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| === Psychedelic therapy === | | === Psychedelic therapy === |
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| The psychoactive properties of LSD were discovered in 1943 by Swiss chemist [[Albert Hofmann]] when he accidentally ingested a small dose through the skin while studying the compound. Controlled research on human subjects began soon after, and Hofmann's colleague Werner Stoll published his findings of the underlying effects of LSD on human subjects in 1947.<ref name="Hofmann 2005">{{Cite book|last = Hofmann|first = Albert|title=LSD: My Problem Child|year=2005|publisher=MAPS |location = Santa Cruz|isbn = 0-9660019-8-2}}</ref>
| | '''Psychedelic therapy''' refers to therapeutic practices involving the use of [[psychedelic]] substances, particularly "classical" [[serotonergic psychedelics]] such as [[LSD]], [[psilocybin|psilocybe mushrooms]], [[DMT]], [[MDMA]], [[mescaline]], and [[2C-B]], primarily as an adjunct or aid in psychotherapy. As an alternative to synonyms such as "[[hallucinogen]]", "[[entheogen]]", "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotomimetic psychotomimetic]" and other functionally constructed names, the use of the term ''psychedelic'' (coined in the 50s from "mind-manifesting"<ref>{{cite journal | title = Journal of Altered States of Consciousness | page = 289 | date = 1979 | website = Google Books | publisher = Baywood Publishing Company | access-date = 21 December 2016 | quote = Osmond appeared before the New York Academy of Sciences in April 1956 and read the paper in which he proposed the word [[psychedelic]] (mind manifesting) to replace psychotomimetic ...}}</ref>) emphasizes that those who use these substances as part of a therapeutic practice believe they can facilitate beneficial or therapeutic exploration of the the human mind. |
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| After the earliest European and American research efforts had investigated whether LSD could reliably induce psychotic disorders, some began to evaluate the potential for LSD to assist in traditional [[psychoanalysis|Freudian psychotherapy]] in the 1950s. Studies into the effects of LSD on human creativity and spirituality were also conducted during this period.
| | In contrast to conventional psychiatric medication which is taken by the patient regularly or on a as-needed basis, in psychedelic therapy patients remain in an extended psychotherapy session during the acute activity of the substance and spend the night at the facility. In the sessions with the substance, therapists are nondirective and support the patient in exploring their inner experience. Patients participate in psychotherapy before the substance psychotherapy sessions to prepare them and after the substance psychotherapy to help them integrate their experiences with the drug.<ref name="MDMA PTSD treatment manual">{{cite web| title=A Manual for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder| publisher=[[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies]]| date=4 January 2013| url=http://www.maps.org/research/mdma/MDMA-Assisted_Psychotherapy_Treatment_Manual_Version_6_FINAL.pdf| accessdate=31 May 2014}}</ref> |
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| The next major development in the history of psychedelic research was the rediscovery of psilocybin by Western society due to the appearance of an article in a 1957 issue of [[Life (magazine)|Life]] magazine written by [[R. Gordon Wasson]] detailing his experiences ingesting psilocybin mushrooms in a shamanic ceremony in Mexico.<ref>{{citation|author=R. Gordon Wasson |url=http://www.psychedelic-library.org/lifep2.htm |title=Seeking the Magic Mushroom |publisher=Psychedelic-library.org |page=2 |date=2005-04-18 |accessdate=2012-04-14}}</ref> European studies into the use of psilocybin as a psychotherapeutic agent (Duche; Delay ''et al.'') were published as early as 1961. An article by Pichot about the basic effects of psilocybin on 137 normal and unhealthy subjects appeared in the medical journal Lancet in the same year.<ref name="Springer-1114889">{{cite journal |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067366190023X |title=HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS |date=February 25, 1961 |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |issn=0140-6736|oclc=01755507 |accessdate=April 11, 2014 |subscription=yes |journal=[[The Lancet]] |volume=277 |issue=7174 |pages=444–445 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(61)90023-X}}</ref>
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| In the early 1960s, [[Harvard University]] was the seat of two experiments involving psilocybin. The first of these was the [[Concord Prison Experiment]] which began in 1961 under the supervision of principal researchers [[Timothy Leary]] and [[Ram Dass|Richard Alpert]]. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if psilocybin-assisted psychotherapeutic techniques could permanently reverse the criminal and anti-social tendencies of 32 state prisoners nearing parole and prevent them from being incarcerated again. Leary's team combined the administration of synthetic psilocybin in guided sessions with a variety of tests and support sessions during and after release.<ref>[http://jop.sagepub.com/content/28/1/62.abstract Hallucinogen use predicts reduced recidivism among substance-involved offenders under community corrections supervision] J Psychopharmacol January 2014 vol. 28 no. 1 62-66.</ref>
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| The next Harvard experiment with significant implications for the development of psychedelic research was [[Walter Pahnke|Walter Pahnke's]] [[Good Friday Experiment]] of 1962. Pahnke set out to determine if psilocybin could be used to facilitate “mystical” experiences and if these experiences could cause permanent and beneficial personality transformation. To do so, he recruited 20 Protestant divinity students, 10 of whom would take synthetic psilocybin and 10 of whom would take a [[placebo]]. The experiment took place in a basement chapel in which the audio from a Good Friday service conducted in the main chapel upstairs was broadcast.
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| Throughout the short history of LSD research, people unaffiliated or loosely affiliated with the scientific establishment distributed supplies of LSD outside of laboratory settings. Soon the lines between legitimate research and personal experimentation began to blur for some, and as early as 1962 fellow faculty members at Harvard openly criticized Leary and Alpert for abandoning scientific principles and experimenting with LSD outside formal research settings. A few months later the university would dismiss both professors for violating university regulations by providing LSD to undergraduates. The controversy at Harvard coincided with greatly increased FDA restrictions on the procurement of LSD for scientific research; although some research did continue, most studies underway before the new FDA restrictions did not. After restricting its manufacture and distribution in 1965, the US government fully criminalized LSD in 1968, after which the European nations which hosted psychedelic research followed suit.<ref>{{cite book |last= Lattin |first= Don |year= 2010 |title= The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America |publisher= Harper Collins |isbn= 0-06-165593-7}}</ref>
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| In the United States, legal psychedelic research was reduced to only one program – the studies conducted at the Spring Grove Center in Baltimore which primarily focused on the end of life therapy and continued through to 1974. The study, which eventually came to be headed by Pahnke and [[Stanislav Grof|Grof]], resulted in the treatment of over 100 terminal patients, including 31 in a controlled LSD psychotherapy study.<ref>{{cite book |last= Grof |first= Stanislav |year= 1994 |title=LSD Psychotherapy: Exploring the Frontiers of the Hidden Mind |publisher=Hunter House |isbn=0-89793-166-1 }}</ref>
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| Throughout the 1980s, MDMA was administered in psychiatric and counseling settings, but recreational use also became increasingly widespread. MDMA research was mostly halted in 1985 by the United States government's initiation of proceedings to ensure temporary classification of the compound as a [[Controlled Substances Act|Schedule I]] drug (a classification made permanent in 1988). As psychedelics gained increasing recognition as potential psychotherapeutic agents, so too were they recognized within popular culture for their recreational use.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} | | Throughout the 1980s, MDMA was administered in psychiatric and counseling settings, but recreational use also became increasingly widespread. MDMA research was mostly halted in 1985 by the United States government's initiation of proceedings to ensure temporary classification of the compound as a [[Controlled Substances Act|Schedule I]] drug (a classification made permanent in 1988). As psychedelics gained increasing recognition as potential psychotherapeutic agents, so too were they recognized within popular culture for their recreational use.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} |
