Is LSD use only co-incidental with the onset of Schizophrenia ?
In examining the research on the use of LSD by people suffering from Schizophrenia, Stone (1973) argues that the use of LSD may simply accompany obvious and pre-existing Schizophrenia. The high incidence of substance use amongst individuals diagnosed as Schizophrenic, as well as the first onset of Schizophrenia, usually occur in the ages when individuals mostly experiment with drugs. As Henderson and Glass (1994) write, since LSD is used by the same age group in which early onset Schizophrenia appears, the two may be only co-incidentally associated. Schneir and Siris (1987) have reviewed the literature on psychoactive substance use by individuals diagnosed as Schizophrenic. The studies reviewed show that this group uses significantly more hallucinogens (LSD etc) than in control groups. Johnston et al (1987) quantified this hallucinogen use by the mentally ill population as 11.45 %, which is substantially greater than in the general population (3.6%). (See Table 7) TABLE SEVEN PREVALENC
