How PsychonautWiki Categorizes Subjective Effects of Psychoactive Substances
PsychonautWiki organizes subjective effects into a three-part taxonomy: visual effects, cognitive effects, and miscellaneous effects. Each entry is a named, individually defined phenomenon (for example "geometry," "drifting," or "focus intensification") rather than a general impression, which lets readers match what they are experiencing to a specific term. The categories below reflect the effect listings shown on the site's main page; use them as a map of the vocabulary, not as a claim about any substance's safety or legality.
Visual effects
Visual effects cover changes in how sight and perceived space are processed. The main page lists examples such as:
- Perspective hallucination – altered perception of spatial depth or scale
- Geometry – structured, often repeating patterns perceived in the visual field
- Drifting – the apparent movement or warping of stationary objects
- Double vision
- Pattern recognition suppression
- Visual acuity suppression
- Color tinting
- Environmental orbism
- Tracers
These sit under a broader "Visual effects - Psychedelics" grouping, so the wiki treats them as a family of related phenomena rather than isolated one-offs.
Cognitive effects
Cognitive effects describe changes in thinking, mood, and mental state. Listed examples include:
- Motivation enhancement
- Focus intensification
- Conceptual thinking
- Novelty enhancement
- Depression reduction
- Perception of predeterminism
- Dream suppression
- Immersion intensification
- Amplification and suppression cycles
- Delirium
Grouping them together lets a reader distinguish, say, a change in attention (focus intensification) from a change in mood (depression reduction) or in belief (perception of predeterminism).
Miscellaneous effects
Effects that don't fit neatly into the visual or cognitive buckets are collected separately. Examples on the main page:
- Temperature regulation suppression
- Cough suppression
- Cognitive euphoria
- Gustatory hallucination
- Catharsis
- Panic attack
- Visual haze
Note that some entries, such as immersion intensification and conceptual thinking, appear in more than one listing on the page — the categories overlap rather than being mutually exclusive.
How the categories work together
| Category | Focus | Example entries |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | Sight and perceived space | Geometry, drifting, tracers |
| Cognitive | Thought, mood, attention | Focus intensification, depression reduction |
| Miscellaneous | Bodily, sensory, or emotional effects that fit neither | Temperature regulation suppression, cognitive euphoria |
The practical value of this structure is searchability: if you can name the effect, you can find its dedicated page and compare descriptions. The wiki also pairs the effect index with related indexes such as Experience, Subjective effect, Tripsitting, and Tutorial, and with practice and tool pages (breathing techniques, meditation, the Shulgin Rating Scale, and others).
What to keep in mind
- The effect names are descriptive labels, not diagnoses or endorsements. A listed effect does not mean a substance is safe, legal, or suitable for any particular person.
- The main page also carries a harm-reduction note stating that naloxone is now recommended to be carried by anyone using street drugs or nearby — a reminder that the wiki frames itself around responsible drug use.
- For anything involving health, legal status, or dosing decisions, treat the wiki as a vocabulary reference and consult qualified professionals.