The drug LSD: harm, mechanism of action, consequences of use

LSD is one of the most powerful chemical, synthetic drugs aimed at “expanding” the boundaries of consciousness and distorting it. The substance on which the production of LSD is based is lysergic acid, which is formed in the mold of cereal plants. The name of LSD is lysergic acid diethylamide.

Once synthesized, LSD appears as a clear liquid, which is then transformed into tablets or left as a liquid and soaked into some types of paper. It does not matter in what form LSD is used, the effect will always be the same.

Briefly about the drug

First of all, it’s worth telling what this substance is. LSD is a semi-synthetic drug belonging to the lysergamide family.

This is perhaps the most famous psychedelic - a substance that changes a person’s perception and affects his emotional state.

LSD was discovered in 1938, November 16th. It was discovered by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, who synthesized the substance from lysergic acid. The psychotropic properties of LSD were discovered by accident, and only 5 years later.

It was assumed that this substance would help understand the nature of schizophrenia. But then, from the 1950s, it began to be used in medicine. The substance helped with depression, amnesia, neuroses, and also contributed to the treatment of alcoholism and addiction (heroin and cocaine).

The medical use of LSD, created by Hoffman, was successful, but then its use got out of control. Everyone started using it, and just like that. This led to a complete ban on the substance.

[edit] Notes

1. “A strange premonition—the feeling that this substance might have properties other than those discovered in the first studies—made me, five years after the first synthesis, once again obtain LSD-25.”
2. “On the way home, my condition began to take threatening forms. Everything in my field of vision trembled and distorted, as if in a distorting mirror. I also had the feeling that we couldn't move. However, my assistant told me later that we were driving very fast."
3. By the way, not so long ago, followers of Shulgin’s glorious work discovered psychedelics that are active in quantities comparable to dosages of LSD. The Chinese are already producing. Some of them are relatively harmless, and some last for 40 hours.

About the name

Many people are interested in knowing why LSD? Decoding is actually quite simple. This abbreviation literally translates as “lysergic synthetic diethylamide.” That is, the name was formulated taking into account the components on the basis of which this substance arose.

There are also other codes and names. Delysid, Lysergide, LSD-25 - all of these can also mean LSD. The decodings in the first two cases are clear, but what does the number in the last, third version mean? This is the amount of hydrogen contained in the drug, which is the main component of the drug. The chemical formula, by the way, looks like this: C20H25N3O.

[edit] LSD and games

Vuyuteshf Old hippies
In the racially correct computer game "American McGee's Alice" the menu items for loading, saving and deleting saves look and are written as L, S, D - Load, Save, Delete - which seems to hint at the essence of the game and the world of Alice as a whole . There is also a 1998 winrar game LSD - Dream Emulator, which frightens with its fuckiness and delivers with music. In GTA San Andreas, in the city of Los Santos you can find a forklift with the inscription LSD, which stands for Los Santos Delivery.

The first phase of intoxication

Within 5-10 minutes after consuming LSD, a person feels changes in his body. These usually include:

• Cardiopalmus.
• Dilated pupils.
• High blood pressure.
• Increased body temperature.
• Dizziness.
• Loss of coordination.
• Tremor.
• Nausea.
• Weakness.

Many may also experience feelings of anxiety and tension. This is due to the fact that the somatic symptoms listed above appear very quickly.

As a result, many people who use the drug LSD experience emotional disturbances. Typically this involves uncontrollable laughter or crying.

Second phase of intoxication

It occurs approximately 15-20 minutes after using LSD tablets or this substance in another form. The second phase is characterized by the appearance of actual psychotropic effects. They are different for everyone, and sometimes even contradictory.

Typically, people experience the following effects:

• Severe mood swings.
• Behavioral disorders.
• Distortion of the thinking process.
• Rave.
• The feeling of “falling out” from the real world.
• Feeling of invulnerability.
• Euphoria.

