Editing LSD (section)

==Research==
It was initially explored for psychiatric use due to its structural similarity to serotonin and safety profile.<ref name="Nichols2018a" />

In the United States, the earliest research began in the 1950s. [[Albert Kurland]] and his colleagues published research on LSD's therapeutic potential to treat schizophrenia. In Canada, [[Humphry Osmond]] and Abram Hoffer completed LSD studies as early as 1952.<ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = Dyck E |date=1965 |title=Flashback: Psychiatric Experimentation with LSD in Historical Perspective. |journal=Canadian Journal of Psychiatry |volume=50 |issue=7}}</ref>  By the 1960s, controversies surrounding "hippie" counterculture began to deplete institutional support for continued studies.

Currently, several organizations—including [[Beckley Foundation|the Beckley Foundation]], [[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies|MAPS]], [[Heffter Research Institute]] and the [[Albert Hofmann]] Foundation—exist to fund, encourage and coordinate research into the medicinal and spiritual uses of LSD and related psychedelics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hofmann.org/ |title=The Albert Hofmann Foundation |access-date=September 27, 2007 |website=Hofmann Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719174636/http://www.hofmann.org/ |archive-date=July 19, 2019}}</ref> New clinical LSD experiments in humans started in 2009 for the first time in 35 years.<ref name="new research">{{cite web|title=LSD-Assisted Psychotherapy |website=MAPS |url=http://www.maps.org/research/psilo-lsd |access-date=October 16, 2013|url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511060129/http://www.maps.org/research/psilo-lsd|archive-date=May 11, 2018}}</ref> As it is illegal in many areas of the world, potential medical uses are difficult to study.<ref name=Nutt2009/>

In 2001 the [[United States Drug Enforcement Administration]] stated that LSD "produces no aphrodisiac effects, does not increase creativity, has no lasting positive effect in treating [[alcoholics]] or criminals, does not produce a "[[model psychosis]]", and does not generate immediate personality change."<ref name="LSD: The Drug"/> More recently, experimental uses of LSD have included the treatment of alcoholism,<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |vauthors=Bogenschutz MP |date=March 2013 |title=Studying the effects of classic hallucinogens in the treatment of alcoholism: rationale, methodology, and current research with psilocybin |journal=Current Drug Abuse Reviews |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=17–29 |pmid=23627783 |doi=10.2174/15733998113099990002}}</ref> pain and cluster headache relief,<ref name="PassieHalpernStrichtenoth2008" /><ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Jarow O |date=2024-05-15 |title=Psychedelics could treat some of the worst chronic pain in the world |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/5/15/24156372/psychedelics-chronic-pain-cluster-headache-medicine-lsd-psilocybin |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Vox |language=en-US |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525084603/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/5/15/24156372/psychedelics-chronic-pain-cluster-headache-medicine-lsd-psilocybin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=RFA-AG-25-004: Safety and Early Efficacy Studies of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy for Chronic Pain in Older Adults (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required) |url=https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AG-25-004.html |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=grants.nih.gov |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525084606/https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-AG-25-004.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and prospective studies on depression.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=LSD Therapy for Persons Suffering From Major Depression - Full Text View |url=https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03866252 |access-date=2021-03-09 |website=ClinicalTrials.gov |date=February 8, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611214216/https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03866252 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

A 2020 meta-review indicated possible positive effects of LSD in reducing psychiatric symptoms, mainly in cases of alcoholism.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Therapeutic Use of LSD in Psychiatry: A Systematic Review of Randomized-Controlled Clinical Trials |vauthors=Fuentes JJ, Fonseca F, Elices M, Farré M, Torrens M |pmid=32038315 |pmc=6985449 |journal=Frontiers in Psychiatry |doi=10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00943 |volume=10 |date=January 2020 |page=943 |doi-access=free}}</ref> There is evidence that psychedelics induce molecular and cellular adaptations related to neuroplasticity and that these could potentially underlie therapeutic benefits.<ref name="pmid36123427">{{cite journal |vauthors=Calder AE, Hasler G |title=Towards an understanding of psychedelic-induced neuroplasticity |journal=Neuropsychopharmacology |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=104–112 |date=January 2023 |pmid=36123427 |pmc=9700802 |doi=10.1038/s41386-022-01389-z |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="pmid35060714">{{cite journal |vauthors=Olson DE |title=Biochemical Mechanisms Underlying Psychedelic-Induced Neuroplasticity |journal=Biochemistry |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=127–136 |date=February 2022 |pmid=35060714 |pmc=9004607 |doi=10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00812}}</ref>

