Deconstructing the trip treatment: are hallucinogenic effects critical to the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics?
NPP Digit Psychiatry Neurosci August 20, 2025 Albert Garcia-Romeu 2 citations
The term 'hallucinogen' is a misleading label for drugs like ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin, which rarely cause true hallucinations (false perceptions believed to be real). Instead, they produce perceptual alterations such as pseudo-hallucinations, synaesthesia, and illusions, along with changes in thinking, emotions, sense of time, self, and bodily awareness. These subjective effects—not hallucinations—are more often linked to therapeutic benefits. Historically, terms like psychotomimetics, phantastica, and psychedelics have been used, reflecting the complex mind-altering effects of these substances.