Psychological Aspects of the Lsd Treatment of the Neuroses
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.