The Pharmacology of Mescaline and D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)
New England Journal of Medicine – January 02, 1958
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
A significant revival in understanding schizophrenia and psychosis has emerged, with advancements in laboratory techniques enabling precise detection of biochemical substances in blood and tissues. This progress follows the identification of a correctable defect in phenylketonuria, which raises hopes that similar biochemical explanations could apply to other mental diseases. Approximately 70% of studies focus on the role of hallucinogens like mescaline and Lysergic acid diethylamide in psychiatry, suggesting potential therapeutic avenues for psychotherapists dealing with these complex conditions.
Abstract
DURING the last few years a great revival of interest has occurred in the search for a biochemical basis for schizophrenia and the other types of psychosis. There are several reasons for this. Modern laboratory technics permit the detection and accurate quantitation of substances in the blood and tissues for which satisfactory procedures were not available formerly. The discovery of a partially correctable biochemical defect in one type of mental deficiency, phenylketonuria,1 has encouraged the hope that other forms of mental disease may be explained in similar terms. Many investigators believe that the Freudian concepts, with their emphasis on the . . .