LSD therapy in Dutch psychiatry: changing socio-political settings and medical sets.
Stephen Snelders, Charles D. Kaplan
Med Hist April 1, 2002 DOI: 10.1017/s002572730006909x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Psychedelic-assisted therapy LSD |
| Keywords | LSD Therapy LSD Treatment Therapeutic LSD Psycholytic therapy Psychiatric history History of psychiatry Mental health history Psychiatric evolution Historical psychiatry Dutch psychiatry Netherlands psychiatry Dutch mental health Mental health treatment Psychiatric treatment Mental health therapy Therapeutic interventions Mental healthcare |
| Citations | 27 |
| Key points | Argues that the term "psychodysleptics" is more clinically precise than "hallucinogens" for classifying LSD and similar drugs, as it better describes their psychological effects and acknowledges the role of cultural definitions of reality. |
Abstract
The use of the word "hallucinogens" to classify LSD and other drugs is common-sensical, vague and sometimes confusing. The classification scheme of Jean Delay, first suggested in 1959, is more clinically precise. In this scheme hallucinogens are classified as psychodysleptics (psycho-dysleptiques) because of their characteristic psychological effects: disturbance of mental activity and the engendering of distortions in a person's judgement of reality. See Jean Delay and Pierre Deniker, Methodes chimiotherapiques en psychiatrie: les nouveaux medicaments psychotropes, Paris, Masson, 1961, pp. 14-17 . In our view, this classification implicitly recognizes the role of cultural definitions of reality as part of the problematic of the drug experience, as will be elaborated below. Despite this precision we have chosen to use the term "hallucinogen" for literary reasons.
In the evidence
This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.
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Argues that the term "psychodysleptics" is more clinically precise than "hallucinogens" for classifying LSD and similar drugs, as it better describes their psychological effects and acknowledges the role of cultural definitions of reality.
Synthesized
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on LSD and psychedelic-assisted therapy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychedelics and Psychotherapy: Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches as Default | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Flashback: psychiatric experimentation with LSD in historical perspective. | 2005 | Historical analysis | |
| Psychedelics and psychotherapy in Canada: Humphry Osmond and Aldous Huxley. | 2018 | Historical analysis | |
| Psychedelic crossings: American mental health and LSD in the 1970s. | 2019 | Historical analysis | |
| Research into Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy for Anorexia Nervosa Should be Funded. | 2023 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |