Re:Cary Grant's LSD Therapy in the 1950s
by TheOperator on Monday February 24, 2020 @08:51PM
(#22410310)
I have a bit of a different take but reach a similar conclusion. I think the population of people trying these experimental treatments has already been though long periods of ineffectual therapy and self-help attempts. I believe being in such a state puts you in a prime position to benefit from the drug as I roughly see it as a sort of accelerant for the mind. It can make a lot of those lessons click. Which is part of why I'm very skeptical of the idea psychadelic are a drug for the mentally healthy... I suspect the outcomes might actually be worse on average and question the common wisdom.
I'm unconvinced a therapists supervision is the "secret sauce". Yet there are many many reports even before recent studies that having a "sitter" or "shaman" type was essential and the presence of a therapist just seems like a medicalization of that principle.
The most promising applications for psychedelics are studied in conjunction with intensive therapy sessions before, during, and after the psychedelic dose.
The problem is that too many people read this articles and conclude that the drug is doing all the work, ignoring the rigorous therapy that surrounds the psychedelic dosing in all of the clinical studies.
My point was that taking LSD in your basement alone is not 1:1 equivalent to the clinical research that uses LSD as an ingredient in a structured therapy program. Even this article explains LSD use in the context of therapy. Yet people read these articles and assume that LSD operates as a standalone wonder drug.