Is LSD Addictive?

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LSD is an Intense Hallucinogen

Also known as “acid,” LSD is an intense hallucinogen that produces vivid visuals and alters your mood, but is LSD addictive? LSD is not specifically considered addictive, and one reason for this is that it lasts around 12 hours.

Despite this, the human body quickly builds a tolerance to using LSD, which requires users to take higher doses after a few days of repeated use. After using LSD for four days in a row, the user finds themselves not feeling the drug’s effects in the same way they did before.

How is LSD Taken?

LSD is often sold in tablets or capsules, but more often in liquid form placed on to edible paper. LSD is always taken orally and in very small doses. But how addictive is LSD if it can only be taken in extremely small doses? The answer lies within daily micro-dosing.

Microdosing is the act of taking very small amounts of LSD daily in to fully change your perception of reality. It is known to boost your mood and creativity, but this can also result in addiction and dependence.

What is the History of LSD?

LSD was discovered in a lab in the year 1938 by Albert Hofmann. He was a Swiss chemist working at Sandoz Laboratories and became the first person to experience the drug after accidentally ingesting it. The first notes on LSD were feelings of “restlessness, dizziness, a dreamlike state, and an extremely stimulated imagination.” Although these effects do not sound addictive, is LSD addictive?

How Addictive is LSD?

Is LSD addictive? This is a difficult question to answer as it affects every person differently. LSD does interact with the brain’s serotonin neurotransmitter system. Lack of serotonin can produce feelings of sadness, depression, low energy, negative thoughts, and feelings of irritability.

If LSD affects the same area as depression, this means that LSD abuse can lead to changes in mood, as well as anxiety. The problem is, for those who already suffer from depression and anxiety, LSD can reduce these effects, causing dependence.

Is LSD Addictive and What Are the Effects?

The effects of LSD are different for everyone and can affect you differently every time you take it. LSD is known to last anywhere from 8-14 hours, with a peak at around 4-6 hours. The short term effects of LSD include:

• Affected sense of time. Minutes can feel like hours, and an entire trip can feel like two days
• Imagined or real objects can appear to be moving
• Shapes and visuals may appear with eyes opened or closed
• Unusual thoughts and speech
• Personal reflection
• Excited mood
• Sensory enhancement such as enhanced taste, visual hallucinations, and auditory enhancements
• Anxiety and paranoia

Despite these being the typical short-term effects of LSD, each person may react to LSD based on their mindset or setting. For some people, LSD can produce meaningful and life-changing experiences, leading to LSD abuse. For others, experiences can be extreme, intense, and very overwhelming.

There is also the potential for psychiatric problems and emotional issues to develop due to “bad trips.”

LSD Abuse

If you can say that LSD can be abused, then is LSD addictive? For something to be abused, it does not necessarily need to be addictive, but in the same sense, anything can be addictive. Similar to how food can be addictive, LSD can be addictive. If you can fill a void with food, rather than healing your emotions, you can also fill a void with LSD rather than facing reality.

Is LSD Related to Mental Illness?

The negative side effects associated with LSD are mainly psychological. LSD is considered one of the least toxic drugs physically, and there has never been a death-related overdose of this substance. The main issue with LSD is that it can eventually lead to mental health problems.

The most normal mental reactions to LSD are anxiety with increased heart rate, emotional intensification, nausea from anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, and mood swings.

So is LSD addictive? For those who experience mental health issues such as anxiety, or depression, LSD can be addictive because it can reduce these feelings. Alternatively, “flashbacks” can induce panic and fear in the LSD user.

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is a mental illness or mental disorder that is more often referred to as flashbacks. HPPD can involve changes in the perception of reality, similar to those in LSD. The difference between HPPD and using LSD is that LSD lasts for up to 14 hours, while flashbacks can last for weeks or months.

HPPD is rare and offers no proof as to why it exists, but it can increase the risk for those who become addicted to LSD.

Is LSD Addictive?

The bottom line to find out the answer to the question: “Is LSD addictive?” is to understand that anything can be addictive if the user enjoys the sensation. LSD does not cause physical addiction. This means that withdrawal behaviors observed with other drugs, such as alcohol, heroin, opioids, and cocaine, are not found in individuals who abuse LSD.

If you use LSD, you may develop a tolerance that will give you the need to take more of the drug each time to achieve the desired effect. This increased tolerance can create addictive behavior. Despite this, LSD abuse and addiction are rarer than with other drugs.

Even if you use LSD for long periods of time, you might not show the same type of drug addiction and drug-seeking behavior that a “normal” addict would display. This is why it can be complicated to try and understand if and is LSD addictive.

Repercussions of LSD Abuse

Most people who are addicted to LSD see repercussions in their daily lives from their usage. These repercussions might include:

• Failure to meet personal obligations
• Issues with work
• Problems in relationships
• Failure to meet deadlines
• Being out of touch with reality
• Lack of functioning life in society

When using LSD, you cannot drive, speak normally, and most likely see hallucinations of things that are not there. It can also bring on a sense of paranoia, and essentially the inability to function as a normal person in society.

LSD Addiction Treatment at Resurgence

One great aspect of LSD abuse recovery is that there are almost no side effects when reducing the use of the drug. This makes recovery more of a mental hurdle than a physical one.

When going to treatment for LSD abuse, you will not experience any physical withdrawal symptoms. Instead, you will be faced with therapy and reality. If you or someone you love are struggling with LSD abuse, or if you have become addicted to LSD, there is an answer.

Seeking treatment at Resurgence Behavioral Health can be your saving grace. Contact us today to find out about our life-saving treatment programs.