It is interesting that many do not compare the feelings they experience with pleasure. And physical activity does not correspond to strong affects. He perceives the delight and bliss felt by a person slowly, with solidification, ecstatically.

This is why many people under the influence of LSD freeze, and their gaze, fixed on one point, remains motionless.

Due to paranoid mood and emotional lability, panic attacks often develop. The pace of thinking accelerates, which leads to an uncontrollable influx of thoughts. This often leads to emotional discomfort, which is accompanied by deep melancholy.

Sometimes taking LSD causes reactions that require immediate psychiatric help. Typically this is:

• Suicidal thoughts.
• Psychomotor agitation.
• The emergence of erroneous dangerous judgments. For example, the emergence of the idea that people can fly, and the subsequent desire to test this assumption.
• Aggressiveness.

[edit] Trip reports

Effects of LSD Experiments on the effects of LSD, 1950s. LSD - ICE...

..or not ICE. Imperial flags on a blue background!

Weed, relatively speaking, is harmless. Well, I smoked, laughed heartily, paused and thought about the eternal, rested and it passed. LSD (like psilocybin mushrooms, and probably mescaline) works much deeper. You are left alone with yourself. With that essence that, during upbringing, growing up and all that, has absorbed various kinds of social rules and norms. She became roughened in the process of stress and all sorts of life experiences. I acquired the identities and barriers necessary for a comfortable life. So, all this disappears! You are able to perceive yourself as separate from everything. It's quite difficult to describe in words. Let me use this metaphor: you have played WOW for a long time and successfully, so much so that you identified yourself with your character. And then you suddenly realize that there is the real you, and there is your avatar on the computer (in society), gear, achievements. And these are just the rules of the game invented by society, nothing more. You understand deeper, much deeper than you do now, after reading these lines. And you can no longer refuse this fact. The value of many of your achievements becomes negligible and, on the contrary, those personal moments that your psyche “hid” from you due to defensive reactions during the natural process of personality formation again acquire meaning. By asking yourself the question “who am I,” you can answer it for yourself. Not what you look like, not your habits, musical and gastronomic preferences, but exactly who you are. If you want, this is the feeling of the soul in a spacesuit. Previously, you perceived yourself as one, but now you feel separate. What modern life “raised” you to believe, and what was originally (and is!). And yes, of course, you don’t have to use anything to understand this. But the whole difference is, after the LSD experience, you really change your life priorities! And this remains forever. For example, I am very lucky in that my work is my hobby and I would do what I do even if I didn’t get paid for it. But if you imagine some workinghard middle-manager earning money, I’m afraid the LSD experience would bring a lot of problems into his life - he would no longer be able to work so obliviously, having realized the meaninglessness of what he was doing. And this is not some personal trip of mine, almost everyone who has used LSD goes through this. Separating the wheat from the chaff. Sociality and what has imperceptibly stuck to you, from your primordial personality. Now this feeling will always be with you. And for some, this realization can be very painful and even dangerous. I hope I don't get banned for this sheet. I wrote from the heart. Think a hundred times before you shove something into yourself.

barkalov

The third phase of intoxication

At this stage, the greatest influence of the drug is observed. The third phase occurs 2-3 hours after its use. And it manifests itself in visual illusions.

Perception is disrupted. The brightness of the lighting, the shades of surrounding objects, the shape of visible objects - all this is greatly distorted.

A person also begins to be disturbed by experiences of mystical, religious and cosmic themes. He may experience a clouding of consciousness, and often stupor occurs. Also, people often seem to be watching what is happening from the outside.

Pseudohallucinations also occur. Images appear before a person as soon as he closes his eyes. There are strange noises, voices, and music inside my head.

Synesthesia often occurs. This is strange: a person “feels” sounds and “hears” colors. Dry seems wet, rough seems smooth, hot seems cold, etc.

Perception is also impaired. A person may begin to feel his organs in a place where they are not located. His perception of himself, his size, as well as space, time and the relationship of other objects changes.

