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Psychopharmacology

LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with terminal cancer

May 22, 1973 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, Depression, LSD, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

The paper describes the results of a clinical study exploring the potential of a complex psychotherapeutic program utilizing psychedelic compounds to alleviate the emotional and physical suffering of cancer patients. A total of 60 cancer patients participated in this experimental study. In 44 of these patients, LSD (200-500 ug per os) was administered as an adjunct to psychotherapy; in 19 patients, a new psychedelic compound, dipropyltryptamine (DPT) was administered (60-105 mg i.m.). Three of these patients received both LSD and DPT administered on different sessions.

The therapeutic results were assessed by means of a rating scale reflecting the degree of the patients’ depression, psychological isolation, anxiety, difficulty in management, fear of death, and pain. The ratings were done by attending physicians, nurses, family members, LSD therapists and cotherapists, and independent raters. In addition, the amount of narcotics required in the management of the patient was measured before and after the psychedelic sessions.

Systematic rating was carried out in a group of 31 cancer patients treated by LSD. The comparison of the means of individual ratings from pre- to posttreatment showed significant improvement in all the measured parameters for most of the raters. There was a definite reduction of the narcotic medication; it did not, however, reach the level of statistical significance. The pre- to post-treatment comparison of the global indexes used as gross indicators of the degree of emotional and physical distress, indicated that approximately 29 % of the patients showed dramatic improvement, and another 41.9 % moderate improvement, with 22.6 % essentially unchanged. In 6.4 % of the patients, global indexes showed a decrement in the post therapy ratings.

Grof, S., Goodman, L. E., Richards, W. A., & Kurland, A. A. (1972). LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with terminal cancer. International pharmacopsychiatry, 8(3), 129-144.
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LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy in Patients with Terminal Cancer

February 1, 1973 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, Depression, LSD, Other subjects, Other substances, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

The paper describes the results of a clinical study exploring the potential of a complex psychotherapeutic program utilizing psychedilic compounds to alleviate the emotional and physical suffering of cancer patients. A total of 60 cancer patients participated in this experimental study. In 44 of these patients, LSD (200-500 μg per os) was administered as an adjunct to psychotherapy; in 19 patients, a new psychedelic compound, dipropyltryptamine (DPT) was administered (60-105 mg i.m.). Three of these patients received both LSD and DPT administered on different sessions. The therapeutic results were assessed by means of a rating scale reflecting the degree of the patients’ depression, psychological isolation, anxiety, difficulty in management, fear of death, and pain. The ratings were done by attending physicians, nurses, family members, LSD therapists and cotherapists, and independent raters. In addition, the amount of narcotics required in the management of the patient was measured before and after the psychedelic sessions. Systematic rating was carried out in a group of 31 cancer patients treated by LSD. The comparison of the means of individual ratings from pre to posttreatment showed significant improvement in all the measured parameters for most of the raters. There was a definite reduction of the narcotic medication; it did not, however, reach the level of statistical significance. The pre to posttreatment comparison of the global indexes used as gross indicators of the degree of emotional and physical distress, indicated that approximately 29% of the patients showed dramatic improvement, and another 41.9% moderate improvement, with 22.6% essentially unchanged. In 6.4% of the patients, global indexes showed a decrement in the posttherapy ratings.
Grof, S., Goodman, L. E., Richards, W. A., & Kurland, A. A. (1973). LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with terminal cancer. International pharmacopsychiatry, 8, 129-144., 10.1159/000467984
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DPT as an adjunct in psychotherapy of alcoholics.

January 1, 1973 / Addiction, DMT, Other substances, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

The usefulness of dipropyltryptamine (DPT) as an adjunct to psychedelic therapy was explored in a pilot study carried out on 51 alcoholic patients from the Alcoholic Rehabilitation Unit at Spring Grove State Hospital. The evaluation of the results was based on the comparison of pre- and posttreatment results of a battery of psychological tests and of pretreatment and follow-up ratings of an independent team of social workers. The psychological tests involved the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI), Personal orientation inventory (POI), Raven progressive matrices, Psychiatric evaluation profile (PEP), and Benton visual retention test. The social history questionnaire used by the social workers for assessment of the patients’ adjustment consisted of 0-10-point scales measuring residential, occupational and interpersonal adjustment, abstinence, and global adjustment.
Grof, S., Soskin, R. A., Richards, W. A., & Kurland, A. A. (1973). DPT as an adjunct in psychotherapy of alcoholics. International pharmacopsychiatry, 8, 104-115., 10.1159/000467979
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LSD-assisted psychotherapy and the human encounter with death

May 22, 1972 / Anxiety disorders / PTSD, Depression, LSD, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: My own experience with Maria convinced me that the living can do a great deal to make the passage easier for the dyingJ to raise the most purely physiological act of human existence to the level of consciousness and perhaps even of spirituality.

Aldous Huxley wrote these words after being with his first wife as she died of cancer in 1955. During her final hours, he employed a hypnotic technique to remind her of spontaneous peak experiences she had known during her life, thereby seeking to guide her toward similar states of consciousness as the death process occurred. In his novel/sland, he describes a similar scene during the death of his character Lakshmi. Also in this novel, he writes of the “mokshamedioine” that gives inhabitants of the island a mystical vision that frees them from the fear of death and enables them to live more fully during their everyday lives. To those who knew Aldous Huxley and have read his works (Huxley, 1963a,b), there is no doubt that, in Huxley’s mind, £cmokshamedieine” was a psychedelic oompound similar to mescaline, psilocybin, and LSD. The seriousness with which he envisaged this futuristic scene is well portrayed by his second wife, Laura) in her description of Huxley’s request for LSD a few hours before he himself died of cancer in 1963 (Huxley, 1968).

