Making Inferences
With relatively little information presented explicitly in-game, it is difficult to classify the properties, mechanism of action, and other effects of Sinthe. The quoted information is taken from the character Navia's dialogue in the quest The Truth, Lost With the Rain, transcribed on the Fandom Wiki quest page. The information for the inferences can be found in section 7.1: Psychopharmacology and Psychoactive Drug Classification of the Social Science LibreTexts. Given this information, here's what we know.
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Sinthe is a hallucinogen and
euphoriant.
At a glance, it was a kind of drink that could excite your mood and produce many pleasant hallucinations.
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Sinthe is not a stimulant.
If you drink Sinthe for an extended amount of time, you'll suffer many side effects, such as losing the ability to focus or control your emotions.
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Sinthe causes both physiological and psychological
dependence.
And if you were to stop drinking it completely... you'll experience flashes of paranoia and anxiety, while lacking energy to do anything. It's an extremely dangerous substance.
Although Sinthe is a cultural reference to absinthe, it wouldn't necessarily be appropriate to assume that Sinthe possesses the same properties and mechanisms as its inspiration. In fact, it has been proven that absinthe itself does not have any effects apart from those expected of any alcoholic drink. The article Absinthe and gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors provides an accessible review of the studies that have elaborated on such rumors about absinthe.
However, the personal accounts of absinthe (and Sinthe) being hallucinogenic must have some basis. Some of these factors that might cause such effects to occur are listed below.
- Impurities in the brewing process
- Concurrent use of another drug, e.g. opium
- Romantic literature trends in the 19th century, which often described dream-like and surreal visions