Observations on the Action of Sernyl — A New Psychotropic Drug
Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal June 1, 1961 T. A. Ban, J. J. Lohrenz, H. E. Lehmann 63 citations
When Sernyl was given intravenously to 55 randomly selected mental hospital patients at 0.07 mg/kg over 7 minutes, it activated their specific psychopathology more strongly than known psychotomimetics such as LSD-25 and mescaline sulfate. The experience was intensely unpleasant and frightening, with prominent preoccupation with death and body image disturbances. Physiological, neurological, psychological, and behavioral observations were collected alongside subjective reports. The feeling of impending death was reviewed as a symptom, and the lower brain stem was suggested as a possible site of action. Sernyl did not appear to be a true psychotomimetic or schizophrenomimetic drug, though some responses resembled primary schizophrenia symptoms. It showed no particular therapeutic value at that time.