Psychedelics | Hallucinogenics Addiction
While an addiction to psychedelics like LSD, Mushrooms, Peyote, etc. like your loved one is afflicted with is actually an overall rare thing, relative to, say, alcoholism, we have still seen a fair number of individuals who we have effectively treated for addiction to hallucinogenics and have distinct protocols for treating such individuals.
There is a wealth of misinformation that pervades the drug culture (both on and offline), with respect to whether or not psychedelics are “addictive” or not. There are a number of confounded theories as to why they are not, but generally speaking these are almost always posited by the heavy users of the substances themselves and are almost never based in reality. Addiction to psychedelics/hallucinogens is a very real and dangerous thing.
Basically, in using psychedelics, your loved one is doing substantial harm to the areas of their brain responsible for regulation of mood. Hallucinogens can be fairly euphoric when used, but they are very good at deccimating the part of the brain responsible for the production of neurotransmitters which means that long-term use of psychedelics will literally render your loved one from their own natural ability to feel happy and free of panic/anxiety. As such, the only way they are able to feel a sense of happiness is while using these substances and therefore they begin to use psychedelics with greater and greater frequency to where it becomes as real of an addiction as any.
While your loved one has almost surely experienced “flashbacks” at times, as most all heavy users of hallucinogens do at some point, they way be very unaware that the very real possibility exists that these flashbacks can become much more permanent, consistent with a very real and medically recognized syndrome associated with the use of hallucinogens called “Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder” (HPPD). Those of our clients who have experienced this express to us that it is in no way a pleasant thing, with the most prominent feature being extreme terror and anxiety. Moreover, HPPD is additionally very problematic in that the only known treatment for it is through the use of benzodiazapene medications like Zanax and Klonopin, which pose immense risk of addiction themselves and withdrawal from such medications is particularly horrible and can even be deadly.
Your loved one may not even consider themselves to be an addict because they believe that hallucinogens are not “addictive.” If that is the case, then why does your loved one do them so often?
Quitting hallucinogens/psychedelics is absolutely key to the long-term mental health of your loved one and at Origins Recovery Centers we have all the needed to tools to help them overcome their addiction so that they may one day enjoy a life of freedom and abundance, devoid of psychedelic drugs.
If you would like to talk about your loved one’s addiction to hallucinogens, then you may call us anytime at 1-888-U-GET-WELL.
If you are not ready to talk just yet, then click below to email.