Psychedelic Research: LSD for depression, autism

Wisdom Quarterly, CoasttoCoastAM.com
(Mariesou/Flickr)

Dr. James Fadiman, who has been involved with psychedelic research since the 1960s, joined Ian Punnett on Sept. 24, 2011 to discuss the newest research into the psychotherapeutic value of visionary drug use.

Psychedelics can be effective at micro-doses that have no intoxicating effects that are nevertheless medicinal. They have the capacity to increase personal awareness, produce spiritual epiphanies, and treat a host of serious medical conditions. Before it was banned LSD was in fact the most researched psychiatric drug on the planet, according to Dr. Fadiman.

Dr. Fadiman on Coast to Coast 9/24/11

The compound, which grows naturally and is derived from ergot fungi on rye, was first synthesized in 1938. It is effective in miniscule doses at only millionths of a gram, he stated, adding that mainstream researchers used LSD therapeutically to treat common neuroses, alcoholism, and even autism before it was banned in 1966.

Among hardcore alcoholics there was a 50% success rate. The efficacy rate was even higher for those with autism, he noted.

• Curiously, according to the doctor, the main effect of LSD occurs after the drug itself has left the body.
  

It is thought to work by opening up one's "awareness capacity." Religious Studies scholar Dr. Huston Smith learned this after taking LSD and having an experience that confirmed what he understood to be at the core of all religious faiths, Fadiman explained.

"Psychedelics give you a kind of a different view of everything... they take you much more into observing your life," he said.

A recent study at UCLA demonstrates how this inner journey can help people diagnosed with terminal cancer. Psilocybin, according to Fadiman, is a drug similar to LSD that has successfully been used to treat anxiety in late-stage cancer patients. Source

"Psychedelics and Freedom"

Psychedelic Explorer's Guide

"This is some of the most thoughtful, wise, heartfelt, and essential instruction for the use of sacred medicine."
- Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, (Spirit Rock) author of A Path with Heart

"Jim Fadiman's manual offers helpful and well-informed guidance for those who seek 'the divine within' through sacred plants and psychedelic substances."
- Daniel Pinchbeck,(Reality Sandwich) author of 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl and Breaking Open the Head


"Transpersonal Conversations"