Summary
Jules Evans was 17 years old when he had his first unpleasant run-in with psychedelic drugs. He steered clear of psychedelics, but for the next six years, he suffered from panic attacks, social anxiety, dissociation, and depression. In 2017, Evans decided to try again. The most serious effects may also be vastly underreported in trials involving psychedelics. The majority of those who report having taken psychedelics never have a difficult or distressing experience, but for a select few, the after-effects can be quite serious. The “Challenging Psychedelics Project’s’ “challengingPsychedelics’ Project” launched in the fall of 2022, inviting people who had difficulties for at least a day following a psychedelic trip to participate. Five respondents experienced prosopagnosia, a difficulty recognizing faces, a lack of information about what was happening to them. Some of the respondents who suffered afterward had taken the drugs as part of a clinical trial or psychedelic therapy session, around 8 percent.
