Prince Harry mentioned in his memoir Spare that he resorted to psychedelic drugs to deal with the trauma of his mother Princess Diana’s death. A look at how psychedelic drugs can be dangerous.
Prince Harry admitted in his book Spare mentioned that he used psychedelic drugs to deal with his mother Lady Diana’s death. Ever since that psychedelic drugs have become a hot topic of discussion. During Harry’s interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, he touches upon a topic from his book about how he used psychedelic drugs to deal with the death of his mother several years later. He mentioned that he had a lot of trouble coping with the loss, even having a hard time believing she was truly dead.
Psychedelic drugs come with their own share of effects and adverse effects. Further studies are definitely required to know the long-term side effects due to regular and prolonged use of these drugs. Though many studies have shown that addiction and abuse of psychedelic drugs is not a problem, it is the tolerance part that is a worrying attribute.
Dr. Sonal Anand, psychiatrist, at Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai says “Although most psychedelics have not been directly responsible for causing death, the judgment of users is certainly impaired and can pose a greater risk in an unsupervised setting. The safety concerns with psychedelics are predominantly psychological but studies have shown that pre-existing physical conditions might show exacerbations because of tachycardia, increased blood pressure, and heart rate. One major concern of hallucinogen use is that hallucinogen persisting perception disorder. It is characterized by re-experiencing the perceptual distortions induced by a hallucinogen at some later time. HPPD is composed of afterimages and perceived distortions of movements. These can cause more anxiety, can lead to re-experiencing the same trauma, and worsen depression and PTSD or acute stress. Due to tolerance increased doses of the psychedelics might have to be taken to relieve trauma and these increased doses might not have the same pleasurable effect.”
Dr. Sonal Anand
Psychiatrist
Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road
To book an appointment call: +918108101104
