[HN Gopher] The Early, State-Sanctioned LSD Experiments in Commu...
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The Early, State-Sanctioned LSD Experiments in Communist Bulgaria
(2016)
Author : Hooke
Score : 55 points
Date : 2022-01-18 02:23 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.atlasobscura.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.atlasobscura.com)
| pmoriarty wrote:
| This is not at all surprising, if you are familiar with the
| history of psychedelics.
|
| At around the same time (and even earlier) similar "state-
| sanctioned" LSD (and other psychedelic) experimentation was being
| carried out in the US, Canada, and other parts of Europe.
|
| LSD was around this time (and may still remain) the most
| researched psychoactive compound in history, with thousands of
| papers written on it.
|
| No surprise that there was a lot of research on it all over the
| world.
| vmception wrote:
| My key takeaways from this that I also find thought provoking
|
| _> according to her findings, LSD cannot actually make one more
| creative. However, it can make a person "see" letters and words
| in different colors and experience synesthesia_
|
| No conclusion for me, I understand that people really want this
| to happen, I'm skeptical of that particular conclusion while also
| skeptical of what LSD could actually provide someone, but I'm
| open to any outcome.
|
| _> the drug enabled her to gain an insight into the world of the
| mentally ill by experiencing schizophrenia-like symptoms herself_
|
| This matches an 'empathy' element that many people say occurs
| after their usage
| yathern wrote:
| > the drug enabled her to gain an insight into the world of the
| mentally ill by experiencing schizophrenia-like symptoms
| herself
|
| The book "How to Change Your Mind" discuses this quality of
| LSD, as well as the history and cultural impact of it and other
| psychedelics. In it, the author discusses how an early term for
| psychedelic drugs were "psycho-mimetic" - meaning that they
| mimic psychological problems such as schizophrenia. This was
| thought to be a very good use-case for them. Mental Health
| professionals could take a drug to understand the symptoms of
| their patients better, and thus treat them better.
|
| However, schizophrenia and the LSD-affected mind are fairly
| different - and many drugs also have this label of
| "Psychotomimetic", as seen here:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychotomimetic
| beebeepka wrote:
| Like most drugs, it gives you a perspective. It's perfectly
| fine if that's not your cup of tea. Most people, especially
| rusty cans, should stay away from stuff like this. It is well
| known that different perspectives are not only stupid, but also
| very dangerous. Can't have that
| whatshisface wrote:
| > _This matches an 'empathy' element that many people say
| occurs after their usage_
|
| The empathy LSD fans are talking about isn't "yes, I have
| experienced drug side effects similar to your natural illness,"
| it's something broader than that.
| vmception wrote:
| yes broader but also includes that.
| Synaesthesia wrote:
| It had an accepted use in psychiatry for what was called a
| "model psychosis" ie it would give you a temporary psychosis
| which would help you understand it.
|
| When the government wanted to declare LSD illegal (it has
| escaped into a "party drug"), they simply declared that the
| model psychosis idea is wrong and it was scrapped. But I think
| it has a lot of validity, on LSD and mushrooms I've often
| thought about going mad and being in prison, and had a lot of
| empathy for those people.
| pmoriarty wrote:
| _"...on LSD and mushrooms I 've often thought about going mad
| and being in prison, and had a lot of empathy for those
| people"_
|
| The thing is that it's quite common for people in the middle
| of psychotic episodes to lack what psychologists call
| "insight" in to their condition. That is, they don't realize
| that they're mentally ill, and even if they are confronted
| with the possibility they deny it.
|
| So, paradoxically, by your thinking that you may be going
| mad, you're actually sane in a critical way that a mentally
| ill person is not.
|
| Also, some typical features of schozophrenia (which the
| "psychotomimetic" view of psychedelics were supposed to
| evince) turned out not to be present in classical
| psychedelics (like LSD) -- things such as hearing voices.
| This is why use of the term "psychotomimetic" for these
| substances was eventually abandoned.
| victor22 wrote:
| You guys know about Mk Ultra by now right?
| saiya-jin wrote:
| Not only Bulgaria, in Czechoslovakia similar tests were done by
| the army in 70s with expected results [1]. I am not surprised - a
| powerful unknown item is discovered, so power structures take
| notice and do some digging.
|
| Btw Czech Stanislav Grof mentioned in article is/was a big name
| in clinical research of LSD. He later moved to US. He also has
| some good screen time in great documentary about LSD invention by
| Hofmann - The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD [2]
|
| Basically if Timothy Leary didn't abuse LSD so blatantly in
| everybody's face for so long, it might not have ended up in same
| category as heroin. Even after 60 years the damage he has done
| (albeit in good faith, but that doesn't matter much) is not
| completely reversed.
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HXMHdhQL_8 [2]
| https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2075352/
| scarecrowbob wrote:
| I personally don't believe the "Leary was an op" trope, but I
| certainly get why folks do.
|
| So much rhetorical damage was done by so few people.
| pvarangot wrote:
| I don't condone Leary's research protocols, but the whole field
| was plagued with what is now seen as unethical experimentation
| back then. Leary was fired from Harvard in 1963, according to
| Wikipedia, and the Stanford Prison Experiment thing happened in
| 1971.
|
| I really don't vibe with the manic LSD guru personality at all,
| never did, but the man was a consequence of his time and that
| kind of research happened all over the place and with all sorts
| of substances. I think LSD and weed would still be in the same
| schedule they are not, Leary or not Leary.
| Synaesthesia wrote:
| The government was pretty determined to stamp out any kind of
| mind altering drug, ignoring the facts and opinions of experts
| and doctors. That was the case with LSD, it was the case with
| MDMA, where a lot of people testified to it's value in
| psychiatric medicine, but were simply ignored.
|
| I think Hoffman's essay on the subject is one of the best "LSD
| my problem child" and is available online.
| pmoriarty wrote:
| _" if Timothy Leary didn't abuse LSD so blatantly in
| everybody's face for so long, it might not have ended up in
| same category as heroin."_
|
| I really don't get why Leary gets all the blame, instead of the
| ignorant, narrow-minded reactionaries who freaked out over it
| and actually made it illegal.
|
| Psychedelics were strongly associated with hippies, the antiwar
| movement, and the counterculture -- that (and not anything
| Leary said or did) is the real reason they were made illegal.
|
| There were also other events and people who inflamed the moral
| panic of the time, like the Manson murders, the suicide of Art
| Linkletter's daughter (which he blamed, without evidence, on
| LSD), Ken Kesey's acid tests (which were far more irresponsible
| than anything Leary ever did), etc.
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