Classic Hallucinogens, Their Effects, and Their Clinical Uses

This blog is brought to you by caffeine. It includes posts created by myself and other posts I have found relevant to the subject of study for my Brain and Behaviour class.

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The widespread perception of LSD as a uniquely destructive narcotic has to do with the drug’s ability to cause impressive and deeply affecting hallucinations and changes of perception. But compared to legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, LSD is a blip in the radar and actually one of the least harmful common drugs.

According to a 2010 study that attempted to quantify the social harm posed by each commonly used psychoactive drug in the U.K., compared to the much more common drugs like alcohol heroin, cocaine and even cannabis, LSD is not very harmful to either the user or others. The study’s lead researcher, David Nutt, was dismissed in 2009 from a senior U.K. advisory position for advocating reform to drug laws.

5 harmful myths we need to stop telling about LSD 

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LSD is one of the most powerful drugs ever created, and for the first time ever, scientists at Imperial College London have successfully image scanned human brains that are under the influence of the psychedelic drug. The study has had profound impacts on our understanding of consciousness. As one researcher explained, “Normally our brain consists of independent networks that perform separate specialised functions, such as vision, movement and hearing - as well as more complex things like attention. However, under LSD the separateness of these networks breaks down and instead you see a more integrated or unified brain. In many ways, the brain in the LSD state resembles the state our brains were in when we were infants: free and unconstrained.”

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Why LSD Makes You Feel “One With The Universe”

by Saṃsāran  

LSD users often associate their experiences under the drug with a sense of connectedness to things that had gone unnoticed before. This effect is the factor which makes people attach such a powerful feeling of unity and purpose to the experience but also why this feeling does not last. 

It is only a trick of the brain, not a mystical journey.

Recently a study was done and it was determined that a particular kind of receptor in the brain for serotonin called “5-HT2A” was responsible for this effect. A study was done where scientists played music for the test subjects. The students in the LSD group found deep meaning in most of the music while the control group did not. 

The study then tested this effect in patients who first received a drug that specifically blocks the 5-HT2A serotonin receptors in the brain while leaving other serotonin receptors affected by LSD untouched. In these people, the effect vanished. They didn’t discover meaning in the songs as when they weren’t under the effects of LSD. 

The 5-HT2A receptor, the researchers conclude, is responsible for modulating how we attach meaning to objects, people and concepts in or lives. A distorted ability to attribute meaning to experience is a common hallmark of some mental diseases, and establishing a defined pathway by which this happens could offer new routes for treatment.

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LSD

An interesting study on LSD aimed to study the effects of the drug on 20 willing participants. 

To conduct this study, a placebo and the actual drug was used, however, the participants did not know which they would be receiving. Subjective questionnaires were completed and the results from the study are as follows:

LSD has psychological, psychosis-like effects that include elevated mood

emotional arousal

emotional fluidity

blissful states of mind (like optimism)

There was increased optimism observed weeks after the drug was administered. This was not the same when the placebo was administered

LSD increased patient openness, even after the study

These findings are congruent with the hypotheses placed forward by the scientists.

Carhart-Harris, R. L., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M., Williams, L. T., Underwood, R., Feilding, A., & Nutt, D. J. (2016). The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Psychological Medicine, 46(7), 1379-1390. doi:10.1017/S0033291715002901

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Psilocybin and Treatment Resistant Depression

Psilocybin mimics serotonin and therefore binds with its receptors. 

The potential safety concerns of using this psychedelic drug to treat depression was assessed. There were few adverse side effects which included mild anxiety, confusion during onset, and headache; which is to be expected from a hallucinogenic.

Patients that were a part of this study were evaluated 1 week and 3 months after receiving psilocybin. All patients showed a reduction in their depression and a majority achieved remission. 

These results corroborate with results of previous studies on psilocybin in tobacco and alcohol dependent patients.

With proper precautions in place, psilocybin shows promise in clinical trials of treatment, not only in terms of depression, but with other chronic conditions.

Carhart-Harris, R. L., Bolstridge, M., Rucker, J., Day, C. M. J., Erritzoe, D., Kaelen, M., Bloomfield, M., Rickard, J. A., Forbes, B., Feilding, A., Taylor, D., Pilling, S., Curran, V. H., & Nutt, D. J. (2016). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(7), 619-627. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30065-7

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This chart found in Bogenschutz and Johnson’s study outlines some classic hallucinogens, their clinical dosage, and what addictions they have been used to treat in clinical trials. 

Bogenschutz, M.P., & Johnson, M.W. (2016). Classic hallucinogens in the treatment of addictions. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry. 64, 250-258. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2015.03.002

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In this video, a patient who had been smoking cigarettes for 37 years volunteered to be part of a study that researched the effects psilocybin had on treating addictions.

Psychedelics show promise of treating anxiety, depression, addictions, and OCD. They provide a lasting experience that transforms a patients life. Unfortunately because hallucinogens are illicit drugs, scientists that wish to study them struggle to acquire proper funding and larger sample sizes.

