I started using it precisely because I had read some research showing LSD was a promising potential treatment (requiring more research) for depression.
I took it 3 times. The first time wasn't special enough to mention anything about it. The second time I took it (a month after the first time), I had a very positive experience after which I became much more pro-active and hopeful for my future. That lasted for many months, maybe a year maximum. It was many years ago so I don't remember very well at this point.
The third time I took LSD was a year and a half after the second time. This time I had a really bad trip, sheer terror and mental confusion like nothing I had experienced before, and it felt like it lasted forever. It really fucked me up. For months, I felt extremely scared pretty much constantly and could only sleep maybe 2 hours every night. I had some flashbacks, sometimes it was simply something reminding me of the bad trip and I felt extremely scared. A few times, I thought the most horrible moment of my bad trip was happening all over again, I mean I thought I was in the same place and everything, then I would come back to my senses and be shocked that nothing happened, I was just lying in bed yet it felt so real and scary.
For the first few weeks following the bad trip I sometimes thought I was someone else although fortunately when that happened it only lasted a few minutes. I remember having moments thinking and feeling like I was Björk the musician or Bender the robot from Futurama. I also frequently thought I had discovered something extraordinary, that I was some kind of messiah and that I would have to tell everyone about it or some nonsense like that. However, most of the time, I wasn't thinking I was someone else or a messiah and I understood that it was complete bullshit but it kept occuring anyway.
I did my best not to panic and hoped it would just get better with time. At the time I didn't talk to anyone about it and I refused to see a psychologist or psychiatrist. I don't regret that decision because it did get better with time. As I said most of these things lasted a few months, the only thing that lasted for about 2 years was bloody horrifying nightmares. Now I don't suffer from any of these problems anymore.
However, before I even started taking LSD, I already had a physical chronic illness for years. Doctors don't know what disease I have exactly and I can't be bothered to list my many symptoms but if I tell you that many people with similar symptoms are diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia or Chronic Lyme Disease; that should give you an idea. The point is after this bad trip, due to the extreme anxiety I felt and lack of sleep which lasted a few months, my illness got significantly worse than before and it never improved even after the few months of extreme anxiety had ended.
Obviously I wish I had never taken LSD, or at least stopped after the first 2 times. Now I'm not going to tell you not to take LSD. I know there are some testimonials of people saying it really helped them with their depression, and I don't doubt those. In fact the second time I took it I felt it really helped although it was only temporary. All I'm saying is if you're gonna take it, you should be careful. For example, don't start with high doses, avoid taking LSD when you're feeling really bad or tired or not in the right environment; you can always wait for an opportunity to do it another time when the experience is more likely to be positive. Basically don't be like me. I thought I was careful but I wasn't careful enough.
