EXCERPTS AND APPLICATION

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states, "These drugs can disrupt a person’s ability to think and communicate rationally, or even to recognize reality, sometimes resulting in bizarre or dangerous behavior." This shows how hallucinogens cause major changes in how users see the world around them, which is important to note because of the dangers they could be putting themselves in from not being aware of reality. The source Above the Influence claims, "The effects of hallucinogenic drugs are highly unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken and on your own unique personality and brain chemistry." This is important to know because users never know what outcomes they will get from using hallucinogens. For some people, the effect could be very strong and powerful, while for others, it may only have a small outcome like feeling drowsy. A final statement, again from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, says, "The truth is, there’s still a whole lot that scientists don’t know about the effects of hallucinogens on the brain." The information provided shows about how hallucinogens are still a mystery in science, which is important to know because that means scientists still have work to do in order to solve the mystery, which might include ways to stop addiction. These sources provide a lot of information that is helpful in understanding how hallucinogens affect users, and what the effects are.

AFFECT ON BRAIN AND BODY

According to Above the Influence, which talks about exactly how the brain is affected, hallucinogens alter the functioning of your brain, which can cause users to develop mental disorders as a long term effect. They affect your brain by changing how your neurotransmitter serotonin ad nerve cells get involved with the spinal cord and brain, which is the reason hallucinogens change the way users process what they see, what they feel, and makes them lose connections to reality. The National Institute on Drug Abuse focuses on the specific outcomes of taking hallucinogens, both long and short term. Long term effects include paranoia, distorted thinking, and hallucinations. Short term effects would include nausea, mixed senses, changes in sense and time perception, and increased heart rate and energy. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also mentions that the hallucinations users get are referred to as "tripping," or "trips." These time periods where hallucinogen users are feeling the effects of the drug can either be good, where they get a sense where their understanding is heightened and their minds are stimulated, or they can be "bad trips," where they experience dark thoughts and feelings, like fears of insanity, losing control, or even death. This shows another way how hallucinogens affect the brain and body, and how mentally dangerous hallucinogens really are to users.

THINK TWICE BEFORE USING

While some people take hallucinogens for fun, or to help relieve stress, hallucinogens can be very harmful, and cause fatal effects. The most common ways of use are LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, which individually have many effects. LSD causes increased blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, dizziness, numbness, weakness, and tremors, and impulsiveness and very quick emotional changes. Psilocybin mushrooms can cause nervousness, paranoia, and panic reactions, and misidentification of psilocybin mushrooms from poisonous mushrooms, which can be fatal. All of these effects listed came from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Above the Influence makes it clear that a major impact of using hallucinogens is that you could develop psychosis, which is a mental disorder where a user's thoughts and emotions are so disoriented, they have lost connections with reality. They also state how hallucinogens almost always alter a user's judgment and mind, which adds on to the fact that the outcome of taking hallucinogens is unpredictable, based on the specific person and amount taken. All of these facts show why people should think twice before starting to use hallucinogens. They cause major impairments to the body and brain, resulting in numerous outcomes, which could be fatal. Users lives could easily be taken away by hallucinogens.