Hallucinogens Overview

Study Notes

Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelic drugs, alter perceptions of sight, sound, thoughts, and feelings.
They cause wild imaginations, hallucinations, and visual distortions.
Hallucinogens do not cause addiction, but people can become addicted to their effects.
Hallucinogens have been used for medicinal and religious purposes for a long time.
Examples include LSD, Ketamine, PCP, Marijuana, mescaline (from peyote cactus), psilocybin (from certain mushrooms), and anticholinergics (from jimson weed).
LSD was first synthesized in 1938.

Under normal conditions, the brain selects how a person perceives their surroundings.
Psychedelic hallucinogens remove this selection process.
Users experience an overwhelming sense of expansion with exaggerated colors, sounds, smells, and textures.
Common experiences include seeing visions and hearing voices.
Examples include LSD, Psilocybin, Mescaline, DMT (ayahuasca).

Produce experiences of emotional communion, oneness, relatedness, emotional openness (e.g., empathy).
May have therapeutic benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
Example: MDMA

The brain's ability to translate sensory perceptions allows a person to experience their surroundings.
Dissociative hallucinogens create a state of sensory deprivation, allowing the mind to create its internal environment.
Dissociative effects often produce an "out-of-body" experience, leaving users in a trance-like state.
Examples include Ketamine, DXM, and Nitrous Oxide.

A diverse group of unrelated substances with various mechanisms of action, legal status, and therapeutic potentials.
Some act as serotonin agonists, antagonists, or NMDA antagonists.
Examples include Ibogaine, Salvinorin A, and THC.

Mixing hallucinogens with stimulants can cause extreme stress to the body.
Mixing hallucinogens with alcohol can further impair coordination and increase the chance of vomiting.