PSYCHEDELICS - Sciencemadness.org

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____________________________________________________ Psychedelics
ated spaces of unusually intimidating qualities, particularly
if other people were also in this space. The acoustical qualities
of such enclosed space heightened the effect of "tautness,"
and this quality became indistinguishable from psychic and
physical tensions.
The following quotation is an extract from a letter directed
to me, via Dr. Abram Hoffer, from a former patient who was
aware of my interest in environmental needs.
The Schizophrenic needs more space around him than other people
do. Everyone has a space around him which makes him feel free
and comfortable. This area varies with individual needs, involving
privacy more than floor space.
There is the space needed for freedom of movement—according to
the person's ability to balance; and another "space" which a person
needs to be able to relate his thoughts to what he is doing without
distraction. Environment is not just a "place." It is the feel of the
surroundings which can be changed by personalities exerting influence
over it or him.
A Schizophrenic needs extra buffers for his senses to keep him
comfortable in his surroundings. By buffers I mean the social and
emotional freedoms to co-ordinate the body to the environment in a
manner which protects freedom to make decisions without interference,
where personal property is concerned.
Other people cannot understand why the Schizophrenic is so fast
or so slow, so ambitious or so lazy, so happy or so sad, etc. First of
all, the disease is not caused by the environment. It is caused by a
biochemical lesion and has an inheritance factor. This does not mean
that the environment is not important. It becomes more so.
The above example, which is typical of the kinds of unique
experiences that may occur and differ with each individual,
indicates how the visual and otherwise-perceived environment
can be related to how one is at any given time. Under LSD,
I experienced complete interdependence between mind and
matter in terms of the perceived environment. Apparently,
this projection and injection of your "psyche" into the elements
around you is also typical of many of the mentally ill.
Yorkton Psychiatric Centre Design Considerations
Some of the insights I acquired under LSD were ap-
plied in designing the Yorkton Psychiatric Centre, which was
the first regional mental health center constructed under the
Saskatchewan Plan. The initially proposed circular form for