From Psychiatry to Flower Power and Back Again: The Amazing Story of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.
Assay and drug development technologies July 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1089/adt.2016.747 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), a prominent psychedelic drug used in psychiatric research in the 1950s and 1960s, was explored as a potential treatment for anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, autism, and schizophrenia. Its association with the Hippie counterculture and reports of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder and flashbacks led to its criminalization, though research was never formally banned. The field nearly vanished until the early 2010s, when modern tools of molecular pharmacology, functional imaging, and neuronal network theory revived LSD research, raising medical and ethical questions. Originally developed as an analeptic, LSD exemplifies the unexpected potential of discarded early-stage compounds.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 3 |
| Key finding | LSD, originally developed as an analeptic, is being resurrected in neuropsychiatry research using modern tools, highlighting the unexpected potential of discarded early-stage compounds. |
Abstract
Among the psychedelic drugs that enjoyed a period of popularity in psychiatric research during the 1950s and 1960s, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the most prominent one. Psychiatrists of that time had seen LSD not only as a tool for psychotherapy but also as a potential therapeutic for anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, autism, and even schizophrenia. When it became a quasi-religious epitome of the Hippie counterculture in the mid 1960s, and cases of what we now call hallucinogen persisting perception disorder and acute psychotic "flashbacks" mounted, authorities moved to make LSD illegal. Although research was never actually forbidden, the field almost completely dried out until the early 2010s. Using today's tools of molecular pharmacology, functional imaging, and neuronal network theory, neuropsychiatry is now resurrecting LSD research-with implications that leave us with many medical and ethical questions. Few people are aware that this is a repurposed compound, originally developed in an effort to synthesize a new analeptic. On top of all potential LSD might have in psychiatry, it also serves as a reminder of the unexpected potential that discarded early-stage compounds can have.