Posted by Q (198.64.206.92) on July 08, 2000 at 11:18:32:
Due to the discussion of LSD as a workable CH treatment and the possible conflicts with my overall recovery program, I asked my sponsor group for advice.
I was surprised to find support for the use of LSD by the recovery group, especially in the older more sober group. It seems Bill W, AA's founder, used LSD to fight depression, with success.
Last night I was given an AA-approved book, "Pass It On", which devotes a whole chapter to Bill W's use of LSD. This is AA's official biography of the organization's founder. The reading is facinating.
It seems he quit public support of LSD in order to maintain AA unity, but he himself never stood against it.
Further, it seems, that his depression was blamed on an incompete spiritual conversion, a situation he sought to remedy with assistance from LSD. Within a year of starting use of LSD, his depression left never to return.
My concern with making this post on CHMB is to drag the topic into the sunlight for those in recovery considering the LSD treatment. I do not want to start a discussion on the difference between organic and psychological depression, nor on the linkage between depression and CH.
I wonder if someone in the NY City area could go to AA's GSO office to investigate what AA has on-file about CH. The number of CH'ers in recovery is too great for them to be ignorant of the condition. I think this is the kind of thing which would require a personal visit.