Adverse Psychedelic Effects

All medicines, when administered without proper guidance can cause adverse effects. Therefore, it is essential, before administering any medicine to understand that there are specific categories of people who are more prone to experiencing negative effects. These can be seen within the most up to date psychedelic therapy inclusion / exclusion criteria set by medical professionals in clinical trials.

However, not everyone who might experience negative effects can and should be screened out. Below is a list of general and then specific potential adverse effects to psychedelics.

General Psychedelic Adverse Effects

Flashbacks

A flashback in the context of psychedelics refers to the drug-like effects that can spontaneously recur following hallucinogen exposure. Symptoms include vision changes, mood changes, and derealization/depersonalization. Whilst uncommon they have been found to be transient, mostly experienced as benign and did not impair daily life.When flashbacks are more persistent and are deemed chronic in nature they are termed Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder.

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is a rare clinical condition in which patients who have had previous exposure to a hallucinogenic substance continue to experience perceptual distortions months to years after complete cessation of the initial substance use. HPPD is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).

Drug Specific Effects

Mescaline

Mescaline can cause stomach cramps.

Psychedelic Adverse Effect Resistance

Age has been found to be negatively correlated with intensity of challenging experience.

References