LSD & Alcoholism Treatment
Saskatchewan Alcoholism Treatment with LSD - Studies Revisited by Dr. Erika Dyck
More than 4 decades after the original studies, Dr. Erika Dyck has exposed some surprising facts about studies conducted with LSD as a treatment for alcoholism.
Dr Erika Dyck of the University of Alberta has recently published her research on LSD treatment for alcoholism studies, performed in Saskatchewan during the 1950’s and 1960’s by Humphry Osmond, Abram Hoffer, Colin Smith, and Sven Jensen. This incredible paper brings to light some fascinating studies, and generates even more questions for those brave enough to ask.
Dr Dyck provides a substantial background on psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, whom she credits with being a pioneer in the acceptance of alcoholism as a disease based on biochemical causes. After moving from England to Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Osmond met Abram Hoffer, who became a close associate in his research efforts with d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and other hallucinogens like mescaline.
The professor continues on to explain how the researchers came to the idea of treating alcoholism with this drug, based on the similarities between the effects of LSD and alcohol withdrawal delirium tremors (commonly known as the “dt’s”). As trials progressed with alcoholic patients, the researchers realized that there was another aspect to the experience other than physical that they had not considered – that of a personal and sometimes spiritual awakening that was reported during the patient’s LSD session. Follow-up to treatment confirmed that this had a lasting, positive effect on the subjects. The relatively informal first group of studies by Osmond and Hoffer resulted in a roughly 50/50 success rate of abstinence for a follow up period of six months.
The study’s close work with the organization Alcoholics Anonymous is also discussed in Dr. Dyck’s work. In an attempt to follow up with patients and utilize as much feedback as possible, Hoffer and Osmond found local groups helpful and even quite supportive of clinical trials. It is also noted that co-founder Bill Wilson was a proponent of the treatment, especially in regard to its implications regarding the spiritual experience.
Dr. Dyck cites two additional researchers that entered the scene after additional pressure was placed to provide more empirical evidence in favor of the treatment method. The first of these was conducted by psychiatrist Colin Smith in 1955, on two dozen patients. The results of this concluded that half remained about the same, a quarter were improved, and the other quarter had shown significant improvement, classified as exhibiting “complete abstinence from alcohol for the duration of the follow-up period…with changes in lifestyle, including more stable personal relationships and regular employment.”
As Professor Dyck explains, the experiments came under increasing scrutiny of the Addictions Research Foundation (ARF) of Toronto. This prompted psychiatrist Sven Jensen to take on the challenge of producing similar results while respecting the scientific method, which was the prime complaint against previous research trials. His research was far more controlled than the previous studies, and again had astoundingly positive results in favor of LSD treatment for alcoholics showing a rate of abstinence of greater than half during a follow-up time of 6 months to a year and a half.
After Jensen’s more controlled success, the professor reports, the ARF conducted its own trials with one major component changed; environment. The ARF argued that it was not the drug that produced the lasting effect but the environment in which it was used. Whereas all previous LSD experiences had been conducted in conjunction with empathetic staff and a supportive environment, patients in these trials were blindfolded and/or restrained for the duration of their experience, with no interaction between staff and those being tested. The results of this study did not match those of previous trials.
Dr. Dyck’s article also explores the connections and controversies surrounding the biochemical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of alcoholism, and the difficulties researchers had proving efficacy of treatment since it could not be proven on its biological merit alone. She draws an intriguing parallel to modern psychopharmacological drugs, many of which were being discovered and developed at the same time as LSD as the professor points out, like anti-depressants and anti-psychotics.
To read the entire article, which must be purchased, Click HERE or below on citation.
All statistics and information about Dr. Erika Dyck’s work, including quote in text above, was researched from the source:
The copyright of the article LSD & Alcoholism Treatment in Substance Abuse is owned by Lura Seavey. Permission to republish LSD & Alcoholism Treatment must be granted by the author in writing.
