The terms
empathogen and
entactogen are used to designate a class of
psychoactive drugs that produce experiences of emotional communion, oneness, relatedness, emotional openness—that is, empathy or sympathy—as particularly observed and reported for experiences with
MDMA (ecstasy). This class of drug is distinguished from the classes of
hallucinogen or
psychedelic, and
amphetamine or
stimulant. Major members of this class include MDMA,
MDA,
MDEA,
MDOH,
MBDB,
6-APB,
methylone,
mephedrone,
aMT, and
aET, among others. Most entactogens are
phenethylamines and amphetamines, although several, such as aMT and aET, 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 hallucinogens or stimulants, although many entactogens exhibit psychedelic and/or stimulant properties as well.