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Psychedelics In Research

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Psychedelics are a class of psychoactive substances which produce changes in perception and user experience. Through early research of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the use for psychedelic in the mental health profession proves promising. Due to uncontrolled drug use once, psychoactive substances reached general population, the scientific community was cut off from research and psychedelics were banned until the 1980s when a study in Switzerland lead to a new renaissance of psychedelic research. Today, psychedelic studies are held globally with the treatment of various mental disorders
Keywords: psychedelics, psychotherapy, LSD, MDMA, DMT,
Psychedelics in Psychology
Drugs that exist to perform the primary function of triggering changes …show more content…
Hoffman was the first to synthesize LSD, an accident resulting from the study of fungus ergot for the use in potential medicines. By absorbing the newly created compound of LSD, Hoffman was the first to experience its intense perceptual and emotional effects (Hoffman, 1980). Intrigued by the potential of the drug’s effects, chemists and psychiatrists of the late 1940s were looking to experiment with LSD in patient therapy. Initial work investigated the use of psychedelics on patients with schizophrenia. LSD was used as a tool to produce ‘psychotomimetics’, which mimic the mental states of patients with schizophrenia (Osmond, 1957) Later research investigated psychedelic drugs as aides to psychotherapy, initially taking the form of two types: psycholytic and psychedelic. Psycholytic psychotherapy required taking LSD at low quantities over a pre-arranged amount of time, called micro dosing, as part of the then new psychoanalytical therapy approach. Psychiatrists found the use of LSD had a relaxing effect on patients and facilitated the exploration of repressed material. The second form, psychedelic psychotherapy varied from psycholytic psychotherapy only in the dosage which the patient consumed. Instead of micro dosing, patients would undergo a single therapy session without the influence of LSD, then one session which a large-dose of LSD was administered to the patient. This stimulated an intense reaction from the patient due to the drugs influence which would be followed by further sessions without drug use to explore the meaning of the material that emerged (Grinspoon & Bakalar,

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