Efficacy and Enlightenment: LSD Psychotherapy and the Drug Amendments of 1962
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences August 16, 2012 DOI: 10.1093/jhmas/jrs050 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Psychotherapist Clinical trial Demise Perspective graphical Enlightenment Drug trial Law Epistemology |
| Citations | 100 |
| Key points | Argues that the requirement for controlled clinical trials after the 1962 Drug Amendments frustrated LSD psychotherapy research because its method clashed with controlled trial methodology, contributing to the therapy's demise alongside recreational use controversies. |
Abstract
The decline in therapeutic research with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the United States over the course of the 1960s has commonly been attributed to the growing controversy surrounding its recreational use. However, research difficulties played an equal role in LSD psychotherapy's demise, as they frustrated researchers' efforts to clearly establish the efficacy of treatment. Once the Kefauver Harris Drug Amendments of 1962 introduced the requirement that proof of efficacy be established through controlled clinical trials before a drug could be approved to market, the value of clinical research became increasingly dependent on the scientific rigor of the trial's design. LSD psychotherapy's complex method of utilizing drug effects to catalyze a psychological treatment clashed with the controlled trial methodology on both theoretical and practical levels, making proof of efficacy difficult to obtain. Through a close examination of clinical trials performed after 1962, this article explores how the new emphasis on controlled clinical trials frustrated the progress of LSD psychotherapy research by focusing researchers' attention on trial design to the detriment of their therapeutic method. This analysis provides a new perspective on the death of LSD psychotherapy and explores the implications of the Drug Amendments of 1962.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Experimental Use of Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy | 1970 | Historical analysis | |
| LSD: My Problem Child | 1981 | Historical analysis | |
| On the Use and Abuse of LSD | 1968 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Use of Music in Psychedelic (LSD) Psychotherapy | 1972 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Flashbacks: Recurrent Intrusive Images After the Use of LSD | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 78
- The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present, and Future. Neuropsychopharmacology April 26, 2017
- Psychedelics and the essential importance of context. Journal of Psychopharmacology February 15, 2018
- Global Street Food: la cocina de la calle Diseño interior 2009
- Predicting Responses to Psychedelics: A Prospective Study Frontiers in Pharmacology November 2, 2018
- Emotional breakthrough and psychedelics: Validation of the Emotional Breakthrough Inventory. Journal of Psychopharmacology July 11, 2019
and 73 more in the library
Cites 11
- LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE (LSD-25) American Journal of Psychiatry June 1, 1952
- LSD in the Treatment of Alcoholics* Pharmacopsychiatry March 1, 1971
- A Controlled Comparison of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and Dextroamphetamine in Alcoholics American Journal of Psychiatry April 1, 1969
- A Clinical Study of LSD Treatment in Alcoholism American Journal of Psychiatry July 1, 1969
- CLINICAL REACTIONS AND TOLERANCE TO LSD IN CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease September 1, 1955
and 6 more in the library