Monday, November 22, 2010
From whence I came out into the open this is not what was begot.
All right hears the thing I'm homeless. Its not something that happened all at once. I didn't loose my job my apartment all over night. I usually not this vocal or this direct on my blog but The rules I put in places from the start were vague enough to include this possibility. The thing is theirs not that many people to talk to about this and I don't have much practice talking without my mouth open. This all started back in May. that's when I lost my job. There was two bosses giving me contradictory instructions and ass a power play by one, I was Fired. That was all right id been fired before but for some reason i couldn't get a new job in time. sure the economy was bad but I didn't expect it to hit me. But two months in and nothing and my landlord wanted to be paid. I owe him! He let me go with a lot uncollated. I still will try to make that up to him. I know that sounds like wishful optimism and it probably is but I still want to pay him back. So now i was out of my place but lucky for me I have one of the best grandmothers living rather close to me. The other amazing grandmother lives in west palm. (Miss you Grammy). And from July to November I was praying every morning and looking all day for work. until she got a letter. The letter said that the living facility she was staying in did not allow guests past a week and I would have to go or she would be evicted too. First I don't want anything to happen to happen to my Grandmother so I left to get some temporary assistance from my nearest Department of Social Services. After some exhausting cold nights in various underpasses and the like I was sent to a halfway house with bed bugs no sheets bad heating and one meal a day. It blows chunks and i suspect Ill be here for a while. I hope I'm not hear on my birthday. (Dec 8) but any way that is me for now.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
The Neuropsychopharmacological History of LSD
There is an eight page paper by Dr. Erika Dyck on the pre-war studies of d-lysergic acid diethylamide starts out pretty slow. The beginning is very straightforward stating “The therapeutic uses of psychedelic drugs have recently resurfaced as a topic of debate in neuropsychopharmacology.” After a very brief mention of recent studies in hallucinogenic drugs, such as the drug referred to as ecstasy helping Parkinson’s, and PTSD, the historical overview commences.
As is described “[LSD] first appeared in the scientific literature in 1943.” The study of the drug became very popular in the medical community for its “potential contributions to psychiatric research.” Until the early 1960’s attention was strong. It faded but not before over 500 articles in 15 languages on the subject ware published in scientific journals. In 1962 Timothy Leary was fired for his “indiscriminant promotion” of the substance. The story was big news, so much so that this can be marked as the turning point for the public viewpoint on LSD. It all finally changed in 1966 as everyday news focused on the dangers of LSD and the masses were swayed into agreeing with negative associations. The same year Federal governments in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, France, and the UK banned the use of LSD. Despite this there were still proponents for using LSD in a medical environment.
The first sample synthesized was in 1938 but it was five years till the drug was discovered. The chemist Albert Hofmann did this by accidentally coming in physical contact with his creation and had the first recorded “trip.” The drug was studied, then published, and then embraced over the next few years. The decade 1950 was good for advancements in psychiatry. LSD experimentation coincided with the radical renovation of psychopharmacology, producing two Nobel Prizes. Article after article was published on different experiments involving LSD.
In 1952 two scientists; Humphry Osmond and Abram Hoffer, started “collaborating over their mutual research interests in biochemical experimentation.” Their experimentation found that drugs like LSD could induce schizophrenic like symptoms. This was followed with the deduction that mental illness is biochemical. In other words; “a theory that explained mental illness as the manifestation of metabolic functions. This assertion pointed to the possibility that mental illness was inherently a biological entity.” Both men took psychotropic drugs and reported on their effects so as to placate the populace. “LSD seemed to produce a “model psychosis,” which provided a new method for studying symptoms of mental illness.” Later that year Hoffer and Osmond looked for funding to develop this theory but doctors in Ottawa and Ontario did not provide.
In 1953 Osmond realized he could use LSD to help in the treatment of alcoholism. Using LSD to force the patent to simulate the complete and utter despair of their situation he may find sobriety. The first trial found two alcoholics, one male, one female, and subjected them to an intensive drug therapy combination. After six months the subjects were completely cured of there alcoholism. There was a two year flow up and both subjects were still sober. The second trial included 24 patients and after three years the results were; half unchanged, quarter improved, and one quarter much improved. The third study used a method close to the scientific method. Three groups; one with group therapy, the next with LSD, and the last had individual therapy. The LSD pool of subjects had a success rate of 65.5%, much larger then the others.
