Empathogen-entactogen  

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The terms empathogen and entactogen are used to describe a class of psychoactive drugs that produce distinctive emotional and social effects similar to those of MDMA (ecstasy). Putative members of this class include 2C-B, 2C-I, MDMA, MDA, MDEA, MBDB, 2C-T-7, and 2C-T-2, among others. The chemical structure of many entactogens contains a substituted amphetamine core, and most belong to the phenethylamine class of psychoactive drugs, although several (AET and AMT) are tryptamines. When referring to MDMA and its counterparts, the term 'MDxx' is often used with the exception of MDPV. Entactogens are sometimes incorrectly referred to as major hallucinogens or stimulants, which is often thought to be incorrect although their effects are often somewhat similar.

Euphoria with components of empathy and the like, although subjectively different from that of MDMA, does occur in some other groups of drugs including the opioids, first-generation antihistamines and structurally-related drugs like some of the tricyclic anti-depressants, centrally-acting muscle relaxants of several chemical subclasses, (i.e. cyclobenzaprine, orphenadrine, carisoprodol, methocarbamol and mephenoxalone), and anticholinergics. Some of this knowledge is put to use in the clinical setting, including the elixir known as Brompton Mixture or Brompton Cocktail (viz morphine/heroin/methadone/others + cocaine/dextroamphetamine/methylphenidate + gin/reagent-grade ethanol ± prochlorperazine/diphenhydramine/tincture of cannabis/scopolamine/belladonna + cherry or other flavouring syrup + distilled water), the stated objective is to, amongst other things, to promote sociability of patients who are close to death and/or having intractable pain which engenders extreme distress and fear.

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Etymology

The term "empathogen" was coined in 1983 by Ralph Metzner to denote chemical agents inducing feelings of empathy. "Entactogen" was coined by David E. Nichols as an alternative to "empathogen", attempting to avoid the potential for improper association of the latter with negative connotations related to the Greek root "pathos" (suffering); Nichols also thought the word was limiting, and did not cover other therapeutic uses for the drugs that go beyond instilling feelings of empathy. The word "entactogen" is derived from the roots "en" (Template:Lang-el), "tactus" (Template:Lang-la) and "gen" (Greek: produce) (Nichols 1986: 308). Neither term is dominant in usage, and, despite their difference in connotation, they are essentially interchangeable, as they refer to precisely the same chemicals.

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Psychological effects

These drugs appear to produce a different spectrum of psychological effects from major stimulants such as methamphetamine and amphetamine or from major psychedelic drugs such as LSD or psilocybin. As implied by the category names, users of entactogens say the drugs often produce feelings of empathy, love, and emotional closeness to others. However, there have been only very preliminary comparisons of these different drugs in humans in properly-controlled laboratory studies.

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Examples

The chemicals below have a varying degree of entactogenic effects. Some of the chemicals have a minimal entactogenic effect while others may have a strong entactogenic effect. These substances possess other effects including serenic effects, stimulant effects, antidepressant effects, anxiolytic effects, and psychedelic effects.


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Empathogen-entactogen" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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