The Benefits of Using Hallucinogenic Drugs in Modern Medicine and Their Positive Effects on Psychological Disorders
Eloisa Underhill
Depaul University
In the United States addictive disorders and psychological disorders are extremely common. The lifetime rates for the United States population of nicotine use disorder, 25%; alcohol use disorder, 12%; and illicit drug use disorder, 10.3%; (Bogenschutz & Johnson, 2016). The lifetime rates for the United States population of any disorder, 46.4%; anxiety disorders, 28.8%; mood disorders, 20.8&; substance use disorders, 14.6% (Kessler et al., 2005). All of the addictive disorders are preventable and treatable but are the leading cause of death and disability not only in the United States but also around the world and half of the United States will meet the criteria for a DSM IV disorder sometime in their lifetime (Kessler et al., 2005). Ever since the 1800’s when mescaline was introduced and described there has been a huge scientific interest in hallucinogenic drugs to treat substance use disorders. If Hallucinogenic drugs could potentially benefit the individual during therapy then something should be done to make these drugs available in therapy. In this paper I will review why there has been such a
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purpurea. In an uncontrolled setting the effects of LSD can be unexpected but under a controlled setting the effects are positive (Passie, 2008). An investigation of LSD started because of the many similarities between schizophrenic and drug induced LSD behavior (Rubin, 1957). These set of investigations were known as “experimental psychosis”. This literature provided a lot of information regarding the pharmacology of LSD. Knowing how LSD affects the brain provides a better understanding of how it could benefit individuals when paired with psychotherapy. Although the research on LSD is extensive there is still a lot that still isn’t known about this