Case Study: Three Women Who Snorted Overdose of LSD Improved Physical, Mental Conditions

The Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs published cases of three women who overdosed on LSD but showed improvements in their physical and mental conditions after. The experiences, which may seem unique may help open up a resurgence of research into the use of psychedelic substances for the treatment of various mental health conditions.

The author of the case reports, Mark Haden, a psychiatrist and executive director of Canada's Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, said that no clinical trial and publications are exploring the positive result of high doses of LSD. A naturalistic setting of overdose cases is required to understand the effects of extremely high dosages of psychedelics. 

The Cases of Snorting Overdose 

The first case 46-year woman who was experiencing pain from her damaged feet and ankle because of Lyme Disease in her early 20s. She took 55 milligrams of what she thought was cocaine but was LSD in pure powder form. The normal recreation dose was 0.1 milligrams. The woman reportedly blacked out, vomited frequently for the next twelve hours. Ten hours later, she was able to hold a conversation.

The next day, the foot pain was gone, prompting her to stop using morphine for five days. When the pain returned, she controlled it with a lower dose of morphine and a microdose of LSD every three days. Two years after, she stopped using LSD and morphine and had no withdrawal symptoms. Her case reports that she experienced an increase in anxiety and depression.

A 15-year-old girl with bipolar disorder took LSD ten times more than the normal dose of the drug and showed tremendous improvement in her mental disorder after. When attending a party, the supplier of liquid LSD prepared 1,000 mcg per glass instead of 10 mcg. She drank one glass and leftover drops from two others. She was reported to have behaved erratically for the next 6.5 hours and was later lying in a fetal position with her arms and fists clenched tightly.

In the hospital the next morning, when her father visited her, she said: "It's over." Her father thought she meant LSD overdose but she later clarified that she meant her bipolar illness is gone and she felt like having a "normal brain." She did not exhibit symptoms of bipolar disorder for 13 years until she gave birth and experienced postpartum depression, the case study reveals.

The third case was a woman at the same party drank and half a glass of the LSD-dosed water and subsequently found out she was pregnant. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy, now 18 years old. The baby has not shown any impaired development.  

A resurgence on research

Lately, research on this area is making a comeback as scientists are taking a deeper look at the role of hallucinogens to patients that are resistant to treatment of mental conditions such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer-related anxiety, addictions, and even anorexia.

These cases, expert warns are unique and have warned the public against experimenting with the drug which is considered illegal in the US and UK.