Tryptamines

Benzine Ring

Pyrrole Ring

Nitrogen

Indole Chemical Structure

Phenethylamines

Benzine Ring

Aminoethyl group

Nitrogen

Psychedelics & Serotonin

• Agonists = chemical that binds to a receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell

• Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance.

• Example: psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and LSD are agonists at 5HT2A/2C receptors (serotonin)

• MDMA releases serotonin from synaptic vesicles of neurons

Psychedelic ≠ Iridescent

Psychedelic

• Means “mind manifesting” – Psyche = mind– Delos = manifesting

• Can elicit high states marked by philosophic insights, mystical feelings, visions, and so forth

• Coined by Humphry Osmond in his 1957 article "A Review of the Clinical Effects of Psychotomimetic Agents."

• Reflects a positive bias toward these drugs

Psychedelic Bias

“I admire transpersonal psychotherapists. I think they are trying to remake the shamanistic institution in a modern form. What they have to realize is that they’re wasting their time unless they use the shamanistic tools. And the foremost tool of the shamans is the technique of ecstasy, and that means the hallucinogenic plants.”

- Terence McKenna, The Archaic Revival

The “O’gens”

Empathogens• Causes or helps one to identify with the

feelings of others or feel a sense of connectedness with others.

empathy = identification with the feelings of othersgen = creation

The “O’gens”

Entactogen• Generates a sense of "the touch

within" Tactile = touchGen = creation

The “O’gens”

Entheogen• Creates a sense of “becoming divine

within”en = in / withintheo = spirit, Godgen = create, generate

Altered States of Consciousness

• “The spectrum of experiences other than ordinary waking consciousness, including daydreaming, trance, meditation, hypnosis, religious ecstasy and substance-induced states.”

Hallucination

Slade & Bentall (1988):“Any percept-like experience which (a) occurs in

the absence of an appropriate stimulus, (b) had the full force or impact of the corresponding actual (real) perception, and (c) is not amenable to direct and voluntary control by the experiencer.”

Are Hallucinogens Hallucinogenic?

• Hallucinations are perceptions that have no basis in reality.

• Hallucinations appear entirely realistic. • Psychedelics = a modification of regular

perception • Psychedelics = awareness of the illusory and

personal nature of the perceptions.

Delusions: Definition

A false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary. The belief is not one ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's culture or subculture.

-- DSM-IV-TR

Resource Tour

• www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/abuse/8-hallu.htm• www.erowid.org• www.maps.org• www.heffter.org• http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/• www.entheoguide.net• http://www.matrixmasters.net/salon/

Drop box on Angel – Add links!