What are Hallucinogens?
Hallucinogens, also commonly referred to as “psychedelics drugs” are a wide category of drugs that can generally alter a person’s perception. This category includes hallucinogens such as LSD, peyote, PCP, and psilocybin. Though the effect of each of these drugs vary, they all can affect the way that a person sees, hears, tastes, smells, or feels, as well as impact an individual’s mood or thoughts.
Hallucinogens Explained
Hallucinogens, psychedelic, or other drugs are substances that alter a person’s sense of awareness, including thoughts and feelings about their surroundings. The term “hallucinogen” originates from the idea that hallucinogenic drugs can produce hallucinations. There are a diverse group of drugs that fall under the hallucinogenic category, but they are commonly split between two categories: classic hallucinogens and dissociative drugs.
Classic hallucinogens, such as psilocybin, LSD, or other drugs, interact with specific receptors, or molecular structures, in the brain. At certain high doses, classic hallucinogens may cause vivid visions or sensations that alter a person’s sense of self, and potentially highlight new personal insights or connections. Conversely, dissociative drugs like ketamine or PCP block receptors in the brain that are responsible for transporting glutamate, a type of neurotransmitter. Though, like classic hallucinogenic drugs, dissociative drugs alter a person’s sense of awareness, they can also create a heightened sense of disconnection between a person’s body and their surrounding environment.
Just as there is a split between classic hallucinogens and dissociative drugs, hallucinogens can also be categorized between human-made or synthetic drugs, as well those that originate from naturally occurring substances found in certain plants and fungi.
How Hallucinogens Work
The effects of hallucinogens, including both psychedelic drugs and dissociative drugs, have subjective effects that vary widely and depend on a diverse array of factors. The dosage and potency of a given hallucinogen will, for example, impact its concentration and strength. Other factors, including a person’s age, sex, personality, mood, mindset, and their unique biological makeup, also play a significant role in the same effect that hallucinogens can have.
The variety of hallucinogenic experiences shaped by contextual considerations are also often differentiated between “sets” (internal factors) and “settings” (external factors). Set and setting are important to understanding how or why an individual will experience hallucinogens in one way or another as well as potentially adverse effects that someone may experience. The set and setting hypothesis theorizes that the psychological effects from psychedelic drug use are primarily dependent on a person’s personality, preparation, expectation, mindset, and intention (set), and then their physical, social, and cultural environment in which a hallucinogenic experience takes place (setting). Clinical studies into set and setting, including a person’s sensory input, stems greatly from wider psychedelic research and has led to broader inquiries relating to the effects and use of hallucinogens as well as psychotherapy.
Hallucinogens and other drugs can temporarily alter a person’s thought patterns and mood and those who have used these substances often report severe feelings, including some potentially adverse effects, that can range from out of body feelings to intense happiness to fear or anxiety. The hallucinogenic effects that a person experiences from psychedelic drugs likely stems from activity in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for a person’s mood, cognition, and perception.
Hallucinogens or psychedelic drugs also work to temporarily disrupt standard means of communication between various regions of the brain, importantly the default mode network (DMN). Processes of self-awareness, like reflection on the past or making plans, heightens DMN activity in the brain. Researchers in part believe that this is why the use of hallucinogens may lead to a diminishment in self-centered or negative emotions.
Where do hallucinogens come from?
The history of hallucinogens is a long and storied one, with much scholarship pointing to uses stemming back thousands of years. Mentions of hallucinogens are scattered across many ancient religious and mystical experiences. For example, mentions of “soma,” a substance that can be used to experience higher levels of consciousness, can be found in the Rigveda, a Hindu holy book dating back to a year around 300 BC. Additionally, in Central and South America the Aztecs in Mexico likely used “teotlaqualli,” a paste derived from a hallucinogenic flower, in healing rituals as a method to eliminate fear and re-orient mental disorders or states among priests and soldiers. Mexican Indians have a long history with the peyote cactus, a naturally occurring substance found in regions near Mexico, another hallucinogen, in their religious ceremonies.
Experiences and Effects
Hallucinogens work by disrupting the typical communication between chemical networks in the brain. Active hallucinogens interfere with serotonin, a chemical neurotransmitter. Consequently, regular functions that a person experiences—sleep, hunger, mood, body temperature, sensory perception—can shift.
What are the effects of hallucinogens?
The effect of hallucinogens, again, varies between specific types of drugs as well as whether they are taken at very high doses or lower quantities. Classic psychedelics, for example, reliably induce powerful changes in one’s perception of self, time, and space when serotonin receptors related to brain processes are disrupted. Recent clinical trials have also demonstrated that high doses of psychedelics, a psilocybin mushroom, can offer symptom relief for those experiencing conditions such as depression or addiction.
This suggests that other hallucinogens including psychedelics may provide distinct neurobiological experiences both during ingestion and persisting after the drug has been eliminated from the body. The effect of hallucinogens like psilocybin can affect the brain and lead to widespread network changes. Psilocybin mushrooms and related drugs have been shown to induce persistent decrease in functional connectivity between the brain’s anterior hippocampus and context, as well as the default mode network (DMN) which processes senses of self-awareness and future planning.
Effects in the brain parallel what is known as “grounding”, a psychological principle related to the ability for one to direct their attention to sensory perception in order to alleviate distressing thoughts or emotions. Additionally, studies have shown that the effect of psilocybin mushrooms, a hallucinogen, can last for weeks, normalizing after six months. The persistent effect of psilocybin, like altered perception, is an important indicator for its wider impact on an individual’s neuroplasticity and positive mindset-building effects. Hallucinogens have a unique ability on the human psyche.
With the ability to alter a person’s perception, change their views on life or death, and provoke or disrupt strongly-held beliefs, the effects of these drugs can be powerful and transformational.
Types of Hallucinogens
Hallucinogens and other substances come from a variety of sources, including from mushrooms (psilocybin), cacti (mescaline), and other naturally occurring compounds (cannabis and salvia). Of these plant-based hallucinogens, psilocybin and cannabis are most often used in their natural forms. LSD is one form of hallucinogen that is used only in a synthesis form and other hallucinogens, like MDMA and ketamine, are created in lab settings. Many have been linked as promising tools for addressing substance use disorder, drug abuse, and other mental health conditions. Here are some of the many different examples of hallucinogens:
Psilocybin
The hallucinogen psilocybin is a chemical found in certain types of mushrooms. Psychedelic drugs use, also commonly referred to as magic mushroom use, have a long, global, and ancient history of use in a variety of traditional ceremonies. The effect of psilocybin, also known as “shrooms” or “magic mushrooms,” can lead to experiences in which one’s awareness, self, and environment shift. Some people experience distorted sights and sounds, or feel a change in their sense of time and space. Other psychological effects of this hallucinogen include heightened emotions.
Research behind the use and impact of psilocybin as a substance that may potentially offer tools to those experiencing challenges with their mental health conditions or sense of self is a growing area of interest for the scientific community.
Mescaline
The hallucinogen mescaline, a naturally occurring substance, is found in cacti including peyote and San Pedro. As with many hallucinogens, mescaline operates as a serotonin receptor agonist which can have the effect of inducing a state of euphoria, hallucinations, as well as a change in one’s sense of awareness, both personally and environmentally. The effect of this hallucinogen is not unlike other classical psychedelics, including psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
LSD, a compound originally derived from a fungus that grows on rye and other grains known as “ergot,” is a potent hallucinogen that, when used, may alter a person’s sense of reality and distort their senses. Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist, first discovered this hallucinogen in 1943. Clinical studies into the hallucinogen focused on how LSD could impact or aid those experiencing challenges related to mental health conditions. Interest in LSD, both recreationally and among research groups, has centered on its potentially “mind-expanding” qualities.
MDMA
The hallucinogen MDMA (an abbreviation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as “Molly” or “Ecstacy,” is a synthetic hallucinogen. The effects of MDMA can appear somewhat similar to stimulants like methamphetamine, but many consider this hallucinogen as a psychedelic drug because of how it also alters a person’s visualization and perception of time and space. MDMA’s effects can lead to a general sense of increased energy and alertness and many studies into brain research are currently studying its potential use in therapeutic settings or as a tool for addressing substance use disorders, drug abuse, conditions related to psychological dependence, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ketamine
Ketamine, a hallucinogen first synthesized in the 1960s, blocks the N-methyl-D-aspartate neurotransmitter in the brain. This glutamate receptor plays an important role in synaptic plasticity, which is a mechanism in the brain related to memory foundation. Early drug use dates back to the Vietnam War, when doctors began using the hallucinogen as a battlefield anesthetic. Since then, however, ketamine has become highly regulated and is the subject of many ongoing scientific studies.
Medical and Therapeutic Potential
Psychedelics or other classic hallucinogens are used for a diverse array of reasons, including recreational uses, the subject of ongoing scientific studies, and therapeutic applications. Recently, there has been a strong revival of interest in psychedelic research, leading to a resurgence of hallucinogens like psilocybin in tea ceremonies.
The use of hallucinogens in controlled settings—such as those found at Beckley Retreats—can replicate supportive and sacred atmospheres that these substances were used for in many traditional and indigenous ceremonies. Ultimately, hallucinogens can be used for creating a safe space for individuals to explore new understandings about their sense of self and their surrounding environments, especially under the guidance of trained facilitators.
Summary:
Certain hallucinogens, which include naturally occurring substances like psychedelics, are psychoactive drugs that alter a person’s sense of awareness, including thoughts and even an out of body feeling about their surroundings. There are a diverse group of psychoactive drugs that fall under the hallucinogenic category and each—LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, mescaline, peyote—have their own unique effects. Researchers in part believe the use of hallucinogens may lead to a diminishment in self-centered or negative emotions, offering a person the greater ability to experience expansive, promoting, and connected sense with themselves, others, and their surrounding environment.
The use of hallucinogens in controlled environments, especially in group settings such as what is offered at Beckley Retreats, is a growing area of interest. These spaces can create supportive and sacred atmospheres in which individuals can explore the mind-altering, transformative effect of these psychoactive substances, whose usage and power date far back across global traditional and indigenous ceremonies. Psilocybin (the active compound in magic mushrooms and magic truffles) is one of the safest and most well-tolerated entheogenic compounds, with relatively few reported side effects when used in appropriate doses.
This is what we use at Beckley Retreats and our participants consume the hallucinogen in the form of tea during a meaningful ceremony. The on-set is usually felt within 60-90 minutes and our participants put on blind folds to explore their intentions and are supported by beautiful live music. The journey usually lasts 5-6 hours with highly personalized support from our world-class facilitators throughout and we finish the evening with a communal dinner, enjoying locally sourced food. The next day, holistic, nature-based wellbeing practices and group-based integration provide space for moving, reflecting and processing.
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