Written by Kayleigh Herbert
When I think about the sixties, a few things spring to mind: The Beatles, ‘flower power’, protests, and, of course, the summer of love with a multitude of hippies sauntering about with flowers in their hair, half-naked and looking pleasantly confused. Sunstroke, perhaps? Or could it have been the unprecedented rise in recreational LSD use that took the sixties by storm?
When Albert Hoffman first synthesised LSD back in 1938, it’s unlikely he could have predicted just how much influence the drug would come to have on pop-culture. LSD became known as a “wonder-drug” that spawned creativity and interconnectedness with the world around us; from music to art, media and books. But what if there was more to it? What if we could harness the psychedelic properties of LSD to treat mental health problems such as anxiety? Well, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) endeavours to do just that.
Despite promising progress throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, research into the therapeutic properties of LSD came to an abrupt stand-still in 1966 when the drug was criminalised due to a rise in use among anti-establishment groups. Nevertheless, Gasser et al. (2014), (with backing from MAPS) published the first controlled study into LSD-assisted psychotherapy in over 40 years, challenging the stigma and changing the way we think about psychedelics.
The study focused on participants who had been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses and were experiencing associated anxiety. Anxiety was measured prior to the study using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), a commonly used measure in psychology. Twelve participants took part in this study: eight were assigned to the experimental group and given 200µg of LSD, while the remaining four were assigned to a placebo group and given just 20µg (a standard dose of LSD being around 150µg). The researchers wanted to ensure that the experimental group was getting the full psychedelic experience, while the placebo group needed to have just enough so as not to suspect that they were part of the placebo group.
Two experimental sessions took place in total, each lasting eight hours, during which participants got comfortable in a therapy room and were monitored by an attendant. They were advised to keep conversation to a minimum, and instead listen to music and focus their attention inwards, towards their emotions and self-awareness. After each session, participants received three psychotherapy sessions which were 60 – 90 minutes long, during which they reflected on their experience. Eight weeks after their second experimental session participants underwent a follow-up evaluation, whereby their anxiety was once again measured. At this point, the placebo group was also given the chance the try the experimental treatment.
Despite there being no significant difference in anxiety between the experimental and placebo groups at the start of the study, researchers found a reduction in anxiety scores in the experimental group at two-month follow-up compared with the placebo group whose anxiety had increased. What’s more, is that this trend continued; a further follow-up twelve months later revealed that both groups experienced sustained benefits from having taken part in the experimental LSD sessions embedded with psychotherapy.
Now, that’s not to say that we should all quit our day jobs, don a tie-dye t-shirt, and flares, and attempt to treat our own mental health problems by dropping a tab of acid and having a mystical experience. This study, as promising as the research may be, was small-scale. With just twelve participants, all of whom had life-threatening illnesses, the results may not be applicable to the wider population. Additionally, the psychoactive nature of LSD makes it easy to detect, meaning that even when given a low dosage to simulate the full effects of LSD, all participants were still able to guess which group they had been assigned to.
Nevertheless, these results hold a great deal of weight in psychotherapy, opening the door to an entirely new realm of treatment for mental health problems. A paradigm shift in the way we view psychedelics paves the way for innovative treatments and combined therapies, which have the potential to flip psychopharmacology on its head. These treatments administered in a controlled setting could allow us to move away from the more traditionally used, arguably ineffective, and potentially harmful, medications. Instead, these treatments have the potential not only to drastically reduce the symptoms associated with mental health problems but, more significantly, treat mental health problems effectively on a long-term basis without the negative side effects.
We still have a long way to go, nevertheless, the research shows much promise, and we should all be optimistic about a future whereby LSD-assisted psychotherapy is an accessible option for those struggling with mental health problems.
References
Gasser, P., Kirchner, K., & Passie, T. (2015). LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: a qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(1), 57-68.