On the Use and Abuse of LSD
Archives of General Psychiatry March 1, 1968 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1968.01740030074008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Ideology Magic telescope Proletariat Drama Psychoanalysis Criminology Aesthetics Law Literature Politics |
| Citations | 143 |
| Key points | Argues that the human urge to escape reality through drugs, rituals, and utopian ideologies is a recurring historical motive that shapes both individual behavior and broader social and ideological processes. |
Abstract
WHILE SCIENTISTS may debate the appropriate use of hallucinogens, history records our unceasing urge to cope with dreary reality or dread with the aid of magic, drugs, drama, festival rites, and (with biological regularity) through dreams. The need to transcend limits also finds a voice in utopian ideologies-be they of the inner world, of this, or the next; the promise of omnipotent mastery is always either implicit or readily inferred. Thus whether it is the proletarian masses, or youth mesmerized by mellow yellow banana, or the princes of the land of genital primacy, or the meek-each is promised the inheritance of what probably will be a rather crowded earth. Given the prevalence of these motives it is not surprising that drugs play a role not only in the behavior of individuals but also in social and ideological processes. With the appropriate motives and occasion
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 | |
| 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 | |
| Untoward Reactions to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Resulting in Hospitalization | 1965 | Historical analysis |
Citations in the library
Cited by 39
- Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Archives of General Psychiatry March 1, 1994
- Human psychopharmacology of N,N-dimethyltryptamine Behavioural Brain Research December 1, 1995
- NMDA receptor regulation of memory and behavior in humans Hippocampus October 1, 2001
- Psychedelics: Where we are now, why we got here, what we must do Neuropharmacology February 21, 2018
- Visual Phenomenology of the LSD Flashback Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 1983
and 34 more in the library
Cites 14
- The Therapeutic Value of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in Mental Illness Journal of Mental Science April 1, 1954
- LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE (LSD-25) American Journal of Psychiatry June 1, 1952
- Persistence of lysergic acid diethylamide in the plasma of human subjects Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics September 1, 1964
- Untoward Reactions to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Resulting in Hospitalization New England Journal of Medicine December 2, 1965
- Prolonged Adverse Reactions to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Archives of General Psychiatry May 1, 1963
and 9 more in the library