Lysergic acid diethylamide, aka LSD, has been a potent psychedelic hallucinogen for decades, but it isn’t nearly as stigmatized as it once.Relegated to the cultural fringe during the 1960s, recent clinical studies indicate that the drug shows promising therapeutic benefits for conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But whether it’s taken recreationally or under medical supervision, LSD requires a lot of careful planning to ensure the safest experience possible.

To better prepare for the future of psychedelic treatments, researchers including a team at Harvard University are looking back at one of the first how-to’s on the subject. As they explained in a study recently published in the journal Psychedelics, some of LSD’s earliest adopters were already offering solid advice nearly 60 years ago.

“As a public health professional, I believe we need to protect these users,” Daniel Kruger, a study co-author and psychologist at New York State’s University of Buffalo, said in a statement. “When [this] pamphlet was published, there were few resources for novice users.”

The $1 pamphlet, “Session Games People Play: A Manual for the Use of LSD,” was written in 1967 by a young psychedelics pioneer Timothy Leary follower named Lisa Bieberman. While Leary often advocated for a wholehearted embrace of LSD, Bieberman took a more pragmatic approach to experimentation. “Session Games People Play” serves as a navigation guide for psychedelics, in which “games” refers to some common tendencies that LSD newcomers should probably ignore.

“Bieberman highlights a number of games…such as running away from your companions, and believing that you have unlocked the deepest truths of the universe and need to tell the world about them,” said Kruger.

Instead, the pamphlet’s author suggested trip-takers remain near people they enjoy and trust the most. They should also avoid public excursions while consciously attempting to sidestep negative emotions.

Most of Bieberman’s tips appear to remain true nearly six decades after publishing her guide. Kruger partnered with researchers from Harvard Divinity School as well as multiple Michigan-based psychedelic and mental health organizations on a survey of nearly 600 self-professed users of LSD, MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin mushrooms (aka magic mushrooms), and other similar substances. The volunteers either strongly or somewhat agreed with 18 out of 19 advice points in the pamphlet. Strongly endorsed suggestions included emphasizing interpersonal trust, extensive preparation, remembering that the psychedelic session is a temporary experience. 

The only potentially unnecessary advice? Survey respondents didn’t necessarily agree or disagree with “Avoid looking in the mirror.”

“[These are] principles thought to be foundations to safe and meaningful psychedelic experiences in clinical research,” added Kruger.

Since the 1960s, Oregon and Colorado have legalized state-regulated parameters for therapeutic uses, but psychedelics are still illegal across the United States. However, Kruger argued the era of prohibition may soon come to an end.

“It’s a freight train coming down the tracks,” he said. “So, we better have a train station to safely load passengers into this train or else they’re just going to try to jump on board while this train is moving.”

Knowing this, he hopes his team’s initial review can help guide psychedelic users and their medical advisers see the best results possible—just as Bieberman intended in 1967.

“Although the term ‘harm reduction’ was decades from entering the vernacular… ‘Session Games’ and Bieberman’s larger collection of work are precursors to this approach,” said Kruger.

 

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