From: andersom@spot.Colorado.EDU (Marc Anderson)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: my psychology paper on LSD
Date: 20 Aug 92 15:43:36 GMT
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder

I finally got my word-processor to output the text of my psychology paper
on LSD --  here it is:  (formatting _may_ be hosed somewhere..  if you have
any questions/clarifications, lemme know).

----------------------------------- cut here ------------------------------


                          The Psychological Effects of LSD

                                    
                                    
                                    Marc Anderson

                                   Psychology 101

                                    July 28, 1992

            
            Introduction

               LSD has always been a  center of controversy in  American
            society, often times  because people  have been  miseducated
            about  its  effects   or  exposed  to   media  bias.     Its
            physiological effects on the brain and body have become more
            and more apparent in the last  few decades when research  in
            neuroscience peaked.  The psychological effects of LSD  have
            been often difficult to describe  and document very well  --
            they were first  discovered on  April 16,  1943 by  research
            chemist Albert  Hofmann  when a  small  amount of  the  drug
            soaked through his fingers during  a routine synthesis.   He
            experienced an imaginative dream-like  state for a  duration
            of about 2-3  hours (Hofmann, 1983).   Since  then, a  great
            deal of work has been done attempting to document the health
            effects of LSD.

            
            Acute Effects

               LSD is very potent:   the effective  dose is measured  in
            micrograms (ug)  -- however,  the lethal  dose is  literally
            thousands of times  that, making the  drug essentially  non-
            toxic.   There  have  been only  a  few  cases  of  possible
            overdose where people  ingested extremely  large amounts  of
            the drug (Allen et al., 1978; Griggs et al., 1977).

               LSD can  be  administered  a number  of  ways,  the  most
            common:  orally through  paper, sugar cubes,  on a piece  of
            gelatin, or by pill;  intravenously; or intramuscularly.   A
            standard dose  with  noticeable  hallucinogenic  effects  is
            about 100-200 ug.  The intensity of the trip is proportional
            to the  size of  the  dose --  it  is interesting  to  note,
            though, that the duration of the trip seems to stay the same
            at higher doses (Freedman, 1984).  The initial effects begin
            20-40 minutes  with  a  sense  of  euphoria  and  dizziness.
            Hallucinations then begin  to occur, with  the trip  peaking
            for 4-5 hours after about an  hour since the drug is  taken.
            LSD is best described as a drug that strikes down  barriers.
            The person  who uses  LSD is  likely to  feel detached  from
            his/her ego, and can cross between states of  consciousness.
            The user's  perceptions  are  altered,  causing  visual  and
            auditory hallucinations.  One may  notice that the walls  of
            room are "breathing" or  that motionless curtains appear  to
            be moving.  Senses appear to  mix:  a user might see  music,
            taste colors, or hear visual stimuli.  The LSD experience is
            often difficult to describe by  users -- words lose  meaning
            and are often insufficient in describing the effects of  the
            drug; thoughts may  seem unclear.   Effects taper off  after
            about 6-8  hours and  are usually  completely gone  after  a
            nights sleep.

               The user's  mood is  likely to  change depending  on  how
            he/she feels at various stages of the trip.  The outcome  of
            the  trip  is  almost   always  dependent  on  two   primary
            variables:  the set  and the setting.   The set refers to  a
            user's expectations  of the  drug's effects  and the  user's
            state-of-mind.  The setting is the environment in which  the
            drug is  taken.   If  an  inexperienced user  takes  LSD  in
            stressed condition or in  a bad mood,  a bad experience  may
            occur.    By  the  same  token,  taking  LSD  in  a  chaotic
            environment like  a  noisy  rock  concert  could  turn  into
            trouble for someone unsure of the drugs effects.  When users
            on LSD become frightened or enter a state of panic, they can
            usually be relieved or "talked down" by a friend.  With this
            in mind, probably the best way to use LSD would be in  one's
            home with several trusting supportive friends.

               The following  is a  fairly  long, but  very  informative
            account of one  of the first  documented LSD  trips done  by
            Albert Hofmann in 1943:

                 "4/19/43 16:20:   0.5  cc  of 1/2  promil  aqueous
                 solution of diethylamide  tartrate orally=0.25  mg
                 tartrate.  Taken diluted  with about 10 cc  water.
                 Tasteless.

                 17:00:  Beginning  dizziness, feeling of  anxiety,
                 visual distortions, symptoms of paralysis,  desire
                 to laugh.

                 Supplement of 4/21:  Home by bicycle.  From 18:00-
                 ca.20:00  most  severe   crisis.    (See   special
                 report.)

                          *         *          *          *

                      Here  the  notes  in  my  laboratory  journal
                 cease.  I was  able to write  the last words  only
                 with great effort.  By now it was already clear to
                 me that LSD had been  the cause of the  remarkable
                 experience of the previous Friday, for the altered
                 perceptions were of the same type as before,  only
                 much more intense.   I  had to  struggle to  speak
                 intelligibly.   I asked  my laboratory  assistant,
                 who was informed of the self-experiment, to escort
                 me home.    We  went  by  bicycle,  no  automobile
                 available because of wartime restrictions on their
                 use.   On  the way  home,  my condition  began  to
                 assume threatening forms.  Everything in my  field
                 of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen  in
                 a curved  mirror.   I also  had the  sensation  of
                 being unable to move from the spot.  Nevertheless,
                 my assistant later  told me that  we had  traveled
                 very rapidly.   Finally, we arrived  at home  safe
                 and sound, and I was just barely capable of asking
                 my companion  to  summon  our  family  doctor  and
                 request milk from the neighbors.

                 [...]

                      The  dizziness  and  sensation  of   fainting
                 became so strong at times  that I could no  longer
                 hold myself erect, and had to lie down on a  sofa.
                 My surroundings had now transformed themselves  in
                 more terrifying ways.  Everything in the room spun
                 around, and  the familiar  objects and  pieces  of
                 furniture assumed  grotesque,  threatening  forms.
                 They were in  continuous motion,  animated, as  if
                 driven by an  inner restlessness.   The lady  next
                 door, whom I scarcely recognized, brought me  milk
                 -- in the course of the evening I drank more  than
                 two liters.  She was no longer Mrs. R., but rather
                 a malevolent, insidious witch with a colored mask.

                      Even worse than these demonic transformations
                 of the outer  world, were the  alterations that  I
                 perceived in  myself, in  my inner  being.   Every
                 exertion of my will, every  attempt to put an  end
                 to the disintegration of  the outer world and  the
                 dissolution of  my  ego,  seemed to  be  a  wasted
                 effort.    A  demon  had  invaded  me,  had  taken
                 possession of my body, mind,  and soul.  I  jumped
                 up and screamed, trying  to free myself from  him,
                 but then sank down again  and lay helpless on  the
                 sofa.   The  substance,  with which  I  wanted  to
                 experiment, had vanquished me.   It was the  demon
                 that scornfully  triumphed over  my will.   I  was
                 seized by the  dreadful fear of  going insane.   I
                 was taken to another world, another place, another
                 time.   My body  seemed to  be without  sensation,
                 lifeless, strange.   Was I  dying?   Was this  the
                 transition?   At times  I  believed myself  to  be
                 outside my body, and then perceived clearly, as an
                 outside  observer,  the  complete  tragedy  of  my
                 situation.   I  had not  even  taken leave  of  my
                 family (my  wife,  with  our  three  children  had
                 traveled  that  day  to  visit  her  parents,   in
                 Lucerne).  Would they  ever understand that I  had
                 not experimented thoughtlessly, irresponsibly, but
                 rather with the  utmost caution, and  that such  a
                 result was in  no way  foreseeable?   My fear  and
                 despair intensified,  not  only  because  a  young
                 family should lose its father, but also because  I
                 dreaded leaving my  chemical research work,  which
                 meant so much  to me, unfinished  in the midst  of
                 fruitful,   promising   development.       Another
                 reflection took  shape,  an idea  full  of  bitter
                 irony:  if I  was now forced  to leave this  world
                 prematurely, it was because of this lysergic  acid
                 diethylamide that I myself had brought forth  into
                 the world.

