Posted by Cam W. on March 20, 2001, at 9:52:29
In reply to Scientists test hallucinogens for depression, posted by steve on March 19, 2001, at 20:13:54
Steve - In the late fifties and early sixties many studies were done on treating people with serotonergic disorders (eg OCD, panic, etc.) and alcoholism using LSD and peyote. In researching a term paper years ago I found that there seemed to be a very good success rate in treating a few people with OCD and even more with alcohol (and other substance abuse) problems. These studies would not stand up to our stringent research criteria, but there were some interesting results. The LSD treatments were done in conjunction with psychotherapy. The study subjects would gain insight into their problems while under the influence, and at the next appointment (while not under the influence) the doc and patient would talk about the experience and how that person could change things in their life to overcome their problem (it was assumed that the OCD symptoms and alcoholism were results of other problems in these people's lives).
Then Tim Leary got ahold of LSD and screwed it up for the scientific community. Media scares about LSD soon put a stop to the studies. The real problem was that LSD was used in uncontrolled environments and in improper dosages and in unpure forms (eg mixed with strichnine or atropine).
Doing controlled studies with LSD will be hard. It will be near impossible not to know who got the placebo. New research with LSD has been going on for at least the past 3 years, but the results are not publicized very often, for obvious reasons. When enough of the results are published, though, it will be interesting to see what they find. - Cam
> Read all about it at the NY Times.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/13/health/13DRUG.html?pagewanted=print
poster:Cam W.
thread:56948
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010319/msgs/56972.html