===Psychedelic therapy===
{{See also|Psychedelic therapy}}

In the 1950s and 1960s, LSD was used in psychiatry to enhance psychotherapy, known as [[psychedelic therapy]]. Some psychiatrists, such as [[Ronald A. Sandison]], who pioneered its use at [[Powick Hospital]] in England, believed LSD was especially useful at helping patients to "unblock" repressed subconscious material through other [[psychotherapeutic]] methods,<ref>Cohen, S. (1959). "The therapeutic potential of LSD-25". ''A Pharmacologic Approach to the Study of the Mind'', p. 251–258.</ref> and also for treating alcoholism.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Use of d-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide in the Treatment of Alcoholism |journal=Q. J. Stud. Alcohol |volume=20 |pages=577–590 |vauthors=Chwelos N, Blewett DB, Smith CM, Hoffer A |date=1959 |issue=3 |doi=10.15288/qjsa.1959.20.577 |pmid=13810249 |url=http://www.erowid.org/references/texts/show/1852docid1733 |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224135151/https://www.erowid.org/references/texts/show/1852docid1733 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |url-status=live}} Via {{cite web |title=Abstract |url=http://www.hofmann.org/papers/blewett_1.html |access-date=February 22, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203022019/http://www.hofmann.org/papers/blewett_1.html |archive-date=February 3, 2012 |website=Hofmann.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Frood A |date=2012-03-09 |title=LSD helps to treat alcoholism |journal=Nature News |url=http://www.nature.com/news/lsd-helps-to-treat-alcoholism-1.10200 |doi=10.1038/nature.2012.10200 |s2cid=137367650 |access-date=December 25, 2020 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308135250/https://www.nature.com/news/lsd-helps-to-treat-alcoholism-1.10200 |url-status=live}}</ref> One study concluded, "The root of the therapeutic value of the LSD experience is its potential for producing [[self-acceptance]] and self-surrender,"<ref name="Use of d-lysergic acid diethylamide"/> presumably by forcing the user to face issues and problems in that individual's psyche.

Two recent reviews concluded that conclusions drawn from most of these early trials are unreliable due to serious [[methodological]] flaws. These include the absence of adequate [[control groups]], lack of follow-up, and vague criteria for [[therapeutic]] outcome.  In many cases, studies failed to convincingly demonstrate whether the drug or the therapeutic interaction was responsible for any beneficial effects.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Vollenweider FX, Kometer M |title=The neurobiology of psychedelic drugs: implications for the treatment of mood disorders |journal=Nature Reviews. Neuroscience |volume=11 |issue=9 |pages=642–51 |date=September 2010 |pmid=20717121 |doi=10.1038/nrn2884 |s2cid=16588263}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Baumeister D, Barnes G, Giaroli G, Tracy D |title=Classical hallucinogens as antidepressants? A review of pharmacodynamics and putative clinical roles |journal=Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=156–69 |date=August 2014 |pmid= 25083275 |pmc=4104707 |doi=10.1177/2045125314527985}}</ref>

In recent years, organizations like the [[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies]] (MAPS) have renewed clinical research of LSD.<ref name="new research"/>

It has been proposed that LSD be studied for use in the therapeutic setting, particularly in anxiety.<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":6"/><ref name="clinicalLSD">{{cite journal |vauthors=Liechti ME |title=Modern Clinical Research on LSD |journal=Neuropsychopharmacology |volume=42 |issue=11 |pages=2114–2127 |date=October 2017 |pmid=28447622 |pmc=5603820 |doi=10.1038/npp.2017.86}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Psychedelics are transforming the way we understand depression and its treatment |date=April 20, 2021 |newspaper=The Guardian |vauthors=Carhart-Harris R |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/20/psychedelics-depression-treatment-psychiatry-psilocybin |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611212734/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/20/psychedelics-depression-treatment-psychiatry-psilocybin|archive-date=June 11, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2024, the FDA designated a form of LSD as a breakthrough therapy to treat [[generalized anxiety disorder]] which is being developed by [[MindMed Inc.|MindMed]].<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Terry K |date=2024-03-26 |title=FDA Opens the Door to Clinical Use of LSD |url=https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20240326/fda-opens-the-door-clinical-use-lsd |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=WebMD |language=en |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525075810/https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20240326/fda-opens-the-door-clinical-use-lsd |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Other uses===
In the 1950s and 1960s, some psychiatrists (e.g., [[Oscar Janiger]]) explored the potential effect of LSD on creativity. Experimental studies attempted to measure the effect of LSD on creative activity and aesthetic appreciation.<ref name="PMID6054248"/><ref name="PMID18562421">{{cite journal |vauthors=Sessa B |title=Is it time to revisit the role of psychedelic drugs in enhancing human creativity? |journal=Journal of Psychopharmacology |volume=22 |issue=8 |pages=821–827 |date=November 2008 |pmid=18562421 |s2cid=1908638 |doi=10.1177/0269881108091597}}</ref><ref name="PMID2723891">{{cite journal |vauthors=Janiger O, Dobkin de Rios M |title=LSD and creativity |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=129–134 |year=1989 |pmid=2723891 |doi=10.1080/02791072.1989.10472150 |url= http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/janiger_oscar/janiger_oscar.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003005533/http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/janiger_oscar/janiger_oscar.shtml |archive-date=October 3, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Stafford-Golightly">{{cite book |title=LSD, the problem-solving psychedelic |vauthors=Stafford PG, Golightly BH |year=1967 |url=http://www.psychedelic-library.org/staf3.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417105503/http://www.psychedelic-library.org//staf3.htm |archive-date =April 17, 2012}}</ref> In 1966 Dr. James Fadiman conducted a study with the central question "How can psychedelics be used to facilitate problem solving?" This study attempted to solve 44 different problems and had 40 satisfactory solutions when the FDA banned all research into psychedelics. LSD was a key component of this study.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scientific Problem Solving with Psychedelics – James Fadiman |website=[[YouTube]] |date=May 29, 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtL5fafpRKc |access-date=2023-05-02 |language=en |archive-date=September 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908090741/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtL5fafpRKc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Fadiman J |title=The psychedelic explorer's guide: safe, therapeutic, and sacred journeys |date=2018 |publisher=Tantor Media |isbn=978-1-9773-7476-9 |oclc=1031461623}}</ref>