                      By the time the doctor arrived, the climax of
                 my despondent condition  had already  passed.   My
                 laboratory assistant informed  him about my  self-
                 experiment, as  I  myself  was  not  yet  able  to
                 formulate a coherent sentence.  He shook his  head
                 in perplexity, after my  attempts to describe  the
                 mortal danger that threatened  my body.  He  could
                 detect no abnormal  symptoms other than  extremely
                 dilated pupils.  Pulse, blood pressure,  breathing
                 were all normal.   He saw  no reason to  prescribe
                 any medication.  Instead he conveyed me to my  bed
                 and stood watch over me.  Slowly I came back  from
                 a weird, unfamiliar  world to reassuring  everyday
                 reality.  The  horror softened and  gave way to  a
                 feeling of good  fortune and  gratitude, the  more
                 normal perceptions  and thoughts  returned, and  I
                 became more confident that the danger of  insanity
                 was conclusively past.

                      Now, little by little I could begin to  enjoy
                 the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes  that
                 persisted behind my  closed eyes.   Kaleidoscopic,
                 fantastic images  surged  in on  me,  alternating,
                 variegated, opening and then closing themselves in
                 circles  and   spirals,   exploding   in   colored
                 fountains, rearranging and hybridizing  themselves
                 in constant flux.  It was particularly  remarkable
                 how every acoustic perception,  such as the  sound
                 of a door handle  or a passing automobile,  became
                 transformed into optical perceptions.  Every sound
                 generated a vividly changing  image, with its  own
                 consistent form and color.

                      Late in  the evening  my wife  returned  from
                 Lucerne.  Someone  had informed  her by  telephone
                 that I was suffering a mysterious breakdown.   She
                 had returned home  at once,  leaving the  children
                 behind with her parents.  By now, I had  recovered
                 myself sufficiently to tell her what had happened.

                      Exhausted,  I  then  slept,  to  awake   next
                 morning refreshed, with a clear head, though still
                 somewhat tired physically.   A sensation of  well-
                 being  and   renewed  life   flowed  through   me.
                 Breakfast   tasted   delicious    and   gave    me
                 extraordinary pleasure.  When I later walked  into
                 the garden, in  which the  sun shone  now after  a
                 spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled  in
                 fresh light.  The world  was as if newly  created.
                 All my senses vibrated  in a condition of  highest
                 sensitivity, which persisted for the entire  day."
                 (Hofmann, 1983).


            Chronic Effects
               
               The long-term effects  of LSD use  can be  both good  and
            bad.  There are cases of people who claim to have had  their
            entire lives turned around, for the better, due to LSD  use.
            On the other hand, some people have been hospitalized by so-
            called "LSD psychosis."  In the late 1960s, several  studies
            indicated possible chromosome breakage due to LSD use.  Some
            people report experiencing "LSD  flashbacks" -- brief  vivid
            repetitions of a previous LSD experience.

               The effects of LSD  are very strong  and profound.   Many
            people have claimed  to have discovered  their inner  selves
            under the influence  of LSD.   One  interesting analogy  was
            made by  Professor  Jeffrey M.  Blum  of the  University  of
            Buffalo School of Law:

                 "The problems posed by  LSD, for example, in  some
                 ways resemble  those  presented by  scuba  diving.
                 Each is seen as a  form of exploration that  opens
                 new vistas.   Hence  participants often  find  the
                 activity  enormously  stimulating  and  inspiring.
                 Each activity poses a  small but significant  risk
                 of serious personal harm, these being death in one
                 and aggravation of  pre-existing states of  mental
                 instability   for   the    other.       Untrained,
                 unsupervised  use  of   unchecked  substances   or
                 equipment are ill-advised in both cases."   (Blum,
                 1990)

