LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) - Treatment for Habitual Users

Treatment for Habitual Users

Drug experts generally agree that LSD is not an addictive substance. According to NIDA, "There is no evidence that LSD produces physical withdrawal" symptoms. However, it does cause psychological dependence, which is the belief that a person needs to take a certain substance in order to function. It also leads to tolerance, a condition in which higher and higher doses of a drug are needed to produce the original effect or high experienced. The tolerance does not last long. Typically, it disappears altogether if the user stops taking the drug for about a week. At that point, the full LSD experience will occur when another dose is taken.

While LSD may not cause physical withdrawal, use of the drug may result in lasting psychological effects—especially among people who have experienced emotional problems in the past. Individuals who showed signs of psychological instability prior to taking LSD are especially likely to have a bad trip with long-lasting negative consequences. Some users are overwhelmed by serious psychological trauma after taking the drug just once.

Use of LSD may contribute to outbreaks of psychosis (pronounced sy-KOH-sis), a severe mental disorder that makes it difficult for people to distinguish what is real from what is imagined. It can also lead to schizophrenia, another severe mental disorder. Schizophrenia makes it difficult for people to behave normally and function adequately in their everyday lives. "These effects may last for years," according to the NIDA research report "Hallucinogens and Dissociative Drugs." They can even "affect people who have no history or other symptoms of psychological disorder." Intensive psychotherapy and even hospitalization may be required in these cases.

A more common complaint from LSD users involves flashbacks. The cause of these sudden and persistent replays of an earlier trip has not yet been determined. As of 2005, there was no known treatment for them.

A Grateful Dead fan, known as a Deadhead, carries a mass of balloons through the stands at a concert as he experiences the effects of LSD. Henry Diltz/Corbis.
A Grateful Dead fan, known as a "Deadhead," carries a mass of balloons through the stands at a concert as he experiences the effects of LSD. © Henry Diltz/Corbis.