LSD can cure Schizophrenia?!?

Should LSD be used to treat Schizophrenia?

  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

LSD was used to treat mentally ill patients in the 50s and 60s and worked!!

What are peoples views on this?

I think more trails should be done to see if this treatment should be reintroduced.

Similar drugs such as Ibogaine can be used to treat opiate(heroin) addiction.
Also MDMA(ectasy) is used in some countries in counciling sessions such as marriage counciling.

I have many views on this subject but I’ll let you reply first.

Shouldn’t it be mescaline? The Doors of Perception comes to mind.

Mescaline, Psilocybin and DMT may all work well aswell. Although one may work better than others.

Sounds plausible, but I need a source before I vote.

hofmann.org/papers/sandison_1.htm

will find some more…

Even erowid, perhaps the most optimistic-yet-also-reliable source for drug/psychedelic information, strongly recommends against using LSD (or any psychedelic) for treating schizophrenia. Most research in the area strongly suggests that it is actually quite detrimental to people with those disorders. I would be very skeptical towards experimentation in that direction.

I don’t think theres any research that shows that LSD treatment for schizophrenics is detrimental. I believe the research is based on evidence that people who use LSD as a recreational drug are more likly to become schizophrenics. The same correlation has been found for recreational cannabis use. Just because a correlation exists doesn’t mean that there is a causal link though. It could be that people who are proun to schizophrenia are more likly to try these drugs. Having said that I do personnally think these drugs can trigger a schizophrenic episode.

Psychedelic drugs are all about set and setting. In a controlled enviroment I believe it is possible to go a long way to garentee a good trip. The more people work with LSD as a theraputic drug the more we can learn about what can cause a good or bad trip.

I think LSD causes schizophrenia. I have no proof other than my own experiences though.

I would say it put’s your mind into a state in which your sanity/insainty can be altered.

Whether or not you become more or less sane depends on the nature of the trip.

Again based on my own experiences.

Ooh- I like that. =D>

LSD is a perfect way to understand the mind of a schizophrenic. It actually temporarily mimics the pathology. The use of it in treatment would do nothing other than exacerbate the problem.

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that allows you to make correlations between ideas, concepts, and systems. Schizophrenics have uncontrolled releases of Dopamine, causing them to make correlations between concepts that shouldn’t be there. After long periods of time this rewiring of the brain is seemingly irreversible, even if the patient were to take something to curb the uncontrolled Dopamine levels.

LSD can have the same effect over long periods of use. The brain can be irreversibly rewired.

Agree…schizophrenics already have to much dopamine in their brian, and LSD increases dopamine levels in turn making it worse…wow that’d make for a crazy nite. Extascy for marriage counseling? Besides the fact that it can kill you, how can one expect to work out problems in a relationship when your probably trying to get the therapist to join in a threesome an hour after you drop…jk. Yes there is the potiential to open up and talk about feelings you normally wouldn’t talk about in the traditional sense, but wouldn’t you wonder if it was really your partners feelings or the drug talking…

I’m a big a fan of MDMA for use in any form of therapy.

This is a very valid point; however it is always you talking, just sometimes exceeding an uncomfortable level of discourse. This is simply why it should be used in threshold doses, that are minimally noticed by the individual but enough to allow them to take a risk in discussion that they usually would be afraid to take. Not everybody even requires a drug to reach the same level of comfort.

I can see this perspective, as who is to say one persons insanity isn’t just anothers sanity? I believe it all comes down to whether one becomes dysfunctional, which often occurs with drug users. A drug allows one to quickly and intensely change one’s dynamic. This becomes a problem when the temporary drug dynamic becomes more exciting than the real world dynamic. When the individual can no longer function properly without the help of others, I draw the line of sanity / insanity.

haha I know it is always “you” talking if you want to look at it literally. I was just hinting at the idea that just bc someone takes something that allows them to feel more comfortable in conversation doesn’t necessarily mean that they are being truthful and its going to be constructive. I do see your point though.

MDMA is an ideal drug for therapy. I’m unaware that it can kill people, I have only heard of one case, although the death was caused by overhydration, not MDMA.

Mescaline, Psilocybin and DMT in my opinion are better than LSD for therapy…or any other use.

The whole notion of ‘the drug talking’ and not the person, is bogus. I have never said things uncontrolably (and falsely me) while on drugs. If I did, I would think I was possessed. The things I say while on drugs are things that I may not say while sober, but those things just come from deeper levels of myself.

I’m not disagreeing that MDMA is an ideal drug for therapy. And it sure is a nice incentive to show up for therapy…although you might think that “the drug talking” sounds bogus lets not be naive.

Have you ever done mdma?

If yes then clearly you do not understand the dynamic of ‘drug talk’. What they will go home after therapy and suddenly regress and take back everything they said? Sometimes merely saying something out-loud is enough to get the ball rolling.

Let’s try and keep things somewhat modern here… this isn’t the 60’s.

It is bogus. Please state why it’s not.

Who are “you”? “You” are a flesh bag of blood, meat, bones, with a biochemical computer at its command, containing a relatively consistent system of chemical release from your hippocampus of: serotonin (typically allows for connection of emotion, communication, and feeling); and dopamine (typically allows for spatial connection, conceptual correlation, memory exploration). Your memory is some kind of algorithmic network of the totality of your experiences. MDMA increases the release of both of these neurotransmitters, providing an excellent platform for therapeutic exploration.

Now, if you want to call it an effect of a chemical, go ahead, but your “soul” is nothing more than a bag of chemicals interacting in a systematic way. Free will is only in your perception. You choose whether to believe in it or not. I hate paradoxes!

Some people are just filled with fear (per the amygdala) of taking the first steps into a healthier mental condition. Even if you are in a bad place, our amygdala pushes us to stick with it, because the unknown could be worse. MDMA helps push people over that hump in a positive manner. After the first session, they will hopefully be able to release and communicate with less fear without the aid of the drug.

bah I’d agree with your perception of the “soul”. There is no guarantee that taking these drugs will open the flood gates for open honest communication. Because we each have different memories and variations in body composition its only logical that we will have an individualized experience from there effect. Aren’t there other neurotransmitters that should be taken into account? And any adverse effects that can result while under the influence…