Self-Experimentations with Psychedelics Among Mental Health Professionals: LSD in the Former Czechoslovakia

This qualitative study (n=22) conducted a structured interview assessing the attitudes towards psychedelic self-experimentation amongst mental health professionals who took LSD (25-1000μg/70kg) legally between the years 1952–1974 in former Czechoslovakia. Most of the respondents reported positive effects in the domain of self-awareness and/or in their didactic ability to comprehend the world of mentally ill patients. None of the respondents reported any long-term negative effect of their self-experimentation.

Abstract

Introduction: This article enquires into auto-experiments with psychedelics. It is focused on the experiences and current attitudes of mental health professionals who experimented with LSD in the era of legal research of this substance in the former Czechoslovakia. The objective of the follow-up study presented was to assess respondents’ long-term views on their LSD experience(s). A secondary objective was to capture the attitude of the respondents toward the use of psychedelics within the mental health field.

Methods: A total of 22 individuals participated in structured interviews.

Results: None of the respondents reported any long-term negative effect and all of them except two recorded enrichment in the sphere of self-awareness and/or understanding to those with mental disorder(s). Although there were controversies with regard to the ability of preventing possible negative consequences, respondents were supportive towards self-experiments with LSD in mental health sciences.

Discussion: This article is the first systematic examination of the self-experimentation with psychedelics that took place east of the Iron Curtain.”

Authors: Petr Winkler & Ladislav Csémy

Summary

Introduction

Self-experiments are a prominent place in medicine, and psychologists and psychiatrists have used psychedelics to explore the psyche and phenomena associated with it.

Among the early experimenters with psychoactive compounds in medicine was J. E. Purkyne, who self-experimented with belladonna, nutmeg, opium, and other substances.

Arthur Heffter isolated mescaline in 1896 from the peyote cactus, and Weir Mitchell and Havelock Ellis reported on their experiences with mescaline in psychology and psychiatry. Heinrich Kluver introduced the concept of “miniature psychosis” and was influenced by research into experimental psychosis.

Svetozar Nevole self-experimented with mescaline in the former Czechoslovakia and described his findings in his books On Four-Dimensional Vision and On Sensory Illusions. Nevole believed that mescaline experiences could help people step out of their “calcified ways of perceiving” and into a “mind at large” where they could perceive more information. Huxley believed that ordinary consciousness acts as a “reducing valve” that constrains how one perceives stimuli.

The discoverer of LSD, Albert Hofmann, accidentally became intoxicated with the substance and three days later repeated this intoxication deliberately. A psychiatrist, Werner Stoll, tried LSD on himself at Hoffman’s recommendation.

Stanislav Grof articulated the significance of experiences with LSD for psychologists, psychiatrists, and researchers in these fields, and stated that LSD training sessions are an essential qualification for every LSD therapist. Another Czech researcher underlined the importance of the LSD experience for psychiatrists and psychologists from a didactic perspective, saying that it allows them to better empathize with the experiences of the sick they attend to. Milo Vojtechovsk, a prominent Czech LSD researcher, concluded that subjects in the mental health profession were more willing to cooperate, had a greater capacity for introspection, and a better understanding of uncommon psychopathological phenomena. Doctors who would administer LSD to others had to undergo an experience of their own, and had to complete five didactic auto-experiments under the guidance of an experienced psychotherapist.

There has been renewed interest in the field of human psychedelic research, with studies exploring the therapeutic potential of psilocybin to treat cancer-related end-of-life anxiety, smoking cessation, alcoholism, and obsessive compulsive disorder, as well as the effects of ayahuasca on personality, psychopathology, life attitudes, and neuropsychological performance.

There are no references in peer-reviewed journals to self-experiments by psychologists and psychiatrists, or to the training of persons who administer psychedelics to other people. Additionally, there is no literature about the individual experiences of psychologists and psychiatrists who administer psychedelics to others. Strassman speculates that self-experiments with psychedelics should once again be considered, and that the European approach of “going first” should be considered.

This study sought to determine whether self-experimentation with LSD by psychologists and psychiatrists during the legal research on this substance in the former Czechoslovakia had any long-term negative effects on participants, and how they would assess the long-term influence of their experience.

Respondents

Participants had to undergo at least one LSD auto-experiment in a clinical setting, and be a mental health professional or in training to become one.

Researchers contacted 29 mental health professionals in the former Czechoslovakia who had written articles on LSD. Five were unavailable due to time constraints, and one was recovering from surgery.

A total of 22 respondents, including 10 psychologists, 11 psychiatrists, and 1 psychotherapist, participated in the interview. All had undergone at least one auto-experiment with LSD.

Interview

Interviews were conducted with respondents in January 2008, and consisted of 30 open-ended questions. The questions were divided into four categories, and the results were analyzed in two steps: first, the primary author (PW) and his colleague analyzed data separately, then both analyses were compared, and discrepancies were identified and resolved.

The LSD Experience

All participants interviewed underwent a didactic or auto-gnostic LSD experience in the era of legal research in the former Czechoslovakia. The most common dose administered was 100 micrograms of LSD, and nine participants underwent one or two LSD sessions.

Participants stated that a sitter was present throughout their LSD sessions, and that feeling of safety, trust, not being interrupted, awareness that the experience is an experiment, and good mental health were important.

Respondents’ Evaluation of Long-Term Effects of LSD Experience(s)

Twenty of 22 respondents reported that their LSD experience had a long-term positive effect on their self-awareness.

One respondent was unable to judge whether the experience had any positive effect, and 19 responded that the experience allowed them to better understand people with mental illness.

Respondents’ Attitudes Toward the Use of LSD in the Mental Health Field

Although respondents were supportive of the use of LSD in the mental health field, they were cautious about the potential harm of the experience.

Discussion

The follow-up covered only a portion of those who were involved in research with psychedelics over 40 years ago, and many have passed away or relocated. The respondents’ self-reported reflections may have been biased.

Our study indicates that self-experiments with psychedelics are important for the training of psychologists and psychiatrists, as well as for the training of professionals who care for the mentally ill.

The potential for exploring human psyche with psychedelics seems to be very important. However, there is uncertainty amongst the professionals as to whether harm can be completely avoided, even with preparation. Johnson, Richards, and Griffiths (2008) have outlined safeguards to minimize the risks associated with psychedelic research in humans, but there has not been any article published in peer-reviewed journals on auto-gnostic and didactically oriented sessions with psychedelics carried out by psychologists and psychiatrists.

Future research could compare the outcomes of patients treated by psychedelic-experienced and psychedelic-inexperienced therapists. After all, Herb Kleber’s 1965 study into LSD therapy patients showed better outcomes when the therapist had an experience previously.

Further clinical research is needed on the introspective, mind exploration, and personal growth facilitated by psychedelic experience.

Conclusions

Since the discovery of LSD, numerous self-experiments have been conducted with mental health professionals. These experiments have led to a greater understanding of oneself and others.

Mental health professionals who self-experimented with LSD in a legal context reported enrichment to both their personal and professional lives. However, they reported that using LSD must be meticulously prepared and supervised.