LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide is a name you are familiar with or maybe you are not but thank goodness you are here. This drug is a psychedelic, and its altering mind properties was discovered by mistake which had to do with three players, a mice, a bicycle and milk. LSD didn't just become a thing like that, there were several tests to look into how it could be used to control minds and even agencies like the CIA were active on it but over the years scientists have started to look into how this medication can be used to treat health concerning conditions like addiction, eating disorder, and depression.
We cannot mention LSD without discussing about our fungi friends and it began in the 1800s with a mysterious illness that came with disturbing symptoms like burning sensation in their limbs, gangrene, vomiting, convulsion, sore in hands and legs, irrational behaviors, and hallucination. This mysterious illness claimed the life of thousands of people and those at the time believed it was a divine punishment for people's sins. Today we know it is ergotism and the symptoms can be experienced after eaten rye, barley, wheat, and oat contaminated with the Ergot fungus.
What most of the people did with the grain was to make bread and so, if the grains were contaminated, they were going to cause the people who ate the bread to suffer from the condition. That said, people didn't just start knowing about ergot at this time, midwives in 1000BC used it to accelerate birth, also people in the Ancient Greeks used it intentionally in a cocktail known as Eleusinian kykeon to increase fun in their festivals.
In 1930, Dr Albert Hofmann along with his team were making medical useful compound out of ergot and were able to isolate Lysergic Acid after which he matched different molecules to the compound he had found to see if he could find anything medically useful. In his mixes, he got to LSD-25 and it didn't give them what they were looking so the team let it go but Hofmann was interested in it. When he took the compound and synthesized it again, he began to feel weird with vertigo and restlessness coupled with overactive imagination and bliss. This was because he had mistakenly allowed the LSD-25 into his mouth.
This chemical actually interacts with the brain and it is possible because the brain interacts in a chemical manner what we know as neurotransmitters of which one of the most important one is known as Serotonin which can have effect on a lot of things including mood, behavior, appetite, sex drive, memory, sleep, and so on. LSD binds with the brain serotonin receptors more than serotonin itself and when it does so just like other psychedelics, it can cause people to experience phenomenons like synesthesia.
Due to politics and people misusing the drug, the US government soon declare LSD a Schedule 1 substance which means it has a high potential for abuse and it is not currently accepted for medical use. Till date it is yet to be accepted by the science community but then, studies are being done on its effect to treat depression, anxiety and other mood related neurological conditions and studies have shown that it has better results compared to antidepressants but we are yet to fully pass the strict laws and conditions to making it useful in the medical world.
Reference
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/the-accidental-discovery-of-lsd/379564/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/002822439502104Z
https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2017/has-ergot-altered-events-world-history
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/ergo
https://www.cochrane.org/CD015383/CENTRALED_psychedelic-assisted-therapy
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-psychedelic-drugs-may-help-depression
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2022/02