Psilocybin, LSD, and the Inner Life

There has been a stream of articles in recent years on the therapeutic use psilocybin on advanced-stage cancer patients. The ingestion of psilocybin, which is the active psychedelic compound in over two hundred species of naturally growing mushrooms, brought on “mystical” experiences that reduced illness-related anxiety and depression in nearly 80 percent of subjects studied in research trials at New York University and Johns Hopkins University. A December 1, 2016 article in The New York Times shared the story of one of the participants, a young man who was in remission from Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was petrified and drinking heavily after his health began improving. The psilocybin induced a hallucinatory vision during which he saw his body on a stretcher in front of a hospital surrounded by his parents. The vision brought on an epiphany that helped him let go of his crippling fear that the cancer would come back. Many of the other participants had similar stories—stories in which visions and oceanic feelings helped bring some sense of peace.

In addition to the treatment of cancer patients, psilocybin trials are underway to treat clinical depression, tobacco addiction, and alcoholism. Another powerful hallucinogen, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), was also once used to treat alcoholism. LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann (1906-2008) as part of a program to develop new pharmaceuticals to treat pulmonary disorders. Five years after synthesizing LSD-25, Hoffman accidentally absorbed some of the liquid through his fingertips and discovered its psychedelic effects, notably the degree to which it put him in touch with subconscious thoughts and impulses. Initially embraced by psychiatry, the substance was cast in a controversial light during the 1960s when it became associated with antiwar demonstrations, students riots, and the counter-cultural movements that spread across America and Europe. By the mid-60s, LSD was criminalized as a “Schedule 1” drug.

But long before the Harvard psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert inaugurated their famous acid tests, and before Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters drove their bus (named Further) from San Francisco to New York City in a LSD-infused blur of youth, experimentation, and speed, the therapeutic uses of the substance were seen as promising by the psychiatric establishment. It first appeared in medical literature in 1943, attracting attention for its promising contributions to psychiatric research, especially as a treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. According to its enthusiasts, LSD induced a level of self-understanding on the part of the client that helped to reveal the innermost sources of the addictive behavior. Well over a thousand articles on the substance appeared in scientific journals from 1943 until the mid-sixties, a few years after Harvard University fired Timothy Leary for his ebullient promotion of the drug and his active recruitment of student and faculty participants [“testers”]. Negative newspaper articles about LSD followed soon after, warning of the substance’s grave dangers. Furthermore, medical research appeared with reports that it caused chromosomal damage, fetal abnormalities, memory impairment, psychosis, and suicide.

Regardless of the risk-benefit analysis of using powerful psychotropic substances to treat mood and substance use disorders, the NYU and Johns Hopkins studies point to something else of note: the relationship between psychological well-being during times of crisis and some sort of mystical/contemplative practice. This connection wasn’t lost on the American poet Allen Ginsberg, whose 1955 groundbreaking poem “Howl,” represents the use of psychedelic substances like marijuana and peyote as a desperate response to the spirit-crushing conformity of a world that valued utility, efficiency, productivity, capital, and brute strength over human solidarity, tenderness, and spirituality. In the poem, Ginsberg connects “the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent kindness of the soul” to a life spent “burning for the ancient heavenly connection.” Although talk of spirituality is more often the bailiwick of the theologian than the psychologist, the fact that 80% of those involved in the psilocybin studies reported mystical experiences that helped them to cope with the emotional and physical ravages of cancer make the issue of particular relevance to the therapeutic psychologist.