The effects of dissociatives can include sensory dissociation, hallucinations,
mania,
catalepsy, analgesia and amnesia. According to Pender (1972), "the state has been designated as dissociative anesthesia since the patient truly seems disassociated from his environment." Both Pender (1970) and Johnstone et al. (1959) reported that patients under anaesthesia due to either
ketamine or
phencyclidine were prone to purposeless movements and had hallucinations (or "dreams") during and after anaesthesia. Some patients found the hallucinations euphoric while others found them disturbing. At sub-anesthetic doses, dissociatives alter many of the same cognitive and perceptual processes affected by other hallucinogenic drugs such as
mescaline,
LSD, and
psilocybin; hence they are often contrasted and also considered
hallucinogenic. Perhaps the most significant subjective differences between dissociatives and the
classical hallucinogens (such as
LSD and
mescaline) are the detaching effects, including:
depersonalization, the feeling of being unreal, disconnected from one's self, or unable to control one's actions; and
derealization, the feeling that the outside world is unreal or that one is dreaming. == Use ==