The purpose of this report is to explain what the effect of LSD is on the brain and therefore mental health. LSD, or Acid as it is more commonly known as, is an illegal, uncommon, but addictive hallucinogen. Acid ruins people’s lives and those around them. It is sometimes used for people to escape their day to day lives, and reality itself. Some people can become reliant on acid and believe that they cannot live without it. In this report, we will cover information on how LSD is produced and taken, the chemical properties and structure of the drug, as well as how the it affects your brain, and how it will destroy the user’s mental health and wellbeing.



Background

LSD is an illicit drug and one of the most effective hallucinatory drugs. It is mainly produced in its crystal form and is water soluble. The crystals are converted to a liquid form for distribution. There are a couple of ways to make the drug, some start with lysergic acid, and some start with “morning glory seeds” which are extremely dangerous because they are sold with a toxic coating to avoid consumption. It’s like a neurotransmitter, regulating mood, appetite, muscle control, sexuality, and sleep. It has a molecular formula of C20H25N30. Its structure is somewhat similar to serotonin, one of your neurotransmitters.

                       LSD                                                                Serotonin
File:LSD Structure.svg - Wikimedia Commons            

LSD is almost odorless, is colourless and has a bitter taste. The abbreviation LSD is from its German name “Lyserg Saure Diethylamide” (In English, Lysergic acid diethylamide). Lysergide belongs to a family of indole alkylamines. Diethylamide is a compound formed by adding an amide group with two ethyl substituents, N(C2H5)2.
The liquid LSD is put on small square pieces of paper. When someone takes and uses LSD, they put the square piece of paper on their tongue and let it dissolve down into nothing. LSD then enters the bloodstream in the stomach. The effects of LSD last from about 8 to 12 hours.
LSD works the same way as serotonin neurotransmitters work and function. It affects how your retinas process information, and how it gets to the brain. Causing psychosis and other visual effects. It also affects your hearing by adding sounds that are not real na only you can hear. Taste and smell can also be affected, but not as badly as the user’s visuals and hearing is affected.

Discussion

LSD affects your brain and mental health in different ways varying from person to person, some people will suffer from depression and begin to live off of LSD. Others may develop anxiety and stress, and also begin to live off LSD. Some may suffer from schizophrenia, and then get psychosis, where they see someone, or something, but it is not actually there. These people are also likely to live off of LSD. It affects the user’s mental health and can make some users suicidal. Some users will become doubtful about themselves and about others. LSD destroys your mental, social and physical health, and can affect your life forever. Along with ruining your mental health, brain cells are being lost in the process, and the more LSD or most other illegal drugs are taken, the user will lose more and more brain cells.

Conclusion

To conclude, LSD is an illegal hallucinogen that affects your brain and its functions, therefore affecting the users mental health. LSD is also known as acid and is more of a rare drug, but is highly addictive. Many users of acid become reliant on it and  cannot live without it. This drives some people to suicide or insanity. One of the major effects is psychosis, where somebody, sees someone or something that is not actually there. It is made in crystal form and turned into liquid form for distribution and is also soluble. If nothing is done about the people that take and use this drug, more deaths and serious accidents will happen, and one day be inevitable. LSD is growing more popular every day and is being produced on a massive scale. If nothing is done to prevent usage of this drug then more terrible things will happen.

Public Education Piece

For my public education piece I made a poster to advise the general public of the information showed in this report.

References

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Washingtonedu. (2017). Washingtonedu.  https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lsd.html

Wikimediaorg. (2017). Wikimediaorg. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LSD_Structure.svg

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Thethirdwaveco. (2017). The Third Wave. Retrieved 7 November, 2017, from https://thethirdwave.co/lsd/

Blogspotcom. (2017). Blogspotcom. Retrieved 7 November, 2017, from http://rsc-couchchem.blogspot.com/2017/05/what-is-effect-of-methamphetamine-on.html

Kass, L. (2017). Nihgov. Retrieved 8 November, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6137509