In Hollywood, it was only natural that psychiatric patients undergoing analytic treatment should have visions in wide screen, full color, and observe themselves from cloud nine. What was remarkable was that these phenomena—experienced by (among others) such glossy public personalities as Gary Grant and his third exwife, Betsy Drake—were reported in the cold, grey scientific columns of the A.M.A.'s Archives of General Psychiatry.
Reason for the many-colored recall of events dating back to the first year of life, and the accelerated recovery of about half the patients, was the use, in combination with orthodox psychotherapy, of one of the most potent drugs known to man: lysergic acid diethylamide. Trade-named Delysid by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, it is usually known by its early lab designation, LSD-25 (TIME, June 28, 1954 et seq.).
LSD first won fame for its power, in microscopic doses, to induce hallucinations and a psychotic state—both temporary—roughly parallel to those of schizophrenia. But several psychiatrists on both sides of the Atlantic have sought to turn the drug to advantage in treating real mental illnesses. Now, from the Psychiatric Institute of Beverly Hills, Drs. Arthur L. Chandler and Mortimer A. Hartman report using LSD as a "facilitating agent" in treating 110 patients.
"Treat Thyself." Instead of the normal 50-minute hour on the couch, a patient being "facilitated" by LSD must go through an elaborate routine. First is a screening to exclude the severely depressed, including potential suicides, and those adjudged in danger of a severe emotional breakdown (psychosis). Then, after four foodless hours, the patients are ensconced on a couch in a comfortable, carpeted room with classical music piped in. After the tasteless shot of as little as a millionth of an ounce of LSD in water, they lie down and are fitted with blinders (a "sleep shield"). To make sure that they shut out external stimuli, some also wear wax and cotton earplugs.
The drug's effects begin to show within 15 minutes to two hours; a single LSD-psychotherapy session may last five to six hours. Half an hour before it ends, the doctors give an antagonist drug (usually secobarbital or chlorpromazine) to cut short LSD's lingering effects; they make sure that the patient does not drive home and they often prescribe sedatives for the next couple of days.
Even with all these safeguards, say Drs. Chandler and Hartman, LSD treatment can still be dangerous unless the psychiatrist has had plenty of it himself. It is not enough for him to have taken it once or twice "to see what it's like"; they insist that the psychiatrist should have had 20 to 40 sessions with it.
While the drug takes effect, they report, the patient may show a variety of physical reactions: twisting, trembling, posturing, wringing his hands, laughing, rying, or curling up in the fetal position. He may feel unnaturally hot or cold, unduly sensitive to sound, tingling or numb, sexually aroused—or in severe pain. The pain, they believe, is often associated with the repressed memory of some injurious childhood experience, so it is an important factor in the psychotherapy.