There is enough evidence from previous studies to warrant further research into the field of psychedelics and their uses for treatment.

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The FDA has allowed the final trial of ecstasy being used as a prescription treatment for PTSD sufferers to continue. This would be the last step needed before the drug can legally be used. 

Researchers are pushing the FDA to speed up the approval process as PTSD is difficult to treat and results are yielding very positive results.

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MDMA and PTSD

PTSD symptoms include fear, hyper-vigilance, re-experiencing what happened, and avoidance. Opposite to this are the effects of MDMA; joy, extroversion, and reduction of fear. 

MDMA stimulates the release of noradrenaline and dopamine, and through the 5-HT receptors, also reduces anxiety and depression. The release of noradrenaline and dopamine increase motivation to participate in activities and this, coupled with therapy, allows the patients to be more at ease with a therapist. 

An interesting fact is the difference in times patients spent with therapists with and without MDMA present; 8 hours and 90 minutes respectively.

There isn’t much published in the past about MDMA research; although, in 2010, Michael Mithoefer conducted a study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. The results yielded that 85% of patients with PTSD no longer had the symptoms that fit the criteria of the mental illness. This was the same 4 years later with no further intervention.

Psychoactive drugs and psychotherapy are beginning to be combined to provide positive treatment and hold a great potential in the scientific world.

Sessa, B. (2016). MDMA and PTSD treatment. “PTSD: From novel pathophysiology to innovative therapeutics”. Neuroscience Letters. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2016.07.004

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This is a really interesting video that gives a lot of relevant information about lysergic acid diethylamide.

Some facts that may be of interest:

LSD is non-toxic and not addictive

The lethal dose has never been reached

It was first made from a grain fungus, but can also be manufactured from 2 common seeds: morning glory and Hawaiian baby woodrose

LSD mimics serotonin and binds to the receptors 

It has a higher affinity for these receptors than serotonin and therefore takes priority over this neurotransmitter

Scientists used an fMRI to study the brains of hallucinogenic (specifically using psilocybin) users and found that the region of the brain that limits consciousness is off and this allows for a free flow of thought

You build a tolerance to LSD

A new interest in the benefits of LSD is emerging

Steve Jobs attributes Apple to LSD

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For better or for worse, medical science does not exist in a vacuum

Winter, G. (2008). Magic mushrooms. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 4(9), 452. doi:10.12968/bjnn.2008.4.9.31090

The first recorded use of magic mushrooms was accidental in 1799, when the father of the house had gone out to gather mushrooms to cook. This resulted in him accidentally drugging his entire family!

All of us have seen Alice in Wonderland, however, how many of us have noticed the subtle not so subtle drug innuendos?

Although I will admit it was not until a few years ago I caught on to the hookah smoking caterpillar, one thing I never payed much attention to was how obvious the characters made the drug use. Winter mentions this in his article, using a quote from Lewis Carroll’s book; “Heaving himself off the mushroom the louche larva advises Alice to nibble the mushroom he;s just been sitting on: ‘One side will make you grow taller, the other side will make you grow shorter.’”. If this is not obvious to the possible hallucinogenic effects magic mushrooms can have on you, I don’t know what is!

An interesting fact though, is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, was not discovered until Albert Hofmann had discovered LSD.

As well, after World War II, Dutch psychiatrists were geared toward researching LSD therapy. Jan Bastiaans used both psilocybin and LSD to treat survivors of concentration camps (claiming there was success to this method). However, this came to a halt as recreational use of the two drugs increased and political pressures ensured they became illegal. 

Winter, G. (2008). Magic mushrooms. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 4(9), 452. doi:10.12968/bjnn.2008.4.9.31090

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Artist Takes 20 Different Drugs And Creates 20 Illustrations To Show Drug Effects

Graphic designer Brian Pollett, aka Pixel-Pusha, pusha-ed himself to the limit by doing a new drug every day for twenty days and making art. The San Francisco-based artist said he wanted to create opportunities to educate, whether related to psychedelics or art. We've covered artists like him before here on Bored Panda.

So, instead of this blog being super serious and all about the science behind hallucinogens, I thought I would include some other things that would be of interest to people.

Above is a link to Brian Pollett’s graphic design work. For 20 days, he took 20 different drugs and created art work to represent their effects. It’s an interesting, subjective look at how drugs can alter your outlook.

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Classic Hallucinogens

This blog is about a few classic hallucinogens (LSD, MDMA, psilocybin), what effects they produce on your body and any potentials they have for clinical treatment.

You’d be surprised about the stigma surrounding these drugs and because of this, they still have not been fully researched. However, slowly but surely, scientists have found more and more about them.

Not only does this blog contain posts created by myself, but other posts I have found that I find relevant to this subject.

I hope that this information opens some people’s eyes about the drugs themselves and the potential they have to help a lot of people.