LSD Study Breaks 40 Years of Research Taboo

http://realitysandwich.com/217390/lsd-study-breaks-40-years-of-research-taboo/

On March 4, 2014, the results of the first study of the therapeutic use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in humans in over 40 years were published online in the peer-reviewed Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

Sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), the double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study in 12 subjects found statistically significant reductions in anxiety following two LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions.

From The New York Times:

On Tuesday, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease is posting online results from the first controlled trial of LSD in more than 40 years. The study, conducted in the office of a Swiss psychiatrist near Bern, tested the effects of the drug as a complement to talk therapy for 12 people nearing the end of life, including Peter.

Most of the subjects had terminal cancer, and several died within a year after the trial — but not before having a mental adventure that appeared to have eased the existential gloom of their last days.

“Their anxiety went down and stayed down,” said Dr. Peter Gasser, who conducted the therapy and followed up with his patients a year after the trial concluded.

The new publication marks the latest in a series of baby steps by a loose coalition of researchers and fund-raisers who are working to bring hallucinogens back into the fold of mainstream psychiatry.

And from the MAPS press release:

Sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), the double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study in 12 subjects found statistically significant reductions in anxiety following two LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions. The results also indicate that LSD-assisted psychotherapy can be safely administered in these subjects, and justify further research.

These encouraging research results are hopefully only the start of a new wave of clinical studies on the potential benefits of responsible LSD use in a therapeutic setting.