Deliriant
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The deliriants (or anticholinergics) are a special class of dissociative which are antagonists for the acetylcholine receptors (unlike muscimol which is an agonist of this receptor). Deliriants are considered to be true hallucinogens as users will have conversations with people who aren't there, or become angry with a 'person' mimicking their actions, not realizing it is their own reflection in a mirror (which could be dangerous if they became aggressive towards a glass mirror). Where the cholinergics like amanita muscaria have effects akin to lucid dreaming (where you are consciously aware of your dreaming), the anticholinergics have effects akin to sleepwalking (where you don't remember things you did).
Included in this group are such plants as deadly nightshade, mandrake, henbane and datura (sometimes referred to as the Belladonna alkaloids), as well as a number of pharmaceutical drugs when taken in very high doses such as the antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and the antiemetic dimenhydrinate (Dramamine or Gravol).
In addition to the danger of being far more "out of it" than with other drugs, and retaining a truly fragmented dissociation from regular consciousness without being immobilized (imagine sleepwalking on drugs while having a bad nightmare), the anticholinergics are toxic, can cause death due to overdose, and also include plenty of uncomfortable side effects including an intense drying effect where sweat, saliva, mucus and urination are prevented, as well as a pronounced dilation of the pupils which can last for several days resulting in sensitivity to light, blury vision and inability to read.
Deliriants are common to European mythology, including such plants as Mandrake, Deadly Nightshade, and various Datura species.
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Pharmacological classes of deliriants, and their general subjective effects
Entries marked with a # are naturally occurring.
Tropanes
- Atropine #
- Scopolamine #
- Hyoscyamine #
Antihistaminics
- diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
- dimenhydrinate (Dramanmine)
See also
| Deliriants (anticholinergic hallucinogens) edit (http://www.biocrawler.com/w/index.php?title=Template:Deliriants&action=edit) |
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Categories: Pharmacology stubs | Hallucinogen stubs | Deliriants | Psychedelics, Dissociatives and Deliriants | Entheogens | Anticholinergics