Since 2008 there has been ongoing research into using LSD to alleviate anxiety for [[terminally ill]] cancer patients coping with their impending deaths.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="new research"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://bazonline.ch/wissen/medizin-und-psychologie/Psychiater-Gasser-bricht-sein-Schweigen/story/25732295|title=Psychiater Gasser bricht sein Schweigen|date=July 28, 2009 |newspaper=Basler Zeitung|access-date=June 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006122541/http://bazonline.ch/wissen/medizin-und-psychologie/Psychiater-Gasser-bricht-sein-Schweigen/story/25732295|archive-date=October 6, 2011}}</ref>

A 2012 meta-analysis found evidence that a single dose of LSD in conjunction with various alcoholism treatment programs was associated with a decrease in alcohol abuse, lasting for several months, but no effect was seen at one year. Adverse events included seizure, moderate [[confusion]] and agitation, nausea, [[vomiting]], and acting in a bizarre fashion.<ref name="Lysergic acid diethylamide LSD fo"/>

LSD has been used as a treatment for [[cluster headache]]s with positive results in some small studies.<ref name="PassieHalpernStrichtenoth2008" />

LSD is a potent [[psychoplastogen]], a compound capable of promoting rapid and sustained [[neural plasticity]] that may have wide-ranging therapeutic benefit.<ref name=Ly2018>{{cite journal |title=Psychedelics promote structural and functional neural plasticity |journal=Cell Reports |vauthors=Ly C, Greb AC, Cameron LP, Wong JM, Barragan EV, Wilson PC, Burbach KF, Soltanzadeh Zarandi S, Sood A, Paddy MR, Duim WC, Dennis MY, McAllister AK, Ori-McKenney KM, Gray JA, Olson DE |year=2018 |volume=23 |issue=11 |pages=3170–3182 |doi=10.1016/j.celrep.2018.05.022 |pmid=29898390 |pmc=6082376 }}</ref> LSD has been shown to increase markers of neuroplasticity in human brain [[organoid]]s and improve memory performance in human subjects.<ref>{{Cite news |vauthors=Dolan EW |date=2022-08-11 |title=Neuroscience research suggests LSD might enhance learning and memory by promoting brain plasticity |url=https://www.psypost.org/2022/08/neuroscience-research-suggests-lsd-might-enhance-learning-and-memory-by-promoting-brain-plasticity-63701 |access-date=2022-09-12 |newspaper=Psypost - Psychology News |language=en-US |archive-date=August 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826005449/https://www.psypost.org/2022/08/neuroscience-research-suggests-lsd-might-enhance-learning-and-memory-by-promoting-brain-plasticity-63701 |url-status=live }}</ref>

LSD may have analgesic properties related to pain in terminally ill patients and [[phantom pain]] and may be useful for treating inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis.<ref name=lsdpain>{{cite journal |vauthors=Whelan A, Johnson MI |title=Lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin for the management of patients with persistent pain: a potential role? |journal=Pain Management |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=217–229 |date=May 2018 |pmid=29722608 |doi=10.2217/pmt-2017-0068 |s2cid=19160293 |url=http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/4843/1/LysergicAcidDiethylamide%28LSD%29andPsilocybinAM-JOHNSON.pdf |access-date=August 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008201515/http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/4843/1/LysergicAcidDiethylamide%28LSD%29andPsilocybinAM-JOHNSON.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>