Is LSD really that dangerous?

First synthesized by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, LSD gained both popularity and notoriety during the counter culture and flower power of the 1960’s. Today, LSD is most often associated with this time period and a heap of stigma surrounds the drug. Being classified as a schedule 1 drug that has no potential medicinal benefits, LSD is a difficult substance to study for the scientific community. However, recent studies carried out in Europe have revealed a interesting new perspective on the drug.

Your Brain on LSD

According to a study conducted by David Nutt, LSD causes certain parts of the brain that normally do no interact with one another, to communicate. This causes the altered reality that LSD users experience. Additionally, neurons that usually fire together lose their synchronization. This is what is responsible for the loss of ego that LSD users experience. The loss of ego is quite simply a feeling of euphoria that LSD brings on that causes one to feel more connected with their animate and inanimate surroundings. While this all sounds quite pleasant, LSD has been criticized for being able to induce psychosis and even schizophrenia in users. However, according to the science journal PLOS One, researchers found no significant increase in mental health problems in people who used LSD. Researcher debunked the claim that LSD use could cause mental health problems by stating that mental health problems and LSD use usually began around adolescence, which accounts for a correlation, but not causation.

A Tab a Day Keeps the Alcoholism away 

Besides inducing intense feelings of euphoria, LSD may have the potential to be used as a therapeutic agent. According to researchers in Norway, LSD has the potential to help alcoholics cut back on their alcohol consumption. In a case study of 536 adults, close to 60% of the subjects who were given LSD dramatically cut down on their alcohol use, while others quit altogether. More so, LSD was found to be just as effective, if not more, than t23eb11c600000578-2867599-lsd_is_used_widely_in_prominent_clubs_as_carrying_cocaineand_met-m-3_1418171982293-250x194he pharmaceuticals that are currently used to treat alcoholism. Besides treating alcoholism, LSD may have therapeutic benefits in treating people with depression. Scientists in England have already studied psycocilibin with good results, and they hope to achieve the same with LSD. If LSD proves to be effective, it could be administered in psychotherapeutic sessions in which the drug is administered under the control of a medical professional who’s aim is to work through a patient’s problems. While these scientific breakthroughs are certainly exciting, LSD remains a powerful drug that can have serious consequences. With any mind altering substance there is a degree of risk, so be safe and make smart decisions.

Pictures

LSD brains 

LSD on tongue

4 thoughts on “Is LSD really that dangerous?

  1. Lauren Elizabeth Jardine

    While most of the time LSD is used in the typical way many also use t for what is known as micro-dosing. Micro-dosing is said to give you energy and focus in the same way as adderal does without being a hallucinogenic. Steve Jobs is said to have been a fan of micro-dosing LSD because it helped him focus and get creative energy. Heres a link about microdosing http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/psychedelic-microdosing-research_us_569525afe4b09dbb4bac9db8

    1. Hugo Almeida Post author

      I like your Steve Jobs input regarding the “micro-dosing”. I actually just discovered that but didn’t get around to discussing it. Yes taking a small dose of LSD can actually act as a substitute for adderal as it can sharpen your alertness and heighten your focus. The article is interesting and covers micro-dosing well. Thank you for the input and I’m glad we both learned a little bit more of a hidden use of LSD… “magic mushroom”.

  2. Angela Maria Napolitano

    Honestly one of the first things that pops into my mind when I hear about LSD is the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The Beatles were one of many bands from that time period with a great deal of songs that were inspired by or written while the members were on drugs. I found one article in Rolling Stone magazine that talked about how the Beatles were on acid when they wrote the song “Revolver.” Lennon apparently reported that he and the others had been on an elevator and thought that a little red light was actually a huge fire. Anyone who has listened to the Beatles could tell you how obvious it is those guys were on drugs when they wrote quite a few of their songs. Other than Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, there’s Strawberry Fields Forever and I am Walrus, just to name a couple. Here is the article if you’re interested:
    http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beatles-revolver-how-lsd-opened-the-door-to-a-masterpiece-w436062

  3. Amanda Grace Thieu

    A lot of my friends back home do acid before they go to a concert or a rave which interesting. I feel like drugs and hallucinogens have a stigma surrounding it and especially around the person using the drug. They’ve always described it to me as a different universe that makes them more aware of themselves and the people around them. Many of my friends have a lot of revelations about life in a good way. But my concern about it is that what if a person has a bad trip and they end up doing something really dangerous etc? Is there any way to get out of a bad trip easily?

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