Bill Walton woke up one Christmas day to a surprise: a permanent acid trip of a psychedelic lifetime.
During his time of playing for the San Diego Clippers, Walton decided that it would be a great idea to take nine hits of Orange
Sunshine acid at a party thrown by former Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse. He spent a good portion of his time with the Clippers in a horrible trip due to their dismal lack of success as a team.
Such a seemingly innocent decision to Walton at the time would throw him into a 23-year acid trip from 1981 to 2004, followed by a comedown that is probably still occurring.
Eventually, the permanent trip affected his career as a former Boston Celtics player and a sports analyst. In February 2015, Walton made headlines when he eccentrically ranted on and on about Bob Dylan, an influential American singer-songwriter, in one clip of sports commentary during an Oregon vs. USC basketball game. He also compared a Washington-UCLA basketball game to a bear smashing a husky via his sports commentary.
When his teammates and co-workers found out about his acid trip, they said it made a lot of sense.
According to The Brushback, former Celtic Kevin McHale stated that Walton’s permanent acid trip “explains a lot, actually,” and that “he would close his eyes and twirl in circles—you know, that hippie dance.”
Walton’s wacky and haunting experience away from reality for more than two decades is alarming. It may lead one to wonder how exactly such a condition can occur and what is the likelihood that someone would involuntarily embark on a trip that lasts days, months, and even years.
What is a Permanent Acid Trip?
Although Walton’s trip was filled with ups and downs, Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD)—a permanent acid trip—is usually more dysphoric than euphoric. This disorder occurs when a person has taken recreational hallucinogenic drugs—e.g. lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), magic mushrooms, etc.—usually more times than once. It may be irreversible, or it may continue for months or years at a time.
Even though the cause of such a disorder is still very much unclear, the DSM-V states that a permanent trip may be caused by drug intake. Not only that, but the duration and the persistence of the disorder, as well as the extent of the unreal aberrations (auditory, visual, olfactory, etc.), varies from person to person. So although one person may experience subtle trails of color in their peripherals, others may go through more disturbing aberrations, which are not the same as vivid hallucinations.
Some symptoms of a permanent acid trip are as follows:
- Unreal aberrations (trailing colors)
- Dissociation
- Panic attacks
- Depression
- Dissociation (depersonalization, derealization)
- Paranoia
- Disorganized thinking
- Mood disturbances
- A sensation that something in the peripheral vision is moving
- Trailing phenomena leaving trails and after-images (e.g. palinopsia and akinetopsia)
- Flashes of color around low lighting
- Macropsia and micropsia (objects appearing larger and smaller than they actually are)
- Haloes surrounding objects
When it comes to dissociative symptoms it usually comes with feelings of not being connected to one’s body—depersonalization—and a feeling that one is disconnected from reality—derealization. Some common statements from individuals experiencing dissociative symptoms are feelings of strangeness and a feeling of “floating away.”
This can cause distress, social and/or occupational impairment, but the symptoms should not be linked to dementia, delirium, or schizophrenia for it to be a legitimate diagnosis. However, there are permanent acid trip cases out there where the individual previously was suffering from either a mild or an extreme case of another mental illness, which may make HPPD more persistent in individuals that are genetically predisposed to other disorders.
Can a Stamp Provoke Schizophrenia?
When it comes to the likelihood of a permanent acid trip, or the possibility of permanent psychosis really, it all comes down to whether or not the person has a previous genetic history of mental illness in his or her family. However, even though LSD may mimic symptoms of schizophrenia and/or lead to a state of psychosis, it does not cause schizophrenia.
That being said, according to Mental Health Daily, when schizophrenic individuals were compared to LSD psychotics, they did not differ in cognitive performance. LSD psychosis could actually be a drug-induced schizophreniform reaction among those prone to substance abuse and psychosis.
There is no clear-cut cause of schizophrenia, so it is hard to put a direct link between these two conditions, but the similarities in symptoms are something to not be ignored and to be further looked at.
What is known for sure is that LSD usage does make symptoms of schizophrenia more intense and severe, which can increase the individual’s chances of going off on a permanent acid trip.
My Trip Just Does Not End
Unfortunately, Walton is not the only person who has embarked on a long-term trip involving euphoric and dysphoric states. According to The New Yorker, a college freshman ate half of a microdot of LSD at a party, experiencing a mild trip followed by persistent aberrations the next day.
“I really lost it,” said the anonymous college freshman. “I was sitting in one of my first college classes and, like, hallucinating.”
The psychologists he met with could not discern much and, of course, his parents discerned less. “I broke down. I could no longer go to class. I couldn’t do anything.”
This student quit school, moved back home, and went into treatment. He searched for a diagnosis and nothing came up, which was followed by weeks, months, and then years of this trip not coming to an end.
With the limited amount of drug research due to a lack of funding, it is hard to come to a complete conclusion as to what exactly can lead someone to HPPD. Since the cause is ultimately unknown and only has a few highly plausible hypotheses, it is hard to say what can throw someone into years of a dysphoric wonderland that is far from being wonderful.
Is Your Trip Never Ending?
If you, or a loved one, is suffering from a permanent acid trip for days, weeks, months, or years at a time, extensive treatment at a rehabilitation facility equipped with 24-7 medical professionals and therapy may help better your condition. Dissociation can be extremely difficult to allow one to function at work, home, school, or in society in general. We at Drug Treatment Center Finder understand your pain. For help, call our 24-7 specialists now at 1-855-619-8070.