Swiss Shrink Revives LSD Research

He's a candidate for borderline personality disorder

(NEWSER) - If young Anakin Skywalker had gotten himself into see a good psychotherapist, he might have steered clear of the dark side and the Darth Vader get-up. The Star Wars prequels show that Anakin suffered from borderline personality disorder, say French psychiatrists. (They've made the argument before, but will buttress it in an upcoming issue of Psychiatry Research.) More»

Hallucinogens may help depression, cancer patients

(NEWSER) - Scientists and physicians are looking again at various hallucinogens for aiding people suffering from mental illness and other problems. After a '60s backlash against the drugs, researchers are delving into their possible benefits. One retired clinical psychologist attributes his 6-hour trip on psilocybin in a Johns Hopkins lab to curing his depression. He ranks it among the most meaningful events of his life, reports the New York Times . Researchers are gathering in San Jose, Calif., this week to discuss the drugs in the largest conference on psychedelics in the US in 40 years. More»

Journalist claims to have solved 'Cursed Bread' mystery

(NEWSER) - The mysterious madness that overtook a French village in 1951 was the result of a CIA experiment, according to an American investigative journalist. At least 5 people died and dozens more were institutionalized after mass insanity and hallucinations swept through Pont-Saint-Esprit. The incident was called Le Pain Maudit—Cursed Bread—after authorities came to believe the problems were caused by a psychedelic mold that had contaminated the flour. More»

(NEWSER) - The parallels between Twitter and LSD are just too trippy for blogger Phil Baumann to ignore. “What was once a side project, a sort of laboratory experiment,” he writes, “has now seeped into the public domain and everyday more and more people are tripping tweeting.” Highlights from his top 25 ways that Twitter resembles LSD: More»

New treatment using currents can help when meds don't

(NEWSER) - People with major depression that doesn't respond to medication may get relief from a therapy that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the cortex, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a clinical trial, transcranial magnetic stimulation worked in about a quarter of patients—about twice the success rate of patients on a placebo. More»