Deliriant in the context of "Delirium"

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⭐ Core Definition: Deliriant

Deliriants are a subclass of hallucinogen. The term was coined in the early 1980s to distinguish these drugs from psychedelics such as LSD and dissociatives such as ketamine, due to their primary effect of causing delirium, as opposed to the more lucid and less disturbed states produced by other types of hallucinogens, where rational thought is better preserved (including the ability to distinguish hallucinations from reality). The term generally refers to anticholinergic drugs, which are substances that inhibit the function of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Common examples of deliriants include plants of the genera Datura and Brugmansia, both containing scopolamine, as well as higher than recommended dosages of diphenhydramine (Benadryl). A number of plant deliriants such as that of the Solanaceae family, particularly in the Americas, have been used by some indigenous cultures to reach delirious and altered states of consciousness for traditions or rituals, such as rites of passage, divination or communicating with the ancestors. Despite their long history of use, deliriants are the least-studied class of hallucinogens in terms of their behavioral and neurological effects.

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👉 Deliriant in the context of Delirium

Delirium (formerly acute confusional state, an ambiguous term that is now discouraged) is a specific state of acute confusion attributable to the direct physiological consequence of a medical condition, effects of a psychoactive substance, or multiple causes, which usually develops over the course of hours to days. As a syndrome, delirium presents with disturbances in attention, awareness, and higher-order cognition. People with delirium may experience other neuropsychiatric disturbances including changes in psychomotor activity (e.g., hyperactive, hypoactive, or mixed level of activity), disrupted sleep-wake cycle, emotional disturbances, disturbances of consciousness, or altered state of consciousness, as well as perceptual disturbances (e.g., hallucinations and delusions), although these features are not required for diagnosis.

Diagnostically, delirium encompasses both the syndrome of acute confusion and its underlying organic process known as an acute encephalopathy. The cause of delirium may be either a disease process inside the brain or a process outside the brain that nonetheless affects the brain. Delirium may be the result of an underlying medical condition (e.g., infection or hypoxia), side effect of a medication such as diphenhydramine, promethazine, and dicyclomine, substance intoxication (e.g., opioids or hallucinogenic deliriants), substance withdrawal (e.g., alcohol or sedatives), or from multiple factors affecting one's overall health (e.g., malnutrition, pain, etc.). In contrast, the emotional and behavioral features due to primary psychiatric disorders (e.g., as in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) do not meet the diagnostic criteria for 'delirium'.

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Deliriant in the context of Hallucinogen

Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Hallucinogens are often categorized as either being psychedelics, dissociatives, or deliriants, but not all hallucinogens fall into these three classes.

Examples of hallucinogens include psychedelics or serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists like LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT; dissociatives or NMDA receptor antagonists like ketamine, PCP, DXM, and nitrous oxide; deliriants or antimuscarinics like scopolamine and diphenhydramine; cannabinoids or cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonists like THC, nabilone, and JWH-018; Îș-opioid receptor agonists like salvinorin A and pentazocine; GABAA receptor agonists like muscimol and gaboxadol; oneirogens like ibogaine and harmaline; and others like nutmeg, carbogen, glaucine, and hallucinogenic bolete mushrooms.

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Deliriant in the context of Psychoactive plant

Psychoactive plants are plants, or preparations thereof, that upon ingestion induce psychotropic effects. As stated in a reference work:

Psychoactivity may include sedative, stimulant, euphoric, deliriant, and hallucinogenic effects.

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Deliriant in the context of Mandrake

A mandrake is one of several toxic plant species with "man-shaped" roots and some uses in folk remedies. The roots by themselves may also be referred to as "mandrakes". The term primarily refers to nightshades of the genus Mandragora (in the family Solanaceae) found in the Mediterranean region. Other unrelated plants also sometimes referred to as "mandrake" include Bryonia alba (the English mandrake, in the family Cucurbitaceae) and Podophyllum peltatum (the American mandrake, in the family Berberidaceae). These plants have root structures similar to members of Mandragora, and are likewise toxic.

This article will focus on mandrakes of the genus Mandragora and the European folklore surrounding them. Because these plants contain deliriant hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids and the shape of their roots often resembles human figures, they have been associated with magic rituals throughout history, including present-day contemporary pagan traditions.

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Deliriant in the context of Brugmansia

Brugmansia is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae. They are woody trees or shrubs, with pendulous flowers, and have no spines on their fruit. Their large, fragrant flowers give them their common name of angel's trumpets, adjacent to the nickname devil's trumpets of the closely related genus Datura.

Brugmansia species are among the most toxic of ornamental plants, containing tropane alkaloids of the type also responsible for the toxicity and deliriant effects of both jimsonweed and the infamous deadly nightshade. All seven species are known only in cultivation or as escapees from cultivation, and no wild plants have ever been confirmed. They are therefore listed as Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN Red List, although they are popular ornamental plants and still exist wild outside their native range as introduced species. It is suspected that their extinction in the wild is due to the extinction of some animal which previously dispersed the seeds, with human cultivation having ensured the genus's continued survival.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Hallucinogen ← Psychoactive plant ← Mandrake ← Delirium ← Brugmansia
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Atropa belladonna → Scopolamine → Atropine → Hyoscyamine → Hallucinogen → Psychedelic drug → Lysergic acid diethylamide → Dissociative → Ketamine → Delirium → Anticholinergic → Drug → Neurotransmitter → Acetylcholine → Datura → Brugmansia → Diphenhydramine → Benadryl → Solanaceae → Americas → Indigenous peoples → Altered state of consciousness → Divination → Necromancy →