Dissociative drugs
Dissociative drugs (also called “dissociative anesthetics”) are a type of psychedelics that cause distorted sensory perception and isolation from the environment.
These substances greatly distort the perception of vision and sound. People who use dissociatives are in a dream-like state. Everything that happens around you seems unreal and blurry, there is confusion, detachment from emotions, memory lapses, as well as difficulties in comprehending events.
Being under the influence of dissociative drugs, a person may experience the following feelings:
It feels like he is teleporting to another place or dimension.
Losing touch with yourself and your identity.
It feels like his limbs are stretching.
It feels like something is dissolving or exploding inside.
Self-observation from the outside.
Loss of contact and emotional connection with people.
Visual hallucinations (especially of evil creatures or figures).
Paranoid or grandiose thoughts.
Tingling or numbness of the whole body.
Loss of depth perception or flattening of the visual field.
The most common dissociatives include:
Dextromethorphan. It was previously used as an active ingredient in over-the-counter cough medicines. In low doses, it is a safe and effective antitussive, but in higher doses it is a powerful dissociative psychedelic.
Phencyclidine (“angel dust”). In the 60s it was used as an anesthetic. However, one in five patients had a severe reaction to the drug, often lasting 12 hours or more. Therefore, its use was soon abandoned. Phencyclidine has a dissociative and stimulating effect. It is considered a “dirty drug” because it interacts with numerous individual receptors in the brain. The main effect is related to its ability to block NMDA receptors, but it also affects serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
Ketamine was invented to replace phencyclidine as an anesthetic during surgery. Chemically, it belongs to the family of dissociative and hallucinogenic psychoactive substances. It causes a feeling of intoxication, floating in the air, blurred vision. The use of a substance in large doses can cause a person to lose consciousness for several minutes and fall into the so-called “ketamine hole”. It seems to him that he is falling endlessly into darkness.
Butyrate. It was originally used as an analgesic during surgical operations. Later it was used as a dissociative drug. Butyrate causes hallucinations, loss of connection with reality, and delusions.
Sage (Salvia divinorum). It is one of the most potent natural psychoactive substances. It causes changes in consciousness, visual disturbances, dizziness and hallucinations. The active ingredient salvinorin is obtained from the leaves of the plant.
Dissociatives are a class of psychoactive substances that distort the perception of the outside world. These drugs get their name because they cause feelings of detachment or dissociation.
After consuming them, a person experiences a strong feeling of isolation from the environment or himself. It may seem to him that he has moved to another place or that the world around him has disappeared into nothingness.
Initially, this group of drugs was developed for medical use as anesthetics during surgical operations. However, later dissociative substances began to be used not for their intended purpose, but as a drug.
Dissociative substances – description, composition, effect, property
Dissociative drugs (also called “dissociative anesthetics”) are a type of psychedelics that cause distorted sensory perception and isolation from the environment.
These substances greatly distort the perception of vision and sound. People who use dissociatives are in a dream-like state. Everything that happens around you seems unreal and blurry, there is confusion, detachment from emotions, memory lapses, as well as difficulties in comprehending events.
Being under the influence of dissociative drugs, a person may experience the following feelings:
It feels like he is teleporting to another place or dimension.
Losing touch with yourself and your identity.
It feels like his limbs are stretching.
It feels like something is dissolving or exploding inside.
Self-observation from the outside.
Loss of contact and emotional connection with people.
Visual hallucinations (especially of evil creatures or figures).
Paranoid or grandiose thoughts.
Tingling or numbness of the whole body.
Loss of depth perception or flattening of the visual field.
The most common dissociatives include:
Dextromethorphan. It was previously used as an active ingredient in over-the-counter cough medicines. In low doses, it is a safe and effective antitussive, but in higher doses it is a powerful dissociative psychedelic.
Phencyclidine (“angel dust”). In the 60s it was used as an anesthetic. However, one in five patients had a severe reaction to the drug, often lasting 12 hours or more. Therefore, its use was soon abandoned. Phencyclidine has a dissociative and stimulating effect. It is considered a “dirty drug” because it interacts with numerous individual receptors in the brain. The main effect is related to its ability to block NMDA receptors, but it also affects serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
Ketamine was invented to replace phencyclidine as an anesthetic during surgery. Chemically, it belongs to the family of dissociative and hallucinogenic psychoactive substances. It causes a feeling of intoxication, floating in the air, blurred vision. The use of a substance in large doses can cause a person to lose consciousness for several minutes and fall into the so-called “ketamine hole”. It seems to him that he is falling endlessly into darkness.
Butyrate. It was originally used as an analgesic during surgical operations. Later it was used as a dissociative drug. Butyrate causes hallucinations, loss of connection with reality, and delusions.
Sage (Salvia divinorum). It is one of the most potent natural psychoactive substances. It causes changes in consciousness, visual disturbances, dizziness and hallucinations. The active ingredient salvinorin is obtained from the leaves of the plant.
It is worth noting that of all the drugs in this class, phencyclidine causes the most extreme and unpredictable consequences, especially in high doses.
The effect of dissociatives on the human body
Most of the effects of dissociatives are related to its depressive effect on the central nervous system:
euphoria;
relaxation;
feeling of happiness;
numbness of the body;
catalepsy (immobility);
auditory and visual hallucinations;
a sense of calm and security;
disturbance of consciousness;
depersonalization, derealization;
Falling into the “ketamine hole”
amnesia (memory loss).
Dissociative substances also affect the physiological functions of the body and cause fluctuations in blood pressure, tachycardia, pupil dilation, heart problems, slow breathing, loss of muscle control, pain relief, and impaired urination.
The main effect of dissociatives is due to the blocking of NMDA glutamate receptors.
Glutamate is a chemical that affects emotions, pain perception, and cognition. As a result of blocking its receptors, nerve impulses coming from the periphery do not reach the analyzers of the cerebral cortex, and perception of the surrounding world is disrupted. This mechanism explains the occurrence of sensory deprivation and hallucinations when taking dissociative substances.
When using dissociatives, tolerance is quickly formed, and then dependence. Tolerance manifests itself in the form of the need to consume more psychoactive substances to achieve the same effect.
As a rule, it takes only a few doses of the drug to form tolerance. The absence of the next dose is accompanied by discomfort and increased irritability.
At this stage, dependence on dissociatives begins to form. A person loses interest in what is happening around them, all thoughts become focused around the desire to use a drug.
After six months of regular intake of surfactants, withdrawal syndrome develops, which becomes the strongest incentive to find the next dose. The first symptoms of withdrawal appear 1-2 days after the last drug intake.
Certain liver enzymes are responsible for the breakdown and metabolism of dissociative substances. And by-products of metabolism are excreted in the urine.
The elimination of dissociative substances from the body takes about 12-24 hours. However, their metabolites can be detected over several days (depending on the specific drug).
For example, ketamine can be detected in the blood for 3-4 days, in the urine for up to 7 days, and in the hair for up to three months after use.
The amount of time a psychoactive substance remains in the human body depends on several factors. These include:
the dose of the drug;
simultaneous use of other surfactants;
body mass index;
age;
general health status;
the metabolic rate.
Effects of taking dissociative substances
Most dissociatives damage the kidneys, liver, and bladder. Bladder diseases are extremely common among regular ketamine or phencyclidine users. Studies have shown that the active metabolite of ketamine called norketamine has a cytotoxic effect on the bladder, leading to fibrosis and chronic pain.
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