Becoming Increasingly Anxious and Agitated

The best response to a client’s anxiety is to first demonstrate calm, compassionate presence.

It’s important to validate that this is a normal experience with this medicine and that the best thing to do is to continue to breathe, allow oneself to feel, and be with the experience. Offering to hold the client’s hand (if they previously agreed to touch), as well as providing gentle statements can be useful.

Health Professional Tip

What are some gentle statements that can be useful?

These gentle statements can be useful to help calm clients who are anxious and agitated:

  • Just keep breathing long, slow, deep breaths

  • Just continue to breathe, focus on the music, and let it guide you

  • Everything is alright

  • You’re doing great, this is all part of the process

  • You will return to normal consciousness within a few hours (or whatever the appropriate time estimate may be). We encourage you to relax and allow your experience to unfold

  • Trust your inner healer and the medicine to show you what you need to see

  • Remind the client of their mantra if they have one (“trust, let go, and be open” is used by the team at Johns Hopkins)

  • Remind the client to call in one of their resources that you have previously discussed or elaborated with them in the Preparation Sessions

With clients who have expressed an openness to physical touch, holding the client's hand or offering physical touch is an important way to help ground the client and let them know that you are with them and that they have support.

Offering the client water or an electrolyte drink is another way that can sometimes help them to ground.

Note

Generally, anxiety is not a bad thing, and the goal is to support the client to stay with the experience until they are able to move through and shift to something different. Sometimes it is appropriate to assist the client to change the focus and lead them through a brief breathing exercise or changing the music can be helpful.

In the extremely rare circumstance that the client cannot be settled with health professional’s support and reassurance, then the study physician should be called, and rescue medication will be available.

References

Haden, M. (2019). Manual for Psychedelic Guides.