Nature and Frequency of Claims Following LSD

Neurotoxicity and LSD treatment: a follow-up study of 151 patients in Denmark

“…On the other hand, Bernstein (1988: 508) was not able to predict who would experience a ‘bad trip’ or flashbacks. A study on the benefits following LSD in 74 alcoholics did not mention flashbacks or side-effects at all (Ditman, Hayman and Whittlesbey, 1962).…”

A Review of LSD Treatment in Alcoholism

“…Single-dose studies without control are summarized in table I. These 13 studies plus one later follow-up (6,9,12,14,20,21,25,26,28,29,32,36,42,44) have utilized a total of 408 patients (a range of 2-69 patients per study). The patients included in 7 of these studies (6,12,25,28,29,32,42) had been drinking for from 8-20 years, with a mean of 12.15 years; the 6 remaining authors did not specify length of alcoholic intake.…”

“…The degree of improvement varied from 100 % in the 2 studies with 2-3 patients each (14,36), to 25 % in another study (21), but length of follow-up was not reported in any of these 3 studies. Ten studies reported follow-up, which varied from prior to discharge from the hospital, to 55 months after LSD treatment.2 The study of Ditman et al (9) showed that the longer the follow-up, the lower the percentage of improvement: They reported improvement in 67 % of his patients at 6-18 months after treatment, but this had dropped to 50 % after 2 years. Fox (12) reported an interesting variable, the difference in self-assessment of improvement versus physician-assessment.…”

A Survey of the LSD Question

“…The psychedelics are currently being used, in general, in six somewhat different ways: (1) in the treatment of alcoholism (and in a few cases, drug addiction); (2) in the study of mystical experiences;…”

“…Users of LSD are usually quite enthusiastic about it, and this observation has led one investigator to state that the unique thing about LSD is that it prompts so many claims. 2 Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of the person who tries LSD is that he begins to see himself as the major contributor to his own misery. Over and over throughout Blum's book, as well as in Cohen's, we see examples of people who have tilted against windmills only to learn, under the influence of LSD, that while their environment made them what they are, they are now fighting losing, selfmade battles against the world.…”