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Acute Adverse Reactions to Lsd in Clinical and Experimental use in the United Kingdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Nicolas Malleson
Nicolas Malleson*
Affiliation:
Research Unit for Student Problems (University of London), 20 Gower Street, London W.C.1; University of London Central Institutions Student Health Service. Advisory Committee for Drug Dependence
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Extract

It is well recognized that LSD (lysergide) can give serious adverse reactions, including suicide and prolonged psychosis; Smart and Bateman (1967) have reviewed the subject thoroughly. However, examples reported refer largely to cases where the LSD was self-administered. Medical case reports usually cover small case numbers, and publication may be determined by high adverse reaction rates. There has been no methodical survey of the pooled experience of psychiatrists since Cohen's study in 1960. This reported 44 replies sent out to 62 American investigators who had published papers or whose work was known to the author. Replies covered 5,000 subjects with 25,000 LSD or mescaline sessions. In this series, there were only two suicides that Cohen regarded as directly related to the LSD, and there were psychotic reactions (lasting more than 48 hours) at a rate of 0·8 per 1,000 experimental subjects and 1·8 per 1000 patients. It is unfortunate that one-third of the investigators failed to reply to Cohen's questionnaire.

Type
Abstract
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 118 , Issue 543 , February 1971 , pp. 229 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971 

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References

Smart, R. G., and Bateman, K. (1967). ‘Unfavourable reactions to LSD: a review and analysis of the available case reports.’ Canadian Medical Association Journal, 97, 1214–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S. (1960). ‘Lysergic acid diethylamide: side effects and complications.’ Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 130, 30–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stengel, E., and Cook, N. G. (1958). Attempted Suicide. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
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