What are the positive connotations?
Psychedelic mild expanding, making the mind manifest
entheogenic generating the divine within
Negative connotations?
Psychotomimetic: having the appearance of psychosis
psychodysleptic/psycholytic: mind disrupting/mind dissolving
Operatinonalization
A chemical that induces perception of something that does not exist in the environment
most induce issusionigenic not hallucination
Categorical distinction based on what?
Psychological effects
What are 3 psychological effects?
Psychedelics:
reducing valve subjective feelings that the brain’s filter is being disabled by the drug
Dissociatives
-physical numbing analgesia, amnesia, anesthesia
-psychological detachment
-derealization: perception of dream-like state or unreal
-depersonalization: detached or removed from the body (out of body)
(date rape)
Deliriants:
- confusion, inability to control behaviour, sometimes rage
- quantitative or qualitative defference ?
Categorical distinction based on what?
structural similarity to NT’s
- serotonin (LSD, DMT)
- Norepinephrine (ecstasy mescaline)
- Acetylcholine (Scopolamine)
- no similarity ( PCP, Ketamine, Salvia)
Schedule 3
Sensory distortions
Visual
-colour, contrast, size changes
Auditory
-amplified, but not always clearer
Smell, taste, touch
-synesthesia: crossing of sensory modality
The first 2 stages in the process
1) visual images
first seen with eyes closed than projected on surfaces when eyes opened
2) meaningful images of people/animals/places
-images can change rapidly; in first stages changes will have a conceptual pattern
LSD
Alkaloid
Ergoline (fungus)
Toxic
-reduce bleeding/increase contractions
Synthesided LSD-25
Indole (nucleus) similar to serotonin street name: acid volatile (reactive with o2) -extremely water soluble -oxidation -photosensitivity
LSD potency
Highly potent
1 dose 50-150 micrograms
LSD sympathomimetic symptoms
Increase blood pressure, temp
LSD Process
Onset
30 mins; no physiological effecrs, but sensation of relaxing or “release of tension)
-sympathomimetic response
LSD plateau
30 min- 2h Four different effects
1) images with eyes closed
2) synaesthesia
3) perception of multilevel reality
4) distorted (exaggerated/strange) visual input
- visual cortex/ locus coerules
LSD peak
3-5h
1) emotion/panic swings
2) feeling of timelessness
3) disembodiment or ego-disintegration
- prefrontal cortex
LSD effects
Agonism
- visual cortex (5-HT 1A 5-HT A2)
- decrease activity in occipital lobe
- disruption in model object completion
LSD Effects metabotropic receptors (locus coeruleus)
-Serotonin (5_ht 2A)
-inhibit other serotonin receptors, excite 2A receptor on Glutamate and GABA
1)increase sensory signals (threshold)
2) decrease “spontaneous signals (noise)
-refinement and salience of signals
-increase glutamate release in cerebral cortex
-explains why perception is altered (illusions)
interaction between dopamine and serotonin explains psychotic actions (i.e. when things get scary)
LSD abuse potential
Tolerance
Acute (tachyphylaxis)
- 3 days - 1 week to subside
- potentially dangerous as it facilitates taking more
- toxicity emotional/perceptual effects
LSD abuse
Cross tolerance
Tryptamine family (shrooms, DMT)
LSD abuse
Dependence
No physical dependence (no withdrawal)
potential psychological dependence
-not an easy high
-8 hour trips :physically/psychologically exhausting
-alternating between pleasant and terrifying (not as rewarding, unpredictable)
-trip controls the user
LSD toxicity
Physiological effects
Myadrasis
-chronic pupil dilation
LSD toxicity
psychological effects
Serotonin syndrome
- the accumulation of excess serotonin in the CNS
- symptoms:
1) cognitive: Hypomania, confusion, hallucinations
2) autonomic: sweating, hyperthermia, vasconstriction, tachycardia
3) somatic: tremor, myoclonus (twitchiness)
LSD toxicity
hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) or flashback
re-experencing symptoms from the trip when sober
- chronic (mostly visual) or episodic (all sensory modality)
- before going to sleep in darkness, driving (stress)