            LSD also has shown to have  therapeutic usefulness.  It  has
            been successful  in  treating some  forms  of  schizophrenia
            (Hoffer, 1970).   Another  study  found notable  success  in
            treating terminally-ill cancer patients:  two-thirds of  the
            subjects  showed  positive  change  in  anxiety,   emotional
            tension, psychological  isolation, fear  of death,  and  the
            amount of  pain medication  needed  (Pahnke et  al.,  1970).
            Studies that have  shown LSD useful  in treating  alcoholism
            and  other   addictions  are   contradictory  and   may   be
            inconclusive.    Pahnke's  group  (1970)  reported  moderate
            success in  treating  alcoholism, but  Ludwig  (1970)  found
            less-than-encouraging results.    It's  important  to  note,
            though, that  both of  these studies  used vastly  different
            treatment styles and dosages of the drug.

               Some users of LSD experience what is clinically  referred
            to as LSD psychosis, schizophrenic-like disorders that  seem
            to be  triggered by  using the  drug.   However, in  careful
            analysis of LSD  psychosis patients, it  appears that  those
            who have  strong  family  histories of  major  psychosis  or
            psychopathology are more  vulnerable than those  who do  not
            (Tsuang et al., 1982).  Vardy et al. (1983) reported similar
            findings, as well as that LSD psychotics have  significantly
            higher rates of parental alcoholism than control groups.  In
            a survey of  five-thousand individuals  who had  used LSD  a
            total of twenty-five-thousand times, Cohen (1960) found  1.8
            psychotic episodes  per thousand  ingestions, 1.2  attempted
            suicides, and 0.4 completed  suicides -- figures  consistent
            with the those of the general population.  Regarding dangers
            of psychosis  in  therapeutic uses  of  LSD, Pahnke  et  al.
            (1970) notes:

                 "Since 1963 at  the Spring  Grove State  Hospital,
                 and  now  at  the  Maryland  Psychiatric  Research
                 Center, over 300 patients  have been treated  with
                 LSD   without   a   single   case   of   long-term
                 psychological   or    physical    harm    directly
                 attributable to the treatment, although there have
                 been  two   post-LSD   disturbances   which   have
                 subsequently responded to conventional treatment."

            Bad reactions to LSD are  almost certainly dependent on  the
            user.   It  is  becoming  increasingly  easier  to  diagnose
            schizophrenics clinically  as  patients  suffering  physical
            disorders -- these  people should be  very cautious, if  not
            completely avoidant  of  truly powerful  psychoactive  drugs
            like LSD.   There are another  class of people  who use  LSD
            irresponsibly,  ignoring  important  factors  like  set  and
            setting --  bad  reactions,  more acute  then  chronic,  are
            likely to occur here as well.

               Really the only serious  physiological concern about  LSD
            use has been that it may cause chromosome damage -- this was
            first reported by Cohen et al. in 1967.  These findings were
            seldom replicated, and  were contradicted  by other  studies
            (Loughman et al., 1967; Bender et al., 1968; Pahnke,  1970).
            In 1977, Maimon  Cohen, one  of the  invesigators who  first
            reported this a decade  earlier, stated that no  conclusions
            could be drawn  based on  existing evidence  (Cohen et  al.,
            1977).

               The phenomena of LSD flashbacks has been over-sensualized
            by the media for many years.  Flashbacks are associated with
            highly emotional experiences and often happen to people  who
            have never  used  psychedelic  drugs.    A  frightening  war
            memory, being  raped,  or  even  getting  married,  can  all
            trigger  flashbacks  quite  some  time  later.    Thus,   an
            emotional experience  on  LSD  can  also  cause  flashbacks.
            Flashbacks also occur due to post-traumatic stress disorder,
            associated with victims of disaster and extreme violence  --
            it is estimated  that 1% of  the general population  suffers
            from this ("Journey for Better Life," 1992).
           
           
            Conclusion
               
               LSD is a very potent drug,  but is physically quite  safe
            and non-toxic.    Its  effects  include  mild  euphoria  and
            anxiety,  altered  perceptions,  and  the  ability  to  pass
            between states of consciousness.  Visual hallucinations  are
            the most noticeable by users.   The acute effects taper  off
            as time progresses and are usually gone by the next morning.

