Recalling of birth memories with LSD
Roy Ridgway, Simon H. House, Barbara Findeisen, Michael A. Crawford
March 26, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429483578-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Intervention | LSD |
| Topics | LSD |
| Key points | The text recounts that Grof linked Otto Rank's observation of a similarity between birth and death to birth memories arising in LSD sessions, and that LSD loosened the organization of normal consciousness, bringing subconscious material into awareness. Grof reportedly amassed data from many hundreds of LSD sessions and was analyzing it when invited to a Baltimore research project. |
Abstract
Stanislav Grof recognized among birth memories what Otto Rank had said about the similarity between birth and death. Subjects were brought face to face with the reality of physical pain and the suffering decrepitude of old age, dying, and death. One of the professionals who became interested in lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was the Czechoslovakian psychiatrist, Grof. The effect of LSD was to loosen up the organization of the normal state of consciousness and bring into awareness a vast amount of subconscious or unconscious functioning. During LSD sessions, under professional guidance, just enough of the observer remained to report, though usually in a very feeble way. Grof had amassed an enormous amount of data from many hundreds of LSD sessions and was in the process of sifting and analysing it when he was invited to the United States to take part in a research project in Baltimore.
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 |