Scientists are increasingly hopeful that certain types of psychedelic drugs will one day be approved for medical purposes like treating depression and anxiety.
But what defines a psychedelic (or hallucinogen, as they are also known)? How is it different from other drugs like cocaine or alcohol? And what makes a "trip" on one psychedelic — like acid, for example — distinct from a trip on another? Read on to find out.
1. Psychedelics are the ultimate party drug.
4. They'll put "holes" in your brain.
They myth: Anti-drug campaigns put out in the late 1990s and early 2000s claimed that using MDMA ("ecstasy") put holes in your brain.
Why it's bogus: In reality, the only thing that would create physical holes in the structure of the brain is blunt force trauma. There's a wealth of research indicating that there is a relationship between drug use and other physical changes to certain brain structures, including growth and shrinkage, but it remains unclear how exactly the two are linked (if at all).
Still, any drug comes with side effects. That means that again, like any drug, MDMA is not 100% safe for everyone.
7. Scientists already know everything there is to know about psychedelics.
Why it's bogus: In the 20th century, ayahuasca, LSD, and other hallucinogens were slow to gain notoriety across Europe and North America. They saw a temporary surge in popularity in the US in the 1960s, with people like Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert writing about the "ego loss" produced by magic mushrooms as part of their Harvard Psilocybin Project.
But in 1966, the government outlawed psychedelics — and most experimentation, along with research into their potential medicinal properties, came to a screeching halt. As a result, it's hard to say definitively whether or not psychedelics are "safe" or not, but recent research suggests they are less dangerous for many people than initially portrayed.