Hallucinogen can distort the perception of reality of its users. Users of hallucinogens will have hallucinations, such as seeing certain images or colors, hearing sounds, and feeling sensations that do not exist. In the past, hallucinogens were used for healing or religious rituals. However, over time this type of narcotic is used to deal with stress, have fun with friends, have a spiritual experience, or even just want to feel different. DMT or dimethyltryptamine is a natural hallucinogenic compound found in one of the plants in peru called Ayahuasca or made synthetically. DMT is found in the form of a white crystalline powder.
Ayahuasca also comes from the Amazonian plant that contains DMT. However, making ayahuasca also involves boiling DMT-producing plants with roots from other Amazonian plants which can prevent DMT from being digested in the digestive tract. Hallucinogens can also be obtained naturally in the form of plants and fungi or can be made by humans.
Broadly speaking, hallucinogens are divided into two types, namely classic hallucinogens such as LSD, and dissociative drugs, such as PCP. Both types of hallucinogens still provide similar side effects in the form of mood swings that often change intensely and quickly. Researchers do not understand how hallucinogens work in the body. However, classical hallucinogens are thought to interfere with the nervous system in the brain associated with the neurotransmitter serotonin and inhibit communication between the brain and spinal cord. Therefore, classic hallucinogens usually affect sleep time, body temperature, muscle control, hunger, sexual behavior, mood, and perception of sensations.
Meanwhile, dissociative hallucinogens affect the body by interfering with the glutamate system in the brain that regulates emotions, environmental responses, learning and memory, and the perception of pain. However, the methodological bias of the studies reviewed may have contributed to the greater influence and some extent the side effects reported. The data to date do not seem to allow definite conclusions to be drawn about the effects of ayahuasca use on mental and physical health, but some studies point in the direction of beneficial effects.
