I was a teenager, 17, and decided to do a hit with a few people I knew from school. We went camping in an abandoned housing lot near one of the guys neighborhoods. We took the hit about 7pm and the wait began. Nothing at all happened for about an hour. Just as it was turning dark I started feeling anxious because nothing had really happened. So we all decided to take one more hit of acid. Mistake.

All of the sudden the older brother of one of the guys showed up and I was told to not say anything as this brother would have kicked my friends ass if he knew we were doing drugs. As soon as that happened I looked up at the tree line and the branches of the trees looked like they were melting. Another way to describe it was like I was seeing the whole world through a strobe light. Everything was in single frames, or as if I was only catching every 5th frame of a movie. Everything was broken up. If someone spoke to me I only heard every other syllable or so. So if someone said "what are you doing?" I would hear "what you ing" that is not a completely accurate description but close enough. Needless to say I freaked out. Things were melting around me and I could not understand what was being said to me. Until that guys brother left I just sat on a log and rocked back and forth smiling trying to pretend all was ok. Trying to fight this chemical change only made it more vivid. I started freaking out more and went into the tent thinking I could sleep it off. That did not work. Something in the drug made me stay awake and the visual images got more intense. It was equally beautiful and terrifying. I closed my eyes and saw swirling colors and my imagination made little skeletons dance in circles in the colors. It was like those old grateful dead tie dye shirts with the skeletons in top hats but I don't remember if the ones in my imagination had top hats. A few moments later one of the guys got in the tent and asks if I as ok. I told him I was not. He said to come outside by the fire, have some Pepsi and try to relax, and that doing this would help the experience be more enjoyable. I did this. When we got out of the tent and sat again by the fire he said something that made me laugh so hard that I started having a better time. I guess while he was trying to make me feel better someone stoked the fire. He looked at the fire and said, "who put that fucking Yule log on the fire" I don't know why that made me laugh and relax but it did.

My time perception was altered greatly. The next three or four hours felt like a day or so, literally. It was a mixture of fun and fear. One other thing that happened was that I thought the radio dj kept saying my name, like "up next is Guns n Roses IdunnoIguess" I finally fell asleep. I felt like I was walking in a fog for the next couple of weeks, but other than that no lasting damage. I was glad it was over and I would not do it again. That was 25 years ago and I still get a little freaked out about it.

Saying that, I had some positive effects that helped psychologically if you want to believe that. I almost never get upset when I am in situations beyond my control anymore. In my mind, not much could feel more out of control than that night, and I survived that. I don't mean to tempt fate by saying that because I am sure lots of experiences would still horrify me, but I am definitely more calm these days. I also don't have large mood swings as I did when I was a teen. I had some problems with mild clinical depression as a teen. Since that acid incident, the depression seems better. I am not a doctor and I am not in any way endorsing acid as a treatment for depression, but in a weird indescribable way I think it helped even me out. So that was my experience. I am not endorsing it. I personally would not do it again. That is the first time I told that story in such detail. Therapeutic. Thanks for the opportunity to share!