In these studies the doctors were mostly successful in curing the patient’s alcoholism. This shows just one example of positive uses of lysergic acid diethylamide and how people see it can, with further study, be more positive. The trouble with this drug is the stigma behind it. There is this idea that all illegal substances are bad. The only problem is that no good would come with out the research into drugs like fungus derivatives or methamphetamines. With out certain antibiotics or ADHD medication the medical community would be set back. So if no advancements are made than no cures are found. Even LSD has its good side.
This good side is the one that is not known to use completely, but that is because of the negative stigma that plagues the drug and others like it. “LSD is bad. It can make you go insane. It will make you see what’s not there.” These fears are not completely based in falsehoods but there is no real reason that with the proper research this drug could be a very helpful medication in the future. There is no real rationalization, in fact, for the idea that LSD is a hard core psychotropic. The idea that something so powerful is shunned away like bad odor is simply wrong. Not even the mass murdering atom-bomb was discarded, it was developed into energy. LSD has such potential which seems to be squandered for the simple idea that it is to scary.
As is described “[LSD] first appeared in the scientific literature in 1943.” The study of the drug became very popular in the medical community for its “potential contributions to psychiatric research.” Until the early 1960’s attention was strong. It faded but not before over 500 articles in 15 languages on the subject ware published in scientific journals. In 1962 Timothy Leary was fired for his “indiscriminant promotion” of the substance. The story was big news, so much so that this can be marked as the turning point for the public viewpoint on LSD. It all finally changed in 1966 as everyday news focused on the dangers of LSD and the masses were swayed into agreeing with negative associations. The same year Federal governments in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, France, and the UK banned the use of LSD. Despite this there were still proponents for using LSD in a medical environment.
The first sample synthesized was in 1938 but it was five years till the drug was discovered. The chemist Albert Hofmann did this by accidentally coming in physical contact with his creation and had the first recorded “trip.” The drug was studied, then published, and then embraced over the next few years. The decade 1950 was good for advancements in psychiatry. LSD experimentation coincided with the radical renovation of psychopharmacology, producing two Nobel Prizes. Article after article was published on different experiments involving LSD.
In 1952 two scientists; Humphry Osmond and Abram Hoffer, started “collaborating over their mutual research interests in biochemical experimentation.” Their experimentation found that drugs like LSD could induce schizophrenic like symptoms. This was followed with the deduction that mental illness is biochemical. In other words; “a theory that explained mental illness as the manifestation of metabolic functions. This assertion pointed to the possibility that mental illness was inherently a biological entity.” Both men took psychotropic drugs and reported on their effects so as to placate the populace. “LSD seemed to produce a “model psychosis,” which provided a new method for studying symptoms of mental illness.” Later that year Hoffer and Osmond looked for funding to develop this theory but doctors in Ottawa and Ontario did not provide.
In 1953 Osmond realized he could use LSD to help in the treatment of alcoholism. Using LSD to force the patent to simulate the complete and utter despair of their situation he may find sobriety. The first trial found two alcoholics, one male, one female, and subjected them to an intensive drug therapy combination. After six months the subjects were completely cured of there alcoholism. There was a two year flow up and both subjects were still sober. The second trial included 24 patients and after three years the results were; half unchanged, quarter improved, and one quarter much improved. The third study used a method close to the scientific method. Three groups; one with group therapy, the next with LSD, and the last had individual therapy. The LSD pool of subjects had a success rate of 65.5%, much larger then the others.
In these studies the doctors were mostly successful in curing the patient’s alcoholism. This shows just one example of positive uses of lysergic acid diethylamide and how people see it can, with further study, be more positive. The trouble with this drug is the stigma behind it. There is this idea that all illegal substances are bad. The only problem is that no good would come with out the research into drugs like fungus derivatives or methamphetamines. With out certain antibiotics or ADHD medication the medical community would be set back. So if no advancements are made than no cures are found. Even LSD has its good side.
This good side is the one that is not known to use completely, but that is because of the negative stigma that plagues the drug and others like it. “LSD is bad. It can make you go insane. It will make you see what’s not there.” These fears are not completely based in falsehoods but there is no real reason that with the proper research this drug could be a very helpful medication in the future. There is no real rationalization, in fact, for the idea that LSD is a hard core psychotropic. The idea that something so powerful is shunned away like bad odor is simply wrong. Not even the mass murdering atom-bomb was discarded, it was developed into energy. LSD has such potential which seems to be squandered for the simple idea that it is to scary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)