LSD still worth research
http://www.independentcollegian.com/lsd-still-worth-research-1.2414312
November 22, 2010
Stephen Bartholomew
LSD bears the stigma of controversy. Associated primarily with the
'60s counterculture and the psychedelic music it spawned, the drug is
widely considered to be of no value. LSD is generally thought to be
dangerous and to imitate temporary insanity, where users hallucinate
wildly and babble incoherent nonsense.
While these assertions are not completely false, the truth is that
LSD affects everyone differently. Under proper conditions, LSD can
have profound psychological benefits. During early research in the
1950s, LSD was considered a wonder drug, a gateway to explore the
functioning of the human brain in a totally new way.
LSD induces a dreamlike state that transcends the phenomena of the
deep subconscious. It allows people to access memories long
forgotten, express creative ideas previously inaccessible, understand
the world in an intellectually unusual way and it offers the
possibility to penetrate the collective unconscious.
Albert Hoffman, working for Sandoz Laboratories in Switzerland, first
synthesized LSD in 1938, hoping to create a respiratory and
circulatory stimulant. He set it aside until 1943, when he decided to
take another look at it. While re-synthesizing chemicals, he
accidentally absorbed some through his fingertips. Once he realized
the powerful effects of the drug, he shared his discovery with other
researchers and later the world.
During the '50s and '60s, LSD research boomed. Scientists from many
different backgrounds were eager to experiment with this new mystery drug.
The psychiatrist Dr. Humphrey Osmond became very interested in
hallucinogens and their relationship to mental illness. He conducted
a number of successful studies treating alcoholics with LSD. These
sessions produced about a 50 percent recovery rate, an unprecedented
accomplishment.
The CIA even began experimenting with LSD, a chapter of U.S. history
both comic and tragic. The CIA explored several approaches of testing
the drug. The operation was called MKULTRA. Dosing people
unknowingly, combat simulations, mind control studies and
interrogation methods were some of the various avenues explored.
The mind control experiments were most disturbing. The CIA financed
Dr. Ewen Cameron, the director of the Allen Memorial Institute at
Montreal's McGill University, who attempted to brainwash his patients
using very extreme, destructive methods. Sleep deprivation,
electroshock therapy, large doses of LSD and repetitious recorded
messages were a few of the techniques administered to patients
against their will.
He wanted to wipe out all behavioral patterns, but he was
horrifically unsuccessful. The experiments left patients more
psychologically fractured than before.
So there is the dark side to LSD research, driven by callous,
totalitarian forces. But there is a virtuous side, too, driven by
compassionate, open-minded spirits. And it is their research I find
most significant.
Stanislav Grof was one of the first psychologists who showed an
interest in LSD research. He used the drug in many therapy sessions
with his patients, who experienced breakthrough moments as a result.
Grof's book Realms of the Human Unconsciousness details his
observations thoroughly.
Before Grof used LSD in a therapy session, he developed a
relationship with the patient through traditional therapy techniques.
But such techniques could only go so far. Patients with severe mental
blocks could not easily delve into subconscious memories. LSD changed that.
During the LSD therapy session, Grof encouraged patients to break
down their Condensed Experience Systems, or CODEX as he referred to
it. A CODEX is a cluster of memories consisting of condensed
experiences, which are interrelated to each other. The cluster of
memories is grouped around one core experience, the oldest
experience. This core experience, typically a repressed memory, keeps
playing out in similar situations in the patient's life, further
aggravating their trauma.
In many cases, patients uncovered disturbing repressed memories
through the LSD therapy session. Such breakthroughs allowed patients
to be free from their misguided subconscious and to understand who
they really were.
Unfortunately, the widespread recreational use of LSD during the '60s
tainted the positive possibilities of the drug. In 1968, LSD was
declared illegal in the US and listed as a Schedule 1 drug, which
prohibits any medical use, even though stacks of research contradict
this classification.
Recently, Switzerland began using LSD in therapy sessions for people
suffering from severe anxiety related to terminal illnesses. The LSD
experiences have aided patients emotionally and offered an
opportunity for them to come to terms with their mortality. This
research is currently ongoing
Albert Hoffman once said, "I believe that if people would learn to
use LSD's vision-inducing capability more wisely, under suitable
conditions, in medical practice and in conjunction with meditation,
then in the future this problem child could become a wonder child."
After years of controversy, it looks like researchers abroad are
again realizing this possibility. Perhaps someday the U.S. will
reconsider the use of LSD as a viable therapeutic method and allow
researchers to explore the vast possibilities of this wonder drug.
.
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