A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes unrelated substances such as dissociatives anddeliriants, but which are grouped together because of their ability to produce hallucinations (as implied by the name). Unlike other drugs such as stimulants and opioids which induce familiar states of consciousness, psychedelics tend to affect and explore the mind in ways that result in the experience being qualitatively different from those of ordinary consciousness. The psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as trance, meditation, yoga, and dreaming.
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[edit]Origin of term
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words
ψυχή (psyche, "mind") and δηλείν (delein, "to
manifest"), hence "mind-manifesting", the implication being that
psychedelics can access and develop unused potentials of the human mind.[1] The
word was coined in 1957 by British psychiatrist, Humphrey Osmond, the misspelling loathed by American ethnobotanist, Richard Schultes, but championed by the American
psychologist, Timothy Leary.[2]
Aldous Huxley had
suggested to Humphrey Osmond in 1957 his own coinage phanerothymic (Greek "phanero-" visible +
Greek "thymic" spiritual, thus "visible spirituality").
Recently, the term entheogenic has
come into use to denote the use of psychedelic drugs in a positive and
non-recreational context.
[edit]Action
Psychedelic
drugs act contrastingly according to substance on the processes of various
serotonergic receptors, namely the 5-HT group and ligand gated ion channels.
This action results in either excited or inhibited levels of cyclic adenosine
monophosphate, inositol trisphosphate and diglyceride, neurochemicals
responsible for a variety of biological functions. In the psychedelic
experience, they effect a drastic cognitive and perceptual alteration and
delineation of thought, accompanying all manner of hallucinations.
[edit]Traditional use
Psychedelics
have a long history of traditional use in medicine and religion, where they are
prized for their perceived ability to promote physical and mental healing. In
this context, they are often known as entheogens. Native American practitioners using mescaline-containing cacti (most notably peyote, San Pedro, and Peruvian torch)
have reported success against alcoholism, and Mazatecpractitioners routinely use psilocybin mushrooms for divination and healing. Ayahuasca,
which contains the powerful psychedelic DMT, is used in
Peru and other parts of South America for spiritual and physical healing as
well as in religious festivals.
[edit]Examples
Doses of lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD)
Main article: List of
psychedelic drugs
Classical or serotonergic psychedelics (agonists for the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors) includeLSD, psilocybin (the
active constituent of psilocybin mushrooms,
commonly known as "magic mushrooms"), mescaline (the active constituent of peyote),
and DMT (the active constituent of ayahuasca and potentially an endogenous psychedelic compound). Salvia divinorum is an atypical psychedelic that has
been gaining popularity over the past decade, due to its legality in many US
states. It is often compared to DMT due to its short and very intense
trip. A few newer synthetics such as MDMA and 2C-B have also enjoyed some popularity. Cannabis, one of the most widely used psychoactive
drugs in the world, produces effects similar to low doses of classical
psychedelics, though at higher doses or in sensitive individuals it can be
quite psychedelic.
[edit]Pharmacological classes and effects
[edit]Serotonergic or classical psychedelics (5-HT2A receptor agonists)
This class
of psychedelics includes the classical hallucinogens, including the lysergamides like LSD and LSA, tryptamines likepsilocybin and DMT, and phenethylamines like mescaline and 2C-B.
Many of these psychedelics cause remarkably similar effects, despite their
different chemical structure. However, most users report that the two families
have subjectively different qualities in the "feel" of the
experience, which are difficult to describe. At lower doses, these include
sensory alterations, such as the warping of surfaces, shape suggestibility, and
color variations. Users often report intense colors that they have not
previously experienced, and repetitive geometric shapes are common. Higher
doses often cause intense and fundamental alterations of sensory perception,
such assynesthesia or
the experience of additional spatial or temporal dimensions. Some compounds,
such as 2C-B,
have extremely tight "dose curves", meaning the difference between a
non-event and an overwhelming disconnection from reality can be very slight.
There can be very substantial differences between the drugs, however. For
instance, 5-MeO-DMT rarely produces the visual effects
typical of other psychedelics and ibogaine (a 'complex tryptamine') is also an NMDA receptor antagonist and κ-opioid receptor agonist in addition to being an
agonist for the 5-HT2A receptors, resulting in dissociative effects
as well (see dissociatives below).
