This topic post will be divided into 3 separate sections that will be uploaded periodically. Hope you enjoy :). The Background section will be uploaded with each post so there will be no need to check back. Recommended reading: The doors of perception by Aldous Huxley, How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
Background
Classic Hallucinogenic drugs are agonists of our serotonergic receptors. They are capable of producing significant alterations in the perceptions of those who ingest them. Historically, some hallucinogens have been used in cultural rituals, spiritual ceremonies and developmental rites of passage (Piotrowski, 2013). Common hallucinogens are Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin (Mushrooms), mescaline (Peyote) and the potent dimethyltryptamine (DMT). The experience can be either pleasant or upsetting and the duration of the experience varies from experience to experience and from substance to substance. Most of these substances have been illegal since the 1970’s; however, have regained interest among researchers for the treatment of different types of mental stress and mental disorders (Piotrowski, 2013). Personality can develop through; the desire to change and to believe change is possible. Then one can begin to perform the necessary new behaviours, which over time become habitual and lead to lasting personality change (Funder, 2016, pg. 249). Spontaneous—lasting change—seems to be rare, so it would be interesting if the temporary subjective change in a person’s perception would also change some aspects of a person’s personality. This review will examine the effects of psychedelics on personality, where personality refers to an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour, together with the psychological mechanisms—hidden or not—behind those patterns. (Funder, 2016, pg. 5).
The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a potent serotonergic hallucinogen first consumed by Albert Hoffman in 1943 (250 μg[1]). Sandoz first distributed LSD in 1948 for two applications: analytical psychotherapy and experimental studies on psychoses. Recently LSD has gained new interest and research has been examining LSD for the drugs therapeutic properties, specifically death anxiety.
This research was a placebo-controlled, within-subjects/cross-over study, with a balanced-order design. There were a total of 20 volunteers who made three study visits: screening, dosing session one and dosing session two. Dosing sessions were separated by at least 2 weeks and the order was balanced i.e. half of the participants received the dosing of LSD in session one and half received dosing of LSD in session two. All participants were 21< years of age and did not have psychotic disorders themselves or in the family with no history of problematic drug/alcohol use. The researchers decided to only recruit people with pervious experience with psychedelics. Being motivated by safety considerations, to minimize the risk of an adverse response of the drug. They also had routine blood tests, electrocardiogram, heart rate, blood pressure and a brief neurological examination. Only participants deemed physically and mentally healthy were allowed to participate.
Each participant received 75 μg of LSD in a 10ml saline solution that was injected intravenously infused over two minutes. The placebo was simply the 10 ml saline solution. Following the administration, the volunteers underwent neuroimaging protocol (magnetic resonance imaging). The peak experience was measured 120 minutes post-infusion and subsided to negligible levels 7-8 hours post-infusion. Participants completed two questionnaires at the end of each study day before being discharged by the study physician. The first test was Altered States of consciousness; the subsequent test was Psychotomimetic States Inventory (PSI). The objective of these measures was to observe the acute subjective experiences of the volunteers. Two weeks following each dosing session there were mid-term measures taken: Revised Life Orientation Test, Revised NEO personality Inventory and Peters’ Delusions Inventory.
The acute measures were revealed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) to measure the difference between means. There was an increase in emotional arousal and liability under LSD but with positive affect outweighing the negative affect. As an example, there was a increase in anxiety but the blissful state experiences were significantly greater (Cohen’s d = 0.91). Optimism (Cohen’s d = 0.56) and Openness (Cohen’s d = 0.16) showed a significant change and there was an increasing trend in the trait of agreeableness (Cohen’s d = 0.21). Interestingly there was no change in delusional thinking two weeks following the infusion of the LSD
[1] μg = micrograms
Citations
Piotrowski, N. A. (2013). Hallucingens. Salem Press Encyclopedia Of Science
Carhart-Harris, R., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M., Williams, T., Williams, L., Underwood, R.,…Nutt, D. (2016). The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Psychological Medicine, 46(7), 1379-1390. doi:10.1017/S0033291715002901
Funder, D. (2016) The personality puzzle. W.W. Norton & Company.
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