Evening star., 1955-01-19
Psychiutric Interview
Speeded by New Drug
Con Return Putient's Mind
To Duys Of His Childhood
RY Thomos Z. Henry

A drug for the subconsciousness.
apparently producing in few minutes
results which the psychoanalyst strives
for months to obtain, now Is being
widely tested In mental hospitals.
This drug Is lysergic acid. syn
thetic compound closely related to the
ergots used In obstetrics, It may con-
stitute one of the most significant
additions yet made to the science Of
psychiatry. Its effects are weird, at
the best, according to the account Of
the British psychiatrist, A. H. Sandison.
and his associates. as distracted In the
journal Of the American Medical
Association. They have worked with
So psychotic patients for more than a
year.
The drug Is quick-acting, they say.
The first effects are apparent within
q half hour Of its administration. These
may last four to eight hours. but in
exceptional cases have continued for
several days.
Behavior Described.
"An early sign" the Sandison group
reports, '.is increased emotional activ-
ity. Then, within IS to 100 minutes,
there are disturbing subjective mental
experiences that may last for several
hours. The face is flushed, the eyes
may be fixed or moving as If following
haliucinations, breathing may be
rapid, and frequently there is tend
ency for the patient to regress to
an automatic, uninhibited and more
primitive type of behavior.
"The patient at first experiences
sense of iightness or withdrawal from
reality. followed or accompanied by
q symbolic disintegration Of the real
world. The walls of the room become
fluid and changeable. The body image
Is distorted, either becoming much
larger or smaller. Images Of dismem-
bered or partially whole objects appear:
There is a sense of Representation
or division of the personality and Of
the conscious watching the uncon-
scious. which appears to the patient
as solid. vivid and dynamic.
depressed material may be readily
produced and emotional release In the
form Of screaming. crying or violent
outbursts may result. The patient does
not want to be left alone and is usually
more talkative than usual, although
occasionally the power of speech is lost
and the mental experiences can only
be described later. The experiences at
the height of the reaction often occur
In the form Of crises, which are re-
peated at intervals of five to ten
minutes.
Consciousness Retained.
Consciousness is clearly retained.
although it may be unrelated to the
external world and, as In mescaline
intoxication, color hallucinationS occur.
the whole room becoming tinged with
red, blue or some other color. Another
hallucination is the seeing of faces,
or parts Of face such as the eyes.
Frequently the patient has the feeling
of being In q timeless world, or of
living in past history. He identifies
himself either with known person.
or with one of the mental images of
the experience. In some cases iden-
tifications may be projected. the patient
believing the physician to be his father
or the ward nurse his mother. These
fantasies have been Of help in getting
q patient to work out his relationship
with his own parents.
g. "A unique effect of the drug is that
! the recovery of repressed childhood
memories is associated with a change
of body image SO that the patient feels
he Is transformed into the child he
was at the time of some traumatic
experience. He can relive with ex-
traordinary clarity events of emotional
significance occurring at the age he
feels himself to be.
"One patient remained apparently at
the age Of eight or nine years for nearly
two weeks. The detachment of the
conscious self, sort Of detached ego.
occurs frequently and is characteristic
Of the treatment"
Prolonged use Of the drug usually is
necessary. the British doctors say,
not appear for weeks.