Posted by Gringo on March 15, 1999, at 2:14:56
In reply to Re: LSD therapy & stuff, posted by Elizabeth on March 13, 1999, at 9:51:48
> > Hello, just a comment on something that appears to have been talked to death...
> >
> > I know some people who have done the LSD reasearch in England from the 1960's and it was indeed beneficial according to these researchers but most of it got suppressed after Timothy Leary did his stuff. I also know former patients who received LSD therapy in the US in the late 1960's and some had a really eye-opening experience that set them on the path to enlightenment and future good functioning and some had a really horrifying experience. I also have been reading about the Ibogaine treatments currently being done and it appears that, there too, are some outstanding experiences that result in complete sobriety and new insights for some and absolutely terrifying experiences for others. I even have to admit that my pet treatment, EMDR, has made some people feel worse even though 95% feel much better.
> >
> > I think that any treatment, whether FDA-approved, illegal, herbal, or something out of your front lawn, will work great for some, not great for others. I think it is always best to stick with things that are well-researched and documented to work, but how can anyone fault someone who has "been there, done that" and moves on to experimental or fringe treatment? I just hope that if that is the case, that as much care as possible will be taken to insure that help is available if something goes wrong. And if you are doing both traditional and nontraditional drugs, please tell your health care person so they can be prepared if there is an adverse reaction or a drug-drug interaction.
>
> Well said, Toby.
>
> I certainly can imagine that hallucinogens might faciliate psychoanalysis. On the other hand, it occurs to me that people under the influence can be pretty suggestible, which could be dangerous: not that therapists aren't trustworthy, but just that it's surprisingly easy to "convince" people (hypnosis is problematic in the same way). I'm sure that some people might "freak out" (for some people, even "unaltered" analysis is too anxiety-provoking).
>
> Does anyone know what if the IPA (or any of the other *PAs) has a particular stand on this?
>
> BTW, the indole hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, etc.) don't have much in the way of drug interactions, although they tend to be less effective if you are taking antidepressants at the same time. Would stay away from mescaline if already taking stimulants (including MAOIs). I'd imagine that MAPS has more information on this.
>
> -elizabethGreetings,
let me just add a little bit. Concerning the fact that for someone psychedelics may be helpful and for someone they may be hell, it's up to a psychotherapist to exclude such people, they should be educated enough now to diagnose people with possible risks. And concerning 'convincing' people, this also could be a myth, yet again, not researched in a propriate and *unbiased* way. But maybe that is the question of something called ethics. I don't think that a therapist 'convincing' people would 'survive' for a long time. And I think that when under psychedelics, it's not as easy to convince someone to 'kill someone else'. Even in deep hypnosis a patient did not hurt themselves when told to. But again, too much bias makes research on these interesting topics too complicated. Anyway, I think that most of today's patients are actually *convinced* about something that may show up as wrong later on. I'd like to ask just one more question - anybody heard of holotropic breathwork here?
This was not meant to recommend people with depression to try psychedelic substances. If there was not so many political 'walls', too many myths and bias in public, a serious research on psychedelic *therapy* could be done. Recommended reading (I don't sell books, nor live in the usa, thus not helping to sell them): "LSD psychotherapy" by Stanislav Grof, "The Adventure of Self-Discovery", "Beyond the Brain", "The Holotropic Mind" or "The Realms of Human Unconscious" all by the same author. If interested there are loads of information on this on Internet.And please, remember, prejudice and myths are of no help. Thank you.
Regards,
Gringo
poster:Gringo
thread:3400
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990301/msgs/3705.html