Overview of Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens are drugs that cause hallucinations. An hallucination is a sensory experience of something
that does not exist outside the mind. It may involve hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting or
feeling something that isn't really there. Or it may involve distorted sensory perceptions,
so that things look, smell, sound, taste or feel differently from the way they
actually are.
Hallucinogenic drugs usually produce so called pseudo-hallucinations.
This means that a user typically knows that what he or see is seeing, hearing, smelling etc
is not real, but a product of the drug.
One common type of hallucination produced by these drugs is called synesthesia, a
transposing of sensory modes. For example, seeing a particular sight may cause the user to
perceive a sound. Hearing a sound may cause the user to perceive an odor. Thus, a person may
hear a phone ring and "see" a flash of brilliant light etc.
Sometimes hallucinations can be very frightening to the user. The user may be
panic stricken by what he or she is seeing of hearing and may become uncontrollably
excited, or even try to flee from their terror. Hallucinogen users call these kind of
experiences "bad trips". Users of Hallucinogens have been known to be driven into
permanent insanity by these experiences.
A terrifying "bad trip" sometimes may be re-experienced as a Flashback. Hallucinogen flashbacks
apparently do not occur because a residual quantity of the drug in the user's body.
Rather, flashbacks are vivid recollections of a portion of a previous hallucinogenic
experience. Essentially, flashbacks are very intense, and very frightening day dreams.
Possible Effects of Hallucinogens
In general, Hallucinogens intensify whatever mood the user is in when the drug is taken.
If the user is depressed the drug will deepen the depression. If the user is feeling pleasant , the drug
usually will heighten that feeling. If the user expects that the drug will help him of her achieve new insights
or an expanded consciousness, the drug will seem to have that effect. However the use of
Hallucinogens often uncover mental or emotional flaws of which the user was unaware. Such Flaws can
result in the panic and terror of a "bad trip" even though user was expecting a pleasurable
experience.
The most common effect of an Hallucinogen is hallucination. The user's perception
of reality is severely distorted, often to the point of synesthesia. This makes it virtually impossible
for the Hallucinogen-influenced person to function in the real world.
Some users experience delusions which are false beliefs (I am superman!), other experience
illusions( I see superman!), while others may experience both.
General indicators:
Dazed appearance
Body tremors
Perspiring
Uncoordinated movements
Rigid muscle tone
Difficulty with speech
Statement suggesting hallucinations
Distorted sensory perceptions
uncontrollable laughter
Dilated pupils
Pulse rate up
Body temperature up
Blood pressure up
Signs and Symptoms of Hallucinogen Overdose
It is unlikely that Hallucinogens directly are life threatening. However, overdoses have often indirectly
resulted in death. For example, one LSD user was killed when he tried to stop a train
barehanded. The extreme panic of a "bad trip" has been known to lead to suicide, or to accidental
death as users try to flee from their hallucinations. The most common danger of an Hallucinogen overdose
is an intense "bad trip", which can result in severe and sometimes permanent psychosis.
There is some evidence that prolonged use of LSD may produce organic brain
damage, leading to impaired memory, reduced attention span, mental confusion, and impaired
ability to deal with abstract concepts.
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