               Chronic effects of the drug can be positive and negative.
            Positive  effects  include   spiritual  contact  and   self-
            exploration; the most severe negative effect is known as LSD
            psychosis.  LSD  has shown to  have therapeutic  usefulness,
            although research  has been  severely limited  for the  last
            several decades.  LSD psychosis has been linked to forms  of
            schizophrenia, and thus, to some physiological disorders  --
            it appears to be dependent on the user, and not on the drug.

            
            References Cited
            
            Allen, R.M. &  Young, S.J.   (1978):   Phencyclidine-induced
               psychosis.  Am. J. Psychiatry.  135:1081-1083.

            Bender, L.  &  Siva  Sankar,  D.V.    (1968,  16  February):
               Chromosomal damage not  found in  leukocytes of  children
               treated with LSD-25.  Science.  159:749.

            Blum, J.  (1990):   Letter to Judge  John L. Elfvin;  United
               States District Court.

            Cohen, M.M.,  Hirschhorn,  K.  & Frosch,  W.A.    (1967,  16
               November):    In vivo and   in vitro  chromosomal  damage
               induced by LSD-25.  NEJM.  277:1043-1049.

            Cohen, M.M. & Shiloh, Y. (1977-1978):  Genetic toxicology of
               lysergic  acid  diethylamide   (LSD-25).     Mutat.  Res.
               47:183-209.

            Cohen, S.    (1960):   Lysergic  acid  diethylamide:    side
               effects and complications.  Journal of Nervous and Mental
               Disease.  130:30-40.

            Freedman, D.X.   (1984):   LSD:   The bridge  from human  to
               animal.    In:     Jacobs,   B.L.  (Ed.)   Hallucinogens:
               Neurochemical,  Behavioral,  and  Clinical  Perspectives.
               New York:  Raven Press.

            Griggs, E.A. & Ward, M.  (1977):  LSD toxcity:  A  suspected
               cause of death.  J. Ky. Med. Assoc.  75:172-173.

            Hoffer, A.  (1970):   Treatment of psychosis  with LSD.   In
               Gamage,  J.R.  &  Zerkin,   E.L.     Hallucinogenic  Drug
               Research.  Beloit, Wisconsin:  Stash Press.

            Hofmann, A.   (1983):   LSD -- My  Problem Child.  (J.  Ott,
               Trans.)  Los Angeles:  J.P. Tarcher.

            Journey for better  life hell for  some women.   (1992,  Feb
               18):  LA Times.  pg. A3.

            Loughman, W.D., Sargent, T.W. & Israelstam, D.M.  (1967,  27
               October):  Leukocytes of humans exposed to lysergic  acid
               diethylamide:   lack  of chromosomal  damage.    Science.
               158:508-510.

            Ludwig, A.    (1970):   LSD  treatment in  alcoholism.    In
               Gamage,  J.R.  &  Zerkin,   E.L.     Hallucinogenic  Drug
               Research.  Beloit, Wisconsin:  Stash Press.

            Pahnke, W.N., Kurland, A.A., Unger,  S., Savage, C. &  Grof,
               S.  (1970):   The experimental  use of psychedelic  (LSD)
               psychotherapy.     In  Gamage,   J.R.  &   Zerkin,   E.L.
               Hallucinogenic Drug Research.  Beloit, Wisconsin:  Stash
               Press.

            Tsuang,  M.T.,  Simpson,  J.C.,  &  Kronfol,  Z.     (1982):
               Subtypes  of  drug  abuse  with  psychosis.    Arch.  Gen
               Psychiatry.  39:141-147.

            Vardy, N.M. &  Kay, S.R.   (1983):   LSD  psychosis or  LSD-
               induced schizophrenia?   A multi-method  inquiry.   Arch.
               Gen. Psychiatry.  40:877-83.

            Wesson, D.R.  &  Smith,  D.E.    (1976):    An  analysis  of
               psychedelic flashbacks.     Am. J.  Drug  Alcohol  Abuse.
               3:425-435.
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