The effects of hallucinogens are not always easy to predict. The main effects of hallucinogens are changes in the way people perceive things with their senses. These changes can include strange sensations such as feeling as if you are floating or as if your body is becoming part of another object. Some people find such unusual sensations interesting and pleasant, while to others these same effects are unpleasant and disturbing.
Immediate Effects
The effects of hallucinogens begin within half an hour of taking the drug, are strongest in three to five hours, and last for up to 12 hours. Immediate effects can include seeing, hearing, touching or smelling things that don’t exist, intense sensory experiences (e.g. colors become very bright, sounds become sharper), mixing of the senses (e/.g. you ‘hear’ colors or ‘see’ sounds), altered sense of time, space becomes distorted, strange bodily sensations, changed and intense thoughts, and emotional swings.
Physical effects on your body may include twitching muscles, weakness, numbness, dilated pupils, shaking, nausea, vomiting, increased hearts rate, increase in blood pressure, faster respirations, and poor coordination.
"Bad Trips"
When someone is having a “bad trip”, they need to be reassured and comforted until the effects of the drug wear off. This can take many hours, may not disappear altogether for some days, and can “flash back” with no warning or if triggered by an external stimulus. Common symptoms of a bad trip include extreme anxiety or fear, frightening hallucinations like the sensation of spiders crawling on the skin, panic, feelings of ‘losing control’, paranoia, and in rare instances, suicide attempts or violence.
