BBC All in the Mind has just kicked off a new series with an excellent special edition on the latest developments in LSD research and therapy, and with a slew of new presenters.
The programme examines the science of how LSD acts on the mind and brain, as well as research on the use of psychedelics to treat cluster headaches and mental distress.
It‚Äôs nearly 40 years since LSD was made illegal, but now there’s growing scientific interest in studying hallucinogenic drugs. In the 50s LSD was believed to be a wonder drug and used widely in psychiatry to treat conditions from depression to addiction.
In this week’s programme Claudia finds out about the new research underway using psychedelics, and asks whether modern psychiatry is really the place for drugs like LSD, magic mushrooms and Ecstasy.
There are now three presenters to replace the previous All in the Mind frontman, Raj Persaud.
They include: Claudia Hammond, a psychology lecturer, author and past presenter of the excellent BBC series Emotional Rollercoaster (still archived online); Clinical psychologist and writer Tanya Byron, who was in a number of acclaimed child management programmes; and psychiatrist Kwame McKenzie, who is currently assistant editor at the British Journal of Psychiatry and a lecturer in psychiatry.
The diverse set of presenters should bring a fresh perspective on current mind and brain issues, and I’m hoping the programme is going to involve more in-depth whole programme discussions, as has been demonstrated this week.
The audio of the LSD programme will be archived online later today. I’ll update this page to link to it when it arrives online.
The audio of the programme is now online and linked below.
Link to BBC All in the Mind website.
Realaudio of programme audio.
Mind Hacks 