[edit]Empathogen-entactogens (serotonin releasers)
The empathogen-entactogens are phenethylamines of
the MDxx class such as MDMA, MDEA, and MDA. Their
effects are characterized by feelings of openness, euphoria, empathy, love,
heightened self-awareness, and by mild audio and visual distortions (an overall
enhancement of sensory experience is often reported). Their adoption by the
rave subculture is probably due to the enhancement of the overall social and
musical experience. MDA is atypical to this experience, often causing
hallucinations and psychedelic effects in equal profundity to the chemicals in
the 5-HT2A agonist
category, but with substantially less mental involvement, and is possibly both
a serotonin releaser and 5-HT2A receptor
agonist.
[edit]Cannabinoids (CB-1 cannabinoid receptor
agonists)
The
cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related compounds are
capable of activating the brain's endocannabinoid system. Some effects may
include a general change in consciousness, mild euphoria, feelings of general
well-being, relaxation or stress reduction, enhanced recollection of episodic
memory, hunger, increased sensuality, increased awareness of sensation,
creative or philosophical thinking, disruption of linear memory, paranoia,
agitation, and anxiety, potentiation of other psychedelics, and increased
awareness of sound, patterns and color.
[edit]Dissociatives (NMDA antagonists)
Certain
dissociative drugs acting via NMDA antagonism are known to produce what some
might consider psychedelic effects. The main differences between dissociative
psychedelics and serotonergic hallucinogens are that the dissociatives cause
more intensederealization and depersonalization.[3] For
example, ketamine produces sensations of being
disconnected from one's body and that the surrounding environment is unreal, as
well as perceptual alterations seen with other psychedelics.[4] Because
the effects of dissociatives tend to add a far more sedating and sensory
deprived quality to the experience, they are often not considered true
psychedelics.
[edit]Other
Salvia divinorum is a dissociative that is sometimes classified as an atypical psychedelic. The
active molecule in the plant, salvinorin A, is a kappa opioid receptor agonist, working on a part of the
brain that deals with pain. Activation of this receptor is also linked to the
dysphoria sometimes experienced by users of opiates either therapeutically or
recreationally. An unusual feature of S.
divinorum is its high potency
(dosage is in the microgram range) and extremely disorienting effects, which
often include "entity contact", complete loss of reality-perception
and user's experiencing their consciousness as being housed in different
objects e.g. a pane of glass or a pencil. It is also unusual as it is a terpenoid like THC as opposed to an alkaloid like the comparably intense serotonergic psychedelics andNMDA receptor antagonists mentioned above.
[edit]See also
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§
Bwiti
§
Ibogaine
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§
Peyote
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[edit]References
1. ^ A. Weil, W. Rosen. (1993), From Chocolate To Morphine:Everything You
Need To Know About Mind-Altering Drugs.New York, Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 93
2. ^ W. Davis (1996), "One River:
Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest". New York, Simon
and Schuster, Inc. p. 120
3. ^ Vollenweider FX, Geyer MA. (2001) A systems model of altered consciousness:
integrating natural and drug-induced psychoses. Brain Res Bull. 56:
495 - 507.
4. ^ Pomarol-Clotet E, Honey GD, Murray GK,
Corlett PR, Absalom AR, Lee M, McKenna PJ, Bullmore ET, Fletcher PC. (2006)Psychological effects of ketamine in healthy volunteers.
Phenomenological study. Br J Psychiatry. 189: 173 - 179.
§ Roberts, Thomas B. (2006). Psychedelic Horizons: Snow White,
Immune System, Multistate Mind, New Learning Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic.
§ Stafford, Peter. (2003). Psychedlics. Ronin Publishing,
Oakland, California. ISBN 0-914171-18-6.
§ Winkelman, Michael, and Roberts, Thomas B. (editors)
(2007) Psychedelic Medicine: New
Evidence for Hallucinogens as Treatments 2
Vols. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
[edit]External links
§ WWW Psychedelic Bibliography - A searchable database with full text
of many scientific articles on psychedelics
§ Magic Mushrooms and Reindeer - Weird Nature. A short video on the use of Amanita muscaria mushrooms by the Sami people and
their reindeer produced by the BBC. [1]
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