Humphry F. Osmond, 86; Came Up With Term 'Psychedelic'
By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 18, 2004; Page B07
Humphry F. Osmond, 86, the British-born psychiatrist who introduced the
word "psychedelic" to describe the effects of hallucinatory drugs, died
of cardiac arrhythmia Feb. 6 at his daughter's home in Appleton, Wis.
Dr. Osmond coined "psychedelic" while conducting controversial studies
on schizophrenia, a mental disorder, and alcoholism.
Starting in the late 1940s, he worked on the theory that mind-altering
substances mirror the perceptions of a schizophrenic. He administered
mescaline and lyser gic acid diethylamide (LSD) to normal volunteers --
including doctors -- so they could describe their experiences while
drugged.
With that information, he said he felt doctors could better understand
and care for their schizophrenic patients. He saw this as a vital
approach in an era when comparably less was known about the disorder.
Sensing little support for his work in England, Dr. Osmond left in 1951
to accept an appointment at a psychiatric hospital in Weyburn,
Saskatchewan. It was a desolate place, but he found ample research
funds
from the Canadian government and the Rockefeller Foundation. There also
was a desperate need for experts to treat the mounting cases of
schizophrenia and alcoholism.
He and a few Canadian colleagues, notably Abraham Hoffer, had
hypothesized that schizophrenia was the result of a body producing its
own toxic compound similar to mescaline; that, they said, caused
hallucinations. They focused on dietary-based treatments, such as
adding
niacin to their patients' diets.
They extended their LSD research to alcoholics on the theory that
chronic drinkers quit only after experiencing the hallucinations of
delirium tremens. The doctors decided to use LSD to induce similar
visions, and they claimed promising results.
Among the followers of this work was Aldous Huxley, author of "Brave
New
World." Huxley asked if he could be a test subject. Dr. Osmond agreed
but later said he did not "relish the possibility, however remote, of
finding a small but discreditable niche in literary history as the man
who drove Aldous Huxley mad."
Huxley, who found the experience mystical and revelatory, wrote about
his mescaline use in the book "The Doors of Perception" (1954). He and
Dr. Osmond maintained a correspondence, the result of which was the
scientist's coining the word "psychedelic" in 1956.
Preparing for a conference, Dr. O smond asked Huxley's advice about
describing the effects of mescaline. Huxley replied with
"phanerothyme,"
from Greek words meaning "to show" and "the spirit." He also
contributed
a rhyme: "To make this mundane world sublime / Take half a gram of
phanerothyme.''
Dr. Osmond instead chose "psychedelic," from the Greek for mind or soul
and a form of the verb "to show," deloun. He added in a note back to
Huxley: "To fathom Hell or soar angelic / Just take a pinch of
psychedelic.''
He told the New York Academy of Sciences in 1957: "I have tried to find
an appropriate name for the agents under discussion: a name that will
include the concepts of enriching the mind and enlarging the vision. .
.
. My choice, because it is clear, euphonious and uncontaminated by
other
associations, is psychedelic, mind-manifesting."
Years later, he said he disapproved of Timothy Leary, the
counterculture
icon who encouraged people to "turn on, tune i n, drop out." To Dr.
Osmond, drugs were "mysterious, dangerous substances and must be
treated
respectfully."
Humphry Fortescue Osmond was a native of Surrey, England. He was doing
his residency in psychiatry at St. George's Hospital in London when he
read about Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann's pioneering work on the
effects
of LSD. That inspired Dr. Osmond's early work with schizophrenia.
He later worked for institutes and hospitals in New Jersey and Alabama
and retired in the early 1990s.
Survivors include his wife, Amy Roffey "Jane" Osmond, whom he married
in
1947, of Appleton; three children; a sister; and five grandchildren.