Old Hollywood's Elite Were the Last to Use LSD for Therapy

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/cary-grant-lsd-old-hollywood-289

by dangerman • 10 years ago

68 22 10 years ago

pmoriarty• 10 years ago

For a little balance to this sordid, lurid, and sensationalistic account of psychedelic therapy, I'd recommend reading "The Secret Chief Revealed"[1] and Cary Grant's own accounts of his LSD experiences.[2]

An excerpt from the latter:

  "I learned may things in the quiet of that small room. I learned to
  accept the responsibility for my own actions, and to blame myself
  and no one else for circumstances of my own creating. I learned that
  no one else was keeping me unhappy but me"

[1] - https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Chief-Revealed-Myron-Stolaroff...

[2] https://spectregroup.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/cary-grants-th...

kbd• 10 years ago

That excerpt from Grant is in the original article...

dominotw• 10 years ago

I learned to accept the responsibility for my own actions, and to blame myself and no one else for circumstances of my own creating. I learned that no one else was keeping me unhappy but me

Do you really need LSD to come to such mundane conclusions. It looks like something my uncle would post on his fb wall.

underwater• 10 years ago

There is a big difference between posting a motivational quote on Facebook and internalising it to the extent that it sounds like Cary Grant did.

paloaltokid• 10 years ago

Are you living with this conclusion in your own life? Informing all of your decisions? I would venture that the answer is no.

77pt773• 10 years ago

It looks like something my uncle would post on his fb wall.

And he would probably do it with an inspirational picture in the background. With this guy you don't even get that.

This just adds to my observations regarding people that say LSD and other psychedelics give you insight.

I disagree, they make you feel like you've achieved insight when in reality you've achieved nothing.

It's all fake.

vertex-four• 10 years ago

I will note that these conclusions are neither mundane nor universally correct. They certainly fit in with certain ideology which Hacker News and the startup scene like, but I could never lead a fulfilling life without the input and love of others and, equally, my devotion to them - and I am not solely talking about family and romantic partners.

On the other hand, there are indeed certain things which are my domain alone. But if I fulfilled these - had a house, a dream job, security of income - I would still be unhappy without others around me, which is not under my control, nor should it be.

hutch34• 10 years ago

I can say that the difference between reading or studying quotes such as these (which I did, and still enjoy doing) and actually looking at myself without bias and accepting those artificial hurdles that I had placed on myself with the aid of LSD was astounding.

The best way I can describe it is that it was a positive, insightful, and compassionate change in my entire perspective rather than just 'Yes, of course my actions are my only limitation.'

The extreme substance abuser can be told by the most caring and compassionate friends and family how they can better themselves, they can be strong-armed and forced to go through rehab, they can even seek out their own counselling by professionals, but none of this may stick or actually remove those harmful actions or desires as much as entire change of perspective and reflection on themselves with complete acceptance. They have to really, truly find it for themselves, rather than just be told.

I think the most helpful and profound difference between regular counselling and basic self-help practices for myself and the experiences that I had while on LSD, was the fact that I experienced the 'ego-death', and looked at myself objectively, rather than with all of the baggage and strings I had attached to the negative things that I was drawn to. I was able to shed my insecurities by understanding what was important to myself, rather than what was important to those around me (even those who had my same interests in mind).

PhasmaFelis2• 10 years ago

What do you gain, personally, from running down something that works for someone else?

PhasmaFelis2• 10 years ago

What do you gain, personally, from running down methods that worked for other people? Apparently some people _do_ need LSD to come to such "mundane" conclusions. Does that make them less valid?

77pt773• 10 years ago

"At the age of 53, after three unsuccessful marriages, either something was wrong with me or, obviously, with the whole sociological and moralistic concepts of our civilization."

Talk about a loaded assertion.

"Any man who experiments with something that cannot benefit himself, or add to his happiness, and that of his fellow man in turn, is a fool and a menace to society."

Really?! No wonder this guy was miserable. It must be terrible going through life having to endure his company.

contingencies• 10 years ago

I used to work in Beverly Hills and live on Mulholland. This article was therefore interesting as a dash of history, however I was disturbed to learn Wikipedia has no page yet on the apparent institution: "Psychiatric Institute of Beverly Hills". Found http://www.bizapedia.com/ca/PSYCHIATRIC-RESEARCH-INSTITUTE-O... though, and the address is just off Coldwater Canyon.

xyzzy4• 10 years ago

If you want to trip out, just take a lot of cough syrup (DXM) and a lot of Benadryl (DPH). You can buy both over the counter. You don't need LSD.

https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/DXM_%26_DPH_in_combination

1propyl• 10 years ago

Please do not take this recommendation.

That is certain to make you face a lot of uncomfortable irrealities, but let's not conflate that kind of "being tripped out" with the sort of introspective, lucid and refrshing experience LSD can give one.

(Edit: let's be clear, DXM+DPH is taking a very dirty but powerful dissociative and a schizophrenia inducing deleriant. That is not a road that leads to self analysis and catharsis, but paranoia and confrontation.)

You could "trip out" on DXM and DPH. I've done it more times than I ought to have. But it's a far cry from the beautiful mind state that is "tripping".

trill1• 10 years ago

What is your motivation for saying something like this? You can't possibly believe that LSD and DXM create a similar experience.

Everyone should be careful with DXM. Even after extracting the acetaminophen, noxious dyes, and stimulants that sometimes accompany DXM in cough syrup, it can make you very, very sick. I took around 1000 mg as a stupid teenager and violently puked bile with blood streaming out of my nose, burst thousands of blood vessels around my eyes and on my face, and then fell down a full flight of stairs. Not a great day, and not a great first drug experience.

Bud• 10 years ago

See also this account of how ketamine is proving to be profoundly, shockingly effective in treatment of chronic depression:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-one...

Old Hollywood's Elite Were the Last to Use LSD for Therapy

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