Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD, acid, Lucy) is an hallucinogenic drug that can cause intense emotions and sensory perceptions. It rose to notoriety in the 1960s, when The Beatles and others claimed it gave them freedom, inspiration and – sometimes – peace; it became widely available across the world. But it also had - and still has – a place in psychiatry.
In the 1970s, abreaction (release of a previously repressed emotion, achieved through reliving the experience that caused it) was usually achieved using barbiturates. But some psychiatrists experimented with LSD.
At St Augustines, Dr H was rumoured to have specialised in psychoanalysis (though to my knowledge, this never extended to his NHS patients), and he used LSD in Oak House as part of a research project.
The patient would be shown into a room in a quiet part of the building, where Dr H injected them with LSD. The patient was then invited to lie down on a mattress on the floor. Dr H would pop in several times over the next few hours, and usually talk about aeroplanes or birds. My role, as an observer on overtime rates, was simply to ensure the patient’s safety.
To this day, I am convinced that Dr H just wanted a patient to think they could fly, but this never happened on the two occasions I observed. The patient just dozed and occasionally mumbled incoherently. Even when Dr H asked direct questions towards the end of the session, I never heard anything interesting or revealing (not that I could share it if I did!).
A search of PubMed reveals no articles by Dr H on his research.
Perhaps the dose was insufficient?
6 April 2025
