History of Psychedelics and Trauma

Harvard FAS

This course examines the connected histories of psychedelic research and the modern understanding of trauma. To put it simply, psychedelic substrates such as LSD-25, psilocybin, and others have been used both to traumatize subjects (for military purposes, especially during the Cold War) and to treat trauma in veterans and other sufferers. Currently the United States is on the cusp of mainstreaming the use of psychedelics and related substances such as MDMA for the treatment of trauma, and…