                              LSD references 
[...only the conclusions of this paper are made publicly available via
 anonymous ftp, interested persons should visit their libraries...]

(Originally printed in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Vol 21(1),
Jan-Mar 1989).

LSD and Creativity  (reproduced w/o permission)
------------------

Oscar Janiger, M.D. (Department of Psychiatry, University of
California, Irvine, California)

Marlene Dobkin de Rios, Pd. D. (Department of Anthropology, California
State University, Fullerton, California)

CONCLUSION

Contrary to popular belief, most artists find it possible to exercise
some technical proficiency, with varying degrees of success, under the
influence of LSD. This seems to improve with repeated experiences. The
artistic productions are not ipso facto inferior to those performed in
ordinary states of consciousness. However, in evaluating the reports
and follow-up questionnaires, they are often judged by the artists to
be more interesting or even aesthetically superior to their usual mode
of expression. A review of the follow-up information shows that, in
many instances, the artist in the series described herein felt that
the LSD experience pruduced some desirable lasting change in their
understanding of their work, which continued to incluence the form and
direction of their artistic development. A so-called confusional or
disorganized phase may represent a creative crisis in which the artis
struggling, to maintain his/her traditional approach, finally reaches
another level of integration and expression.

These metamorphoses all contribute to the artists' convictions that
they are able to create new meanings in an emergent world. It is of
special interest to note that many of those elements that are
universally reported under the influence of LSD are those features
traditionally associated with heightened artistic creativity. The
ultiamte explanation for these changes may lie in a biochemical basis
of perception and/or the cultural history of the individual.