Change of consciousness

It is also most strongly expressed in the third stage. Here's what happens:

• The distinction between reality and painful ideas is lost.
• A person feels the meaninglessness of life, vital melancholy, and experiences horror.
• Attacks of uncontrollable aggression occur.
• Often, when intoxicated, people attempt murder or suicide.
• Some experience a feeling of inexplicable delight, indescribable happiness and closeness to God.
• Concentration is completely lost.

The consciousness of one's own personality is also disturbed. This may be a split, alienation, or even loss of it. Many feel like people of the opposite sex, inanimate objects, or simply absent-minded.

In this state, mental processes become dream-like - uncontrollable and automatic. And experiences that seemed long forgotten appear in the subconscious.

Neutral circumstances begin to seem significant. And what a person really cared about becomes depreciated. And in general, many meanings take on a different meaning.

Features of hallucinations

Visual disturbances after taking LSD can vary widely. Some people say they only saw minor flashes of light. Others describe complex images. And some even say that after using the substance they found themselves in another world, and even communicated with representatives of an extraterrestrial civilization.

It is interesting that many not only see, but also feel the illusions that appear. A person can see how his hands seem to decrease in size and feel the “transformation” taking place.

Use of acid in medicine

As noted above, LSD and schizophrenia turned out to have nothing in common. But because the substance has psychedelic properties, many scientists continue to consider it as a drug aimed at treating a number of other psychological disorders. British and Swiss scientists annually conduct experiments on volunteers.

In addition, one study proved that the acid synthesized from parasitic fungi serves as an effective adjuvant for the treatment of severe alcohol dependence. However, due to certain social and political considerations, the substance is banned and is not allowed to be used as a tool to combat alcohol addiction.

Signs of a sexual type

It is important to note that taking this substance is often accompanied by some kind of sexual inhibition. Moreover, regardless of the emotional and physical state of a person.

How do these signs appear? Some people completely lose interest in sex and everything connected with it. Even those who consider it the most important component of life. Strangely, some even refuse to talk about this topic while under the influence of LSD.

But others develop obsessive sexual fantasies. Many admit that they are very strange, and are associated with various perversions and even mysticism. And for some people, concentration on obsessive images of an intimate nature is the only consequence of drug use.

Negative consequences of abuse

Regular use of a narcotic drug causes the development of a strong addiction. Euphoria is replaced by serious psychophysical problems.

Narcotization and consequences appear:

• A state of derealization.
• Expressed emotional changes.
• Autonomic disorders (sweating, palpitations, convulsive twitching).
• Apathy and depression.
• Panic attacks.
• Suicidal thoughts and actions.

Fourth phase

This stage is characterized by the reverse development of psychotic symptoms. All of the above symptoms begin to “fade away” 8-12 hours after taking LSD tablets.

The world is slowly returning to its normal shape. Orientation in the area begins to be restored, and an adequate perception of time and one’s own personality returns. As a rule, during this period a person’s mood is bad, sometimes even anxious or dysphoric.

Many people who have taken a sufficient dose of LSD claim that their memories of the resulting effect are very abundant, vivid and varied. This means that consciousness after taking a drug changes not in a twilight way, but in a delirious and oneiric way.

Harm of LSD

Many sources say that this drug supposedly does not cause harm to the body. But this, of course, is not so. This substance has a destructive effect on both the psyche and the human body.

There is a high probability of developing addiction. A person who has used LSD no longer wants to return to everyday routine. And he takes the drug again. Of course, this applies mainly to weak people who quickly acquire habits.

The harm caused by LSD is obvious. After about 5-8 doses, a strong dependence develops, caused by mental illness. As a rule, people become hooked on drugs in whose lives one of the following has played a role:

• Family dysfunction.
• Liberal education.
• Lack of vivid sensations and diversity in reality.

For such people, cocaine, LSD, amphetamine and other drugs become a way to compensate for dissatisfaction in their personal lives. And because illicit substances give them what they need most, they quickly become addicted.

