The influence of therapeutic doses of the corticosteroids on the mood is well known. More frequently a euphoric rather than a depressed state is encountered. The psychic effect of drugs like cortisone and prednisone has not systematically been investigated in terms of their role in the therapy of illness in general, or in mental illness itself, although some important data are available.1-3
This report deals with the result of 49 experiments designed to test the effect of prednisone on the model psychosis produced by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) in man. It has been found that prednisone administered for three to seven days proir to the patient’s taking LSD either reduced or eliminated anxiety due to the drug, without diminishing other symptoms usually induced by LSD, as measured by a questionnaire previously used in this series of experiments.
Method
The doses of both prednisone and LSD-25 were