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Effects on creativity are unclear. LSD subjects create what seem to be masterpieces or make momentous discoveries that are later seen as commonplace or nonsensical. But those who are by nature creative may get a fillip to their creativity through the sense of release from narrow, binding reality. As for whether hallucinogens might be used to establish mind control over the masses, Dr. Cohen dismisses this as a bogy. But he is deeply concerned over the possible use of such drugs in chemical warfare.
A Bottle of Bliss. "Is the LSD state a model of madness, a touch of schizophrenia, or is it a short cut to Zen satori, nirvana for the millions?" asks Dr. Cohen. His answer:, it is certainly not schizophrenia, and it differs from a true psychosis much as a wooden model bridge differs from the Golden Gate. Conflicting reports of diametrically opposite results with LSD are difficult to explain. Some subjects found the experience as horrible as any psychosis and would have no more of it; others, with the same dose, could not get too much. "Was it possible that out of the same bottle madness and supernal bliss could be poured?"
It was. Dr. Cohen's explanation is that if a subject takes LSD under laboratory conditions with impersonal attending technicians, if he expects to go temporarily mad and if he gets no reassurance, a psychotic state is likely to occur. But in a more relaxed situation, with hopeful expectations of his own, the subject will probably have a ball. Dr. Cohen notes that this is true of other drugs: "From the same jug of whiskey come tears for one and laughter for another."
"Majestic Quietude." After an experiment Cohen himself conducted, a doctor wrote: "I had read that a number of people have a painful catatonic withdrawal. I fancied that I would be a catatonic . . . The first change was one of pleasant relaxation. This increased to an indescribable mood of great calm and peace. The problems and strivings, the worries and frustrations of everyday life vanished; in their place was a majestic, sunlit, heavenly inner quietude ... I seemed to have finally arrived at the contemplation of the eternal truth." The doctor suffered numbness and shivering so severe that he needed three blankets. But he accepted these discomforts as a small price for admission to nirvana. And he suffered no catatonia.
At the opposite extreme was a woman psychologist, ordinarily bright and friendly, who had given no thought to a possible catatonic reaction. She had one so severe that Dr. Cohen says "it would have been difficult for a psychiatrist to pick her out of a room full of female catatonic schizophrenics."