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Psychological Aspects of the Lsd Treatment of the Neuroses

R. A. Sandison

Journal of Mental Science April 1, 1954 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.100.419.508 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Intervention Lysergic acid diethylamide
Topics LSD
Keywords Unconscious mind Value mathematics Psychoanalysis Action physics Point geometry Psychotherapist Epistemology Jungian analytical psychology
Citations 90
Key points Proposes that LSD's therapeutic value in neuroses can be understood through Jungian analytical psychology, addressing the faulty conscious-unconscious relationship underlying psychoneuroses.

Abstract

Recent work by the author and his colleagues (Sandison, Spencer and Whitelaw, 1954) has established that lysergic acid diethylamide is of great value in the psychotherapy of the neuroses. This paper attempts to examine in rather more detail the possible mechanism of action of the drug in terms of dynamic psychology. It is now generally accepted that the psychoneuroses are the result of a faulty relationship between the conscious and the unconscious, leading to a one-sided or prejudiced conscious point of view. Any discussion which follows this observation must be preceded by a definition of the writer's conception of the unconscious, and in this paper the standpoint adopted by Jungian analytical psychology will be preferred.

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

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