Psychedelics are drugs and chemical compounds that are typically used to affect a user’s perception, mood, and the way they are thinking, for new experiences and pleasure. They have the potential to affect all five senses, alter thinking patterns, manipulate emotions, and have an individual behave unnaturally. The effects on the senses are typically described as hallucinations – seeing, hearing, and feeling things that are not there. There are numerous psychedelics are known to humankind, some of them being natural while others being artificially produced. The most common drugs of this order are LSD, Psilocybin, NBOMes, and Ayahuasca.
The physical effects on the individual under the influence of psychedelics include euphoria, dizziness, feelings of relaxation and numbness, vomiting, sweating, chills, and the inability to concentrate for prolonged periods. These effects are moderated by several individual parameters, such as the user’s size, weight, health status, and familiarity with the drug. The presence of other drugs, the amount consumed, and the strength of the compound in comparison to others can influence the physical effects on the person taking them.
Some of the behavioral changes that occur include “bad trips,” during which the individual’s behavior shifts from the expected relaxation and euphoria to stress, fear, and anxiety. Influenced by disturbing hallucinations, a user may attempt to harm themselves or commit suicide. Another type of behavioral change is induced by flashbacks – experiences of the effects of the drug long after it had been taken, the memory of the event usually triggered by a strong emotional experience. In those situations, the user starts acting as though influenced by the drug, which includes changes of personality and the impaired ability for judgment.