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psychoactive drug

any drug that has significant effects on psychological processes, such as thinking, perception, and emotion. Psychoactive drugs include those deliberately taken to produce an altered state of consciousness (e.g., hallucinogens, opioids, inhalants, cannabis) and therapeutic agents designed to ameliorate a mental condition; these include antidepressants, mood stabilizers, sedatives, hypnotics, and anxiolytics (which are CNS depressants), and antipsychotics. Psychoactive drugs are often referred to as psychotropic drugs (or psychotropics) in clinical contexts.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

perceptual distortion

perceptual distortion

skewed perceptual experience. Examples include the distorted images produced by dreams or hallucinogenic drugs, geometric illusions (e.g., the Müller-Lyer illusion), visions occurring in states of sensory deprivation or dehydration, and distortions produced by modifying auditory stimuli. Perceptual distortion may also occur as a consequence of acquired brain injury. See also metamorphopsia.