Hallucinogens and Your Neurons

A hallucinogen is a type of drug that causes it's users to see, hear or feel things that do not exist. Hallucinogens can alter a persons perception of many things including their self, distance, time, direction and even reality. There are three main uses of hallucinogens the first on is for spiritual use. The Aztecs and many other Native American tribes have used them in rituals for centuries. The Native American Church or NAC uses a hallucinogen called peyote in their religious ceremonies which is a practice that is nearly 10,000 years old. The American government has deemed this practice legal because the drug is not being abused and their religion is against recreational drugs and alcohol. The second use is scientific use which began and was researched in the 1950s and 1960s. Scientists and doctors believed that these drugs would give them a new understanding of mental illness, this proved ineffective and is now very limited. The third and most common is recreational use which is when people use them for their own pleasure. There are over 100 types of hallucinogens and can be found naturally or produced synthetically. Some common hallucinogens are ecstasy, LSD or mushrooms. Hallucinogens have a horrific effect on ones body and cause much damage in the nervous system. The exact cause of what makes hallucinogens do what they do is still unknown, but it is known that they affect certain cells and chemicals during use. Neurons are the cells most affected by these drugs. Neurons are the cells in the nervous system and are extremely important to our body functioning properly. Hallucinogens affects a chemical called serotonin that is a chemical the neurons use to transmit and react to messages. Serotonin is linked to our emotions, judgement, sleep and moods. They have also shown that the serotonin levels is directly related to our behaviors. Hallucinogens causes large amounts of this chemical to be released from neurons so the amount that gets to the brain is lowered and could even be depleted. These low levels result in violent, aggressive, irrational and suicidal behaviors. Hallucinogens are extremely harmful and potentially deadly drugs that should most definitely be stayed away from.