Posted by BrittPark on March 4, 2003, at 12:33:48
In reply to LSD for depression/anxiety » Jack Smith, posted by beardedlady on March 1, 2003, at 16:48:31
I attribute the beginning of my recurrent major depression to a bad trip. LSD seems to have the power to more or less permanently reset cognitive and emotional states.
To be more explicit, a friend and I took LSD that we bought in Washington Square Park in June of 1981. We were having a dandy time. We listened to "Blues for Allah" and became fascinated with trajectories of socks, pencils, little pieces of paper thrown across the room. About 3 or 4 hours into the trip my friend went home. Within minutes of his leaving the trip turned into a nightmare for me. I experienced a subject-less terror that lasted a good 8 hours more. When I woke the next morning something had changed in my psyche. From that point on I had a terror of being alone, or at least away from the people I loved.
That confession isn't meant to belittle the possible use of LSD in treating depression/anxiety. In fact I believe my experience supports the use of LSD in psychiatric treatment, precisely because LSD seems to be able to produce permanent effects. Therefore, for example, if someone with depression were treated with a euphoriant of some kind (opioid, stimulant) and given LSD while experiencing the euphoria, their mood might be permanently improved.
The best analogy for LSD I can think of is the slaps one delivers to a recalcitrant old TV set that looses the picture frequently. One slap of the TV makes the picture worse but with persistence some slap will make the picture better.
Britt
poster:BrittPark
thread:204583
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030301/msgs/205836.html