AM Healthcare

Hallucinogen Addiction Treatment

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Hallucinogens are a powerful class of drug that causes a person to feel or experience sensations not based on reality. Hallucinogens directly affect how a person perceives the reality around them and can potentially lead to reckless or dangerous behavior. Many long-term effects of hallucinogens are still not fully understood due to a lack of research.

What Are Hallucinogens?

Hallucinogens are a class of drugs that affect how a person perceives the reality around them. Depending on the hallucinogen, this can be done by altering awareness, thoughts, feelings or by creating visual or auditory hallucinations. Hallucinations are sensations or images that are not real.

There are two types of hallucinogenic drugs: classic hallucinogens and dissociative hallucinogens. While both types of drugs can cause hallucinations and altered perceptions, dissociative drugs also can cause the user to dissociate from their body or environment. This may lead to a person experiencing an “out of body” sensation or feel like they are in a dream rather than the real world. 

Hallucinogens can be entirely natural and plant-based or synthetic creations. Synthetic hallucinogens are generally created in labs to replicate the effects of natural hallucinogenic drugs. These drugs have a long history of being used for medical and spiritual purposes, especially in Native American and South American cultures. In recent years, they have become more popular among adolescents and college-aged students for recreational use.

What Drugs Are Hallucinogens?

What Do Hallucinogens Do?

The science behind how hallucinogens work still has not provided a clear answer. The current belief is that classic hallucinogens affect the neural circuits in the brain that involve serotonin, whereas dissociative drugs disrupt the glutamate system of the brain. Research is still being conducted to learn more about these drugs, including how they affect a person’s brain, the long-term effects of use, and how they can cause addiction.

Are Hallucinogens Addictive?

Hallucinogens are not usually considered as addictive as other illicit substances, such as opioids or cocaine. However, long-term use of hallucinogens has proven to cause substance dependence. A dependence will lead to the body building tolerance to the substance, making a person require more of a drug to achieve the desired effects. It may also lead to physical or psychological withdrawal symptoms when substance use stops. Both tolerance and dependence symptoms are key criteria in the diagnosis of an addiction disorder.

Hallucinogens are not believed to cause a variety of physical withdrawal symptoms. However, psychological dependence on these drugs is more common. Psychological withdrawal symptoms may include depression, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, restlessness, or irritability. 

The truth is that the long-term effects of hallucinogen use and addiction are not fully understood. This does not mean that they are safe to use, just that science hasn’t done the research to understand the potential consequences of use. If you or a loved one are suffering from a dependence on hallucinogenic drugs, it is best to seek the help of medical professionals as soon as possible. 

Addiction Treatment For Hallucinogen

Substance abuse treatment should always be catered to the needs of the individual. Each person in recovery may respond differently to various types of treatment, so no one treatment program will work for everyone.

Psychotherapy options, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, can be beneficial in the treatment of substance abuse. Group meetings, such as SMART Recovery or Narcotics Anonymous, may be helpful tools for people who find group support helpful.

Hallucinogen Addiction Treatment Options

If you or a loved one may be suffering from substance abuse disorder, the first step is to seek a medical professional’s help. Getting help with addiction treatment is a vital step in the recovery process. Symptoms associated with withdrawal are often challenging and can be dangerous to face alone. Treatment facilities can help guide you through the initial stages of the recovery process safely and effectively.

At AM Health Care, we believe in finding the recovery method that will work best for you. Every person has different needs when it comes to addiction treatment, and not one thing will work for all people. We can find the facility and program that best fits your needs to receive the best chance at recovery possible. Please reach out to us at 818-383-1297 to learn more about substance abuse treatment options.

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