can one determine if they are at risk of psychosis prior to consuming LSD?

Family history of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia.

> I've heard many stories of people who were "never the same" (in a bad life-outcome sense) after having bad LSD trips.

I think those stories are overblown. People like to have something to blame for when a loved one goes down the wrong path.

[vkomega]

> history

This was addressed in my previous comment. I've known folks who took the stuff and had a horrible reaction, without family history as such.

Also, consuming street drugs of unknown quality in uncontrolled settings with uncontrolled dosages is quite different than controlled medical experiments.

> overblown

I never wanted to try the stuff after personally observing people change after having a "bad trip". If it permanently alters perceptions in unpredictable ways, then ingesting it likely catalyzes alternate life trajectories, also in unpredictable ways.

Seems like a double edged sword. Many report the positive benefits but the supporters seem to downplay risks or point to other factors without supporting evidence.

It's unclear how to determine safety with prospective victims/winners whose family history doesn't include mental illness. Again, I suspect dosage is a critical factor to trip outcome; this being common pharmacological wisdom.

[sammalloy]

All true, of course. I have had great success helping two people who had "bad trips" as a trip sitter. Both people had a troubled adolescence, but are now doing extremely well as adults and are highly successful. Whenever I see them, they always thank me for helping them. The truth of the matter, is that I didn't do anything at all, I just made them feel safe and let them knew that everything was going to be okay.

[SamoyedFurFluff]

Not just schizophrenia. Psychosis overall is the danger- this includes a significantly wider variety of conditions such as bipolar.