The "Bad Trip"—The Etiology of the Adverse LSD Reaction
J. Thomas Ungerleider, Duke D. Fisher, Marielle Fuller, Alex Caldwell
American Journal of Psychiatry May 1, 1968 DOI: 10.1176/ajp.124.11.1483 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 50 |
| Population | Psychiatric inpatients hospitalized after LSD ingestion and regular LSD users without reported difficulty |
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Etiology Drug reaction Incidence geometry Adverse effect Hallucinogen Clinical psychology Pharmacology |
| Citations | 59 |
| Key findings | No outstanding historical or current clinical features could predict an individual's response to LSD with accuracy. |
Abstract
In an attempt to identify the factors responsible for adverse reactions to LSD and to elucidate the rising incidence of hospital admissions associated with use of the drug, the authors compared 25 psychiatric inpatients hospitalized following LSD ingestion with 25 members of a group who took LSD together regularly without reported difficulty. Although some differences were found between the groups, there were no outstanding historical or current clinical features which could be used to predict an individual's response to LSD with accuracy. These findings support the hypothesis that LSD interacts with schizoid trends, unsteady reality testing, and related factors in a complex way that makes accurate prediction of response virtually impossible.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on LSD, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increased Global Functional Connectivity Correlates with LSD-Induced Ego Dissolution. Human participants | 2016 | Observational cohort | |
| Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin Humans | 2017 | Observational study | |
| Classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population. USA adult respondents from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008-2012) | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 190,000 |
| Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study Randomly selected United States adults | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 135,095 |
| Whole-Brain Multimodal Neuroimaging Model Using Serotonin Receptor Maps Explains Non-linear Functional Effects of LSD. Healthy human participants | 2018 | Observational study with computational modeling |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms Journal of Psychopharmacology November 18, 2016
- LSD Psychosis or LSD-Induced Schizophrenia? Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 1983
- An online survey of tobacco smoking cessation associated with naturalistic psychedelic use Journal of Psychopharmacology January 18, 2017
- d-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) as a Model of Psychosis: Mechanism of Action and Pharmacology International Journal of Molecular Sciences November 23, 2016
- Chronic Users of LSD: The "Acidheads" American Journal of Psychiatry September 1, 1968
and 11 more in the library