Henri Ey et le LSD : analyse d’un pré-rapport de 1958 sur les expériences thérapeutiques menées à Bonneval

Objective

In 1958, a medical team at Bonneval Hospital, headed by the famous psychiatrist Henri Ey, decided to experiment with a promising new psychotropic substance: LSD. This was one of the first research projects of its kind in France. Until then, only a Parisian team, led by Jean Delay, had published similar essays. Yet Henri Ey's team never published their results. Only an internal report was written, then lost – or destroyed during the period when studies on psychedelics were halted – by the institution where it had been filed. After months of research, an older part of this report was found in an archive.

Methods

Despite the fact that the document is not complete (in particular, the self-experiments carried out by the medical team are missing), it is a unique source for understanding the French context of psychedelic research in the 1950s–1960s. The archive presents 19 cases of female patients, aged between 17 and 59, all with a low level of education. The dose was usually 100 to 150 μg and was mainly injected. Each case report describes the patient's characteristics, medical history and, in some cases, biographical details. Next comes the course of the session (which is unique, except for one patient who receives LSD twice), sometimes minute by minute, with a few comments from the doctors and transcriptions of some of the patient's words. Each report concludes with a brief analysis by the medical team of the session and its aftermath. This article analyzes the protocol used to carry out these trials, as well as the patients’ reactions to the treatment, and compares the method used to those developed at the same time in Anglo-American countries.

Results

In a very specific way, the context of therapeutic use of psychedelics in France stands in stark contrast to the methodological developments observed in other Western countries at the same time. The concepts of set and setting, which were being developed at the time, were not adopted by the French teams, who remained within the framework of shock therapy. Patients were given no information concerning the expected effects, no support to reassure them during the experience, and their requests for contact were systematically interpreted in erotic terms. Despite their panic (which could go as far as vomiting), some were left alone. Doctors also sought to refine what they knew about reactions to LSD, and did not hesitate to test their patients to observe their behavior, for example by trying to make them believe that the injection they had received did not actually contain any substance. Under these conditions, session reports were mostly tinged with anguish and even terror. Although the team reported one case of recovery and 4 cases of “slight improvement,” the majority of patients experienced a worsening of their condition as a result of the experience.

Discussion

This exceptional archive gives us close-up access to the practices and reflections of one of the most renowned French doctors of the 20th century, as well as, to some extent, to the testimonies of the patients who underwent these experiments.

Conclusion

Henri Ey's influence on French psychiatry at the time was paramount. His conclusions concerning the poor therapeutic value of LSD were to have a major impact on the way the French medical profession viewed the substance, leading to a slowing down of the process of reconsidering its properties that continues today.