Set and setting describes the context for drug experiences: one's mindset and the setting in which the user has his experience. This dyad is especially relevant for psychedelic or hallucinogenic experiences; the term was coined by Timothy Leary.

Introduction

The set is the mental slate a person brings to the experience: thoughts, mood, expectations, and so on. The setting is location, not only physically but socially. Social support networks have been shown to be particularly important in the outcome of any trip . Each element is an important criterion in the experience of a "trip", which can result beautifully or horribly, subject in high degree to the user's set and setting. They have some power, both conscious and subconscious, to control or guide the course of their experience. Stress about what is going to take place, or a disagreeable environment, may result in a bad trip; conversely, a relaxed, enthusiastic user in a warm, safe place is more likely to have a good trip.

Of course, the drug dose does not produce the transcendent experience. It merely acts as a chemical key — it opens the mind, frees the nervous system of its ordinary patterns and structures. The nature of the experience depends almost entirely on set and setting. Set denotes the preparation of the individual, including his personality structure and his mood at the time. Setting is physical — the weather, the room's atmosphere; social — feelings of persons present towards one another; and cultural — prevailing views as to what is real. It is for this reason that manuals or guide-books are necessary. Their purpose is to enable a person to understand the new realities of the expanded consciousness, to serve as road maps for new interior territories which modern science has made accessible. (from: The Psychedelic Experience)

Set and setting has also been investigated from a religious perspective .

See also

• Bad trip
• Trip sitter

Notes

1. Shewan, D., Dalgarno, P. and Reith, G. (2000) "Perceived risk and risk reduction among ecstasy users: the role of drug, set, and setting" in International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol. 10, pp. 431–453
2. Rosegrant, J. (1976) "The Impact of Set and Setting on Religious Experience in Nature" in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 301-310

References

1. Leary, T., Metzner, R. and Alpert, R. (1969) The Psychedelic Expereince: A Manual Based on the. Tibetan Book of the Dead (London: Academic Press)

Further reading

1. Zinberg, N. E. (1984) Drug, Set, and Setting (New Haven: Yale University Press) ISBN 0-300-03110-6

Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants | Drug culture