Sign In   |    New User?   Sign Up Psychology that makes sense. Sign up for full access to Psychologist World Psychologist World

Search Psychologist World:

Home Psychology Issues Truth Drugs Truth Drugs - Psychologist World

The Truth about Truth Drugs

What is a "truth drug" and what drugs are used?
 

A truth drug is a drug used for the purposes of obtaining accurate information from an unwilling subject, most often by a police, intelligence, or military organization on a prisoner.

Drugs used for the purpose of obtaining the truth from people have included alcohol, scopolamine, and sodium thiopental (more commonly known as sodiumpentothal)—all sedatives that interfere particularly with judgement and higher cognitive function. Whilst alcohol is used by this purpose by many individuals in a more innocent sense, it is apparently used by professionals in the areas as well. A book by a former Soviet KGB officer based in Washington, Washington Station, details the use of near-pure alcohol to verify that a Soviet agent was not compromised by US counter-intelligence services.

 

 

The CIA's MK-ULTRA Project
 

The United States Central Intelligence Agency conducted a series of experiments in the 1950s and 1960s, collectively known as the MK-ULTRA Project, designed to find a perfect truth serum for use against Soviet agents. Initial efforts focused on LSD and doses of barbiturates and then amphetamines given in rapid succession, but the project was ultimately abandoned after mixed results.

 

Whilst fictional accounts of intelligence interrogation gives these drugs near magical abilities, information obtained by publicly-disclosed truth drugs has been shown to be highly unreliable, with subjects apparently freely mixing fact and fantasy. Much of the claimed effect relies on the belief of the subject that they cannot tell a lie while under the influence of the drug.

 

 

Use of truth drugs today
 

As of 1993 in Canada these were still used to help diagnose schizophrenic subjects, especially paranoia where the difficulty was to get the subject to talk at all. Subjects experienced with other hallucinogenic drugs reported similarity of effects of sodium amytal to that of LSD or psilocybin, but for a 20 minute period.

 

Interest in their use outside intelligence services has since declined to negligible levels—though their use has been reexamined after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. It is possible, but thought unlikely by experts in anaesthetics (the drugs most closely resembling truth drugs in common use), that intelligence services do have more effective such drugs at their disposal which they have not disclosed.

 

 

 

Related Web Resource

Sign Up for Full Access

Access hundreds of theories, approaches, study and experiment overviews, plus a range of psychology guides including Body Language Reading and How to Interpret Your Dreams.

Sign Up Today ›


Tagged as: TruthDrugs

More on Psychology Issues  »

On Psychologist World  »

Want to Learn More Psychology?

Join Psychologist World today for access to our entire 2,200+ collection of psychology theories, approaches, studies, experiments and online guides. Learn More and Sign Up ›


You May Also Like  »


Eye Reading (Body Language)

Body Language


Psychology Reading Test

Cognition


Are You Neurotic? Test

Personality


Sigmund Freud

Issues


Craik & Tulving (1975) Levels of Processing

Memory


Psychologist World is an online magazine dedicated to psychology, providing theory and experiment overviews, popular psychology articles and practical psychology guides. For details of content available with membership click here.

Psychology by Area:
Psychology Approaches:
Psychology Studies:
Learn about Disorders:
Self Help Psychology:

Dream InterpretationDream Interpretation Guide
Learn to interpret the hidden meanings in your dreams.
Learn more »

More Guides:

Sign Up for Full Access:

Learn psychology skills and access premium content with a site membership:

  • Learn to interpret your dreams
  • Understand people using body language
  • Psychology experiments unwrapped: what their