Re: MAPS: Re: Psychedelics and SAD

["Mike D." <md03@xxxxxxxxx>]

A few more thoughts about LSD use leading to mental illness.

First, keep in mind that mental illness and substance use are
considered "comorbid" disorders.  The frequency of substance use in
mentally ill people is much higher than the average "healthy"
individual.  Does this represent a causal link?  Most clinicians
think the answer is "no".  The misuse of substances in mental illness
can often be explained more simply as a byproduct of the illness
itself, e.g. as due to loss of social and family support, poor
impulse control, and the desire to "self medicate".

Second, most "normal" LSD use that I've heard described is of an
acute nature.  I have rarely talked with people who describe using
LSD "daily" for periods longer than a few days.  This make sense:
LSD in most people has a profound tolerance such that daily use
becomes a waste of time after 2-3 days (i.e. you take more but get
little or no effect).

However, I've often interviewed psychiatric patients who claim to
have used LSD daily for weeks or months at a time.

Thus, it is my theory that someone who claims to have used LSD (or
other strong psychedelics) daily for an extended period of time may
be unusual -- perhaps they had a pre-existing mental illness that
affected the normal checks & balances that seem to make extended LSD
taking rather noxious for most people, or perhaps their brain is just
wired differently in a biochemical sense.  My theory is that this
brain difference predates the LSD use, which means the correct
interpretation of such data would be "Schizophrenia leads people to
use LSD strangely".

One final thought:  Although LSD can cause an acute "psychotic"
state, the nature of this psychosis is quite different from what is
typically seen in schizophrenia.  For example, auditory
hallucinations are a hallmark of schizophrenia but rare in LSD use,
whereas the opposite pattern is seen with visual hallucinations.
--
Michael Diehr, Ph.D.

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