 Richards, W., Grof, S., Goodman, L., & Kurland, A. (1972). LSD-assisted psychotherapy and the human encounter with death. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 4(2), 121-150.

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Psychedelic Agents in Creative Problem-Solving: A Pilot Study

April 12, 1966 / Cacti / Mescaline, Creativity, LSD, Papers, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications / By / , , , ,

Abstract

Based on the frequently reported similarities between creative and psychedelic (drug-induced, consciousness-expansion) experiences, a preliminary study was conducted to explore the effects of psychedelic agents (LSD-25, mescaline) on creative problem-solving ability. Twenty-seven professionally employed males were given a single psychedelic experience in 1 of 7 small groups (ns = 3 or 4) following extensive selection and preparatory procedures. This drug-induced problem-solving session was carefully structured with particular focus on establishing Ss’ expectancies and a psychosocial milieu conducive to creative activity. Tentative findings based on tests of creativity, on subjective reports and self ratings, and on the utility of problem solutions suggested that, if given according to this carefully structured regimen, psychedelic agents seem to facilitate creative problem-solving, particularly in the “illumination phase.” The results also suggest that various degrees of increased creative ability may continue for at least some weeks subsequent to a psychedelic problem-solving session.

Harman, W. W., McKim, R. H., Mogar, R. E., Fadiman, J., & Stolaroff, M. J. (1966). Psychedelic Agents in Creative Problem-Solving: A Pilot Study. Psychological Reports, 19, 211-227.
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The subjective experience of time during lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) intoxication

March 1, 1964 / LSD, Papers, Personal development, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychotherapy, Publications, Safety / By / ,

Abstract

A brief review of the literature in relation to time disorder and LSD-25 is given. Twenty nine patients were studied as regards their time experiences under LSD-25. Eight patients reported an altered time experience following the initial administration of the drug. Twelve patients who had not developed a time disturbance in their initial administration, received LSD-25 a second time at increased dosage, 5 of these patients then experienced a time disturbance.

There was a tendency for time disorder to be associated with visual perceptual changes and for it to occur in the non-schizophrenics. Time disorder was considered to be a non-specific response. Recent views on the nature and genesis of time disorders are discussed.

Kenna, J. C., & Sedman, G. (1964). The subjective experience of time during lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) intoxication. Psychopharmacologia, 5(4), 280-288., 10.1007/BF02341260
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Influence of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25) on Subjective Time

November 1, 1959 / Consciousness, LSD, Other subjects, Papers, Phenomenology, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications, Spirituality / By / , ,

Aronson, H., Silverstein, A. B., & Klee, G. D. (1959). Influence of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) on subjective time. AMA archives of general psychiatry, 1(5), 469-472., 10.1001/archpsyc.1959.03590050037003
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Schizophrenia: A New Approach (Continued)

July 22, 1959 / Chemistry, Other substances, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychosis, Publications / By / ,

Abstract

The authors discuss the last five years work of the Saskatchewan group and develop their hypothesis relating adrenaline metabolites to schizophrenia. They also discuss work done in other centres. They indicate some of the difficulties encountered not only in synthesizing adrenochrome and adrenolutin but also in working experimentally with them in human subjects. The successful synthesis of pure stable adrenochrome and adrenolutin has made chemical assay possible. Using their adrenochrome assay, they have found differences between adrenochrome metabolism in normals and schizophrenics. While these require exploration the authors believe that their hypothesis is strong enough to warrant attention or to see whether others can confirm their findings. While adrenochrome and adrenolutin are at present the only metabolites of adrenaline which can be obtained as pure stable compounds and have psychotomimetic properties, there is suggestive evidence that others will be found.

Osmond, H., & Hoffer, A. (1959). Schizophrenia: A new approach (continued). The British Journal of Psychiatry, 105(440), 653-673. https://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.105.440.653
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Psychopathology and Psychophysiology of Minimal LSD-25 Dosage

February 1, 1958 / LSD, Other subjects, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Psychosis, Publications, Safety / By / , ,

Abstract

Despite 14 years of investigation, as intensive as accorded any biologically active chemical, a gap remains in the systematic description of human response to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25). The dramatic schizophrenic-like symptoms after doses of 40μg to 100μg have drawn the main interest. The threshold for activity is placed at 20μg by general consensus, while perfunctory administration of smaller doses has left their effect uncertain. Accompanying those pharmacologic demonstrations has been the controversy whether LSD symptoms simulate the psychopathology of schizophrenia1 or can be better explained as a toxic organic psychosis.2 One of these alternatives might be favored by its resemblance to the complete dosage-response relationship of LSD. It is unfortunate for analogical comparison that early stages of toxic psychosis have rarely been described in a psychopathological framework3; on the other hand, there is a firm basis for comparison with various schizophrenic processes. This preliminary note reports

Greiner, T., Burch, N. R., & Edelberg, R. (1958). Psychopathology and psychophysiology of minimal LSD-25 dosage: A preliminary dosage-response spectrum. AMA Archives of Neurology & Psychiatry, 79(2), 208-210., 10.1001/archneurpsyc.1958.02340020088016
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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