R.D. Laing's psychiatry drew on two distinct Christian theologies: mystical theology, which he combined with psychoanalysis to offer a New Age psychotherapeutic path to authentic selfhood through metanoia, and corporate, incarnational theology, which drove his advocacy for social inclusion of the mentally ill via therapeutic communities. For Laing and other post-war British Christians, both a turn inward toward mysticism and self-sacralization and a turn outward toward social and political activism were strategies for coping with the decline of traditional Christianity.
Danilo Cargnello was a major figure in Italian phenomenological psychopathology, first writing on the subject in 1947-48. He introduced and spread Binswanger's ideas in Italy, emphasizing the anthropological nature of Daseinsanalyse. His book on experimental psychosis is a key psychopathological report of substance-induced psychosis. Keeping knowledge of such phenomenological authors alive is clinically and psychopathologically important, and their teachings should be integrated into professional training.
In the 1950s and 1960s, researchers at the Mayo Clinic conducted studies with psychedelic drugs, including LSD and psilocybin. Their work sometimes prioritized scientific advancement over the rights and safety of participants, raising ethical concerns about informed consent and equitable treatment. These historical problems continue to challenge contemporary psychedelic research.