LSD: A missed opportunity?
Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental September 1, 1994 DOI: 10.1002/hup.470090504 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | LSD |
| Keywords | Schizophrenia object-oriented programming Psychotomimetic Hallucinogen Amphetamine Neurochemical Psychosis Dopamine receptor |
| Citations | 11 |
| Key points | Argues that LSD's rejection as a drug model for schizophrenia was influenced by social and psychiatric disaffection with psychological interpretations, and that data about LSD could still usefully inform schizophrenia research. |
Abstract
Abstract Despite its early promise as ‘the chemical key to schizophrenia’, and its manifest properties as a psychotomimetic, LSD failed to catch on as a drug model for human psychosis. The reasons for this and the longstanding preference, instead, for the amphetamine model are examined. It is argued that the rejection of LSD was not just a scientific decision, but was influenced by increasing disaffection in psychiatry and society at large with psychological (existentialist) interpretations of schizophrenia with which LSD, as a recreational drug, was associated. The proscription of LSD and the shift towards a strongly organic view of schizophrenia created a climate where it was easier to accept the simpler amphetamine (dopamine) model. Flaws in the latter, its further recent undermining as an exclusive theory, and challenges to an overly organic psychiatry by a more psychobiological approach, are all discussed in the light of the perceived need for a more elaborated neurochemical account of schizophrenia; this includes a rǒle for central serotonergic influences in the disorder, removing much of the previous objection to LSD as a drug model. Several ways are suggested in which data about LSD could still usefully be drawn upon in schizophrenia research; including, in animal experimentation, its direct use to test the viability of the various biological models of schizophrenia on offer. Some examples of the latter are given, including a study of LSD from the author's own past work.
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 |