‘I Had A Very Scary Experience With My Friend And I Wanted To Share This ‘Cause It Could Stop This From Happening To Someone Else’

Date rape drugs are substances that make it easier for predators to sexually assault another person and take advantage of them. After consumption, the victim might become confused, have trouble defending themselves, and even not be able to remember what happened. But date rape doesn't happen just on dates — an attacker can be someone you just met. Unfortunately, TikTok user @aili.likes.adventure had to find out about it firsthand.

Two days ago, Aili shared a video, where she recalled the time she and her friend went out to have some fun. Everything was going fine at first and they were enjoying themselves but suddenly their evening took a dangerous turn. A group of men started casting their nets over the ladies. Aili and her friend didn't make a big deal out of it. Why would they? However, the women got suspicious when their "admirers" started forcefully shoving drinks into their hands.

Estimates suggest that at least 25 percent or 1 in 4 American women have been sexually assaulted or raped.

According to experts, knowing the most common date rape drugs and their side effects (as well as the signs of a perpetrator planning to use one) can help the general public fight off these attacks.

The most common date rape drugs are alcohol, benzodiazepines, ketamine, and GHB. Some, however, are more popular than others.

"When it comes to the most popular date rape drugs, number 1, 2, 3, and four is alcohol," general practitioner, medical researcher, and founder of PrimeHealth Clinical Research, Iris Gorfinkel, M.D., told Bored Panda. "If you take a look at alcohol, it's kind of interesting. Three out of four attackers are drinking when they sexually assault someone. Also about half of the sexual assault victims have been drinking. So alcohol plays a tremendous role in there."

According to Gorfinkel attackers can also mix substances together. For example, Rohypnol, ketamine, and GHB are all colorless and flavorless, so they can be added not only to food but alcoholic beverages as well, simply because alcohol will increase the effects of all of these date rape drugs.

"What [these substances] have in common is that they will all cause people to feel more relaxed, and dissociated, or even detached," the doctor added. "And on top of it, date rape drugs make it harder to remember what is going on later. They all work relatively quickly. And they can be in the body for anywhere from just a few hours to an entire day or sometimes beyond that.

Usually, everyone who has recently accepted a drink from another person, even someone they know, or who has left their drink unattended in a public place, should be cautious.

In certain scenarios, it can be difficult to distinguish the effects of a date rape drug from those of alcohol, especially after a person has consumed a large quantity of it.

Those who are accustomed to the effects of alcohol should consider how they normally feel after drinking or when intoxicated; any unexplained changes in their reactions to alcohol could mean a date rape drug was involved.

A person who feels significantly drunker than they should be may have been drugged. The only way to know for sure is to get medically tested.

Iris Gorfinkel said "the onset is sometimes sudden, and it's very different in terms of how a person was feeling just minutes ago. Sudden dizziness, problems with speaking, having difficulties moving muscles that normally move easily, nausea, and vomiting are all clear signals that something is wrong. [You should also take notice if you're friend is] feeling their heart racing or skipping beats, if they get sleepy or confused, or are having trouble breathing and are passing out."

Gorfinkel said there are some things we can do to minimize our chances of falling victim to these dirty practices. "You have to be really aware of punch bowls and other containers that could easily be spiked and not to accept drinks from other people, especially at bars," she explained. "You should watch [your drink] get poured at a bar, carry it around yourself. And don't drink anything that smells or looks strange."

"In terms of longer-term harms, people do experience post-traumatic sexual assault disorder, a form of PTSD. We also see an increased risk of clinical depression and clinical levels of anxiety. We may see problems, establishing long-term relationships or problems having a satisfying sexual relationship later on because of the horror and memories that are associated with having been sexually assaulted."

There's a lot to take in, but Gorfinkel thinks the goal is not to overly-emphasize each and every one of the drugs (knowing those names isn't really helpful to the person) but the warning signals of hearing what sounds like fun, like 'Here, try this.'