Side effects

Taking lysergic acid can often be accompanied by side effects that are also typical for other substances with psychedelic properties. Symptomatic side effects may include:

• Having difficulty focusing your vision.
• Saliva in the mouth has a thick consistency.
• Chills.
• Weakness.
• The color of the skin changes (usually on the hands).
• The body's thermoregulation is disrupted.

The above side effects are observed against the background of psycho-emotional depression and fatigue. Such consequences have a very negative impact on the state of the body, so if they occur, it is necessary to urgently seek help.

Overdose

This is perhaps the most terrible consequence of LSD. If a person has overdosed on a drug, he needs to get medical help as quickly as possible.

How can you tell if he has taken too much of a substance? Firstly, a person begins to resemble a hunted animal. His hands are shaking violently, and his pupils dilate so that the iris is no longer visible. Secondly, the following symptoms are observed:

• Animal fear appears.
• The heart hurts severely, there is discomfort in the chest area.
• The temperature rises.
• Smooth muscle spasms occur.
• Strong thirst appears.
• Pulse, heartbeat, breathing and blood pressure increase.
• My head begins to hurt unbearably.

In especially severe cases, vomiting and foam at the mouth appear. But the most serious consequence of LSD is death. The lethal dose of LSD is approximately 0.0002 g per 1 kg of weight. That is, if a person weighs 70 kilograms, then 0.014 g of the drug will be enough for him.

Addiction treatment

Breaking the habit of taking drugs is extremely difficult and painful. But addiction must be treated, regardless of what a person is drawn to - LSD, spice, cocaine, amphetamine, heroin or any other substance.

The patient must go to the hospital. There he will undergo 5 stages of rehabilitation:

• Motivation. Doctors work with the patient, helping him not only to understand the need for treatment, but also, no matter how it sounds, to become interested in it.
• Detoxification. Treatment is impossible without cleansing the patient’s blood, which is carried out through intravenous infusions and taking a course of vitamins and medications.
• Rehabilitation. During this stage, a person attends group and individual trainings that are aimed at normalizing the mental state.
• Recovery. The person gradually begins to return to a normal lifestyle. He restores his rest and sleep patterns, plays sports, eats healthy food, and goes to physical therapy.
• Resocialization. At this stage, the main role is played by acceptance and understanding of loved ones. It is important that they unobtrusively encourage and support the former addict, and also protect him from any negativity.

The harm caused by LSD should not be underestimated. Even though many people classify it as a soft drug, we must remember that it is a prohibited substance, the use of which often leads to dire consequences.

International statisticians

In Europe, the highest levels of LSD consumption are found in the UK and Ireland (16 percent among young people aged 16 to 29), with lower percentages elsewhere in Europe. In America, since 1975, researchers funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse have surveyed approximately 17,000 high school students across the country each year to identify trends in drug use and to determine students' views and attitudes toward drug use.

Between 1975 and 1997, the lowest rates of LSD use found in research occurred in 1986, when 7.2 percent of high school students said they had tried LSD at least once in their lives. The percentage of high school students who report using LSD at least once a year has nearly doubled from 4.4 percent in 1985 to 8.4 in 1997.

In 1997, 13.6 percent of high school students had tried LSD at least once in their lives. By 2004, approximately 23.4 million Americans had used LSD at least once by age 12. This represents 10.3 percent of this age group.

I started hanging out in strip clubs, casinos, became very promiscuous, visited brothel after brothel and soon tried drugs, at first it was not LSD. I spent all my inheritance and moved into a cocaine den where I lived for a year, watching how people died, there I lost my job and became a thief. In November 2003, I was arrested for attempted robbery and went to jail. I made those who loved me suffer, and I lost them all, I was disowned. I ended up losing my home, living on the streets, sleeping in cardboard boxes at stations, begging and struggling to find anything to eat. Frederick