Psychedelic Therapy

Paper Summary:

This paper evaluates a study on the beneficial aspects of psychedelic drugs, especially for those suffering from terminal illness. The paper describes general responses to hallucinogens, citing the seemingly paranormal experiences users report. The author then discusses how the drugs have been used under medical supervisions, and compares the responses to conditions such as anxiety with traditional drug therapy versus psychedelic drugs. The paper concludes citing some of the possible problems in research methods and also how to deal with complications of hallucinogenic drugs.

From the Paper:

"For the first time in three decades, human studies on LSD have increased (Kotler 2005). Many of these researcher said this should have happened earlier or sooner. Many researchers said that hallucinogens disappeared in research laboratories because of the scare for drugs like methamphetamines and heroin and the war on drugs. One research organization was the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which funded much of such research work on LSD. According to its researchers, there was little evidence that psychedelic drugs are addictive or more dangerous that other stimulants, like alcohol and marijuana. They noted that advances from disease treatment to consciousness studies and basic psychological research suffered a dent on account of this. They looked to these new studies as an important first step to the recovery of missed information. This new development occurred in the early 90s when the Food and Drug Administration ran out of justifications to avoid the research of these prohibited drugs. Scientists looked into the possibility of treating conditions with hallucinogens. In 1960, researcher Eric Kast found that the use of LSD relieved anxiety in terminally ill cancer patients. Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association is currently studying psilocybin in the treatment of anxiety in late-stage cancer patients. Charles Grob of the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center stressed that psychedelics peaked for 50 years. Much research was funded in this field in the 40s and 50s. Many also felt that hallucinogens have an important part in modern psychiatry. The discovery of the neurotransmitter serotonin spearheaded the brain chemistry revolution (Kotler). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kotler, Steven. Drugs in Rehab. Psychology Today: Sussex Publishers, Inc., April 2005
• Klotter, Jule. End-of-Life and Psychedelic Research. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients: The Townsend Group, July 2005
• Kurtzweil, Paula. Medical Possibilities for Psychedelic Drugs. FDA Consumer: US Government Printing Office, September 1995
• Luke, David P. and Marrios Kottenis. A Preliminary Survey of Paranormal Experiences with Psychoactive Drugs. Journal of Parapsychology: Parapsychology Press, 2005
• Spun, Brandon. More About Prozac, It's Ecstasy's Turn. Insight on the News: News World Communications, Inc., April 15, 2002

More papers on Psychedelic Therapy:

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