The use of psychedelic agents with autistic schizophrenic children

Introduction

Earlier exploratory work examined administering psychedelic agents to young children with severe psychological disturbance, but the reports are fragmentary, heterogeneous, and often unpublished. Mogar and colleagues note wide diversity across those early studies in the drug used, dose and dosing schedule, therapist experience and expectations, and the physical and psychological setting of administration. Patient samples also varied in age and symptom profile, and most investigations suffered from small sizes, subjective outcome criteria, and poor follow-up, factors that together have limited the field’s uptake and produced polarized controversy that curtailed publicly sanctioned research. This paper reviews and integrates seven independent studies in which psychedelic drugs were given to children diagnosed with autism or childhood schizophrenia. The stated aim is heuristic rather than conclusive: to summarise commonalities and differences across studies, identify likely determinants of inconsistent findings, and indicate directions for more definitive future research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in childhood disorders.