Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as “acid,” is a psychedelic drug usually sold in square-shaped tablets, paper blotters called “tabs,” and gelatin squares. One of the most powerful synthesized hallucinogens available, LSD contains extremely strong mood-changing chemicals that can also lead to altered awareness, perceptions and feelings.
The psychedelic soared to popularity in the early 1960s and is notorious for dramatic disconnect from reality, which can lead to terrifying “bad trips” of paranoia and unenjoyable distortion lasting up to 12 hours. Although it has a low addictive potential, LSD is abused for its escapist effects by users who often want to flee from reality.
LSD abuse
LSD comes in many different forms, from a clear or white crystalline substance to tan or black, varying in purity. The drug is usually abused by crushing it into a fine powder and pressing it into the form of a tablet or on small gelatin squares. It can also be dissolved into a solution called blotter acid and soaked into tiny squares of paper called “tabs.”
Some of the common symptoms of LSD abuse are:
- Synesthesia – a sensory phenomenon where people can see smells or hear colors
- Intensified senses of sound or touch
- Visual hallucinations being abundantly vivid in color or geometric flashes of light in sync with other patterns, regardless of whether the eyes are open or shut
- Out-of-body sensations or that one’s body has changed shape
- Hallucinations
- Euphoria
- Altered perception of time, space and speed
- Dilated pupils
- Higher or lower body temperature
- Sweating or chills (“goose bumps”)
- Loss of appetite
- Sleeplessness
- Dry mouth
- Tremors
- Dizziness
One of the most distinguishing effects of LSD compared to other drugs is the possibility of flashback of a previous trip, without warning and long after taking the drug.
When a person has a bad LSD trip, he/she is likely to experience severe effects from the drug. Some of these include:
- Delusions
- Paranoia
- Rapid mood swings
- Violence
- Fatal accidents
- Suicide
- Terror that he or she is disintegrating into nothing
Addiction is a disease that manipulates a person’s sense of reward, motivation, memory and a number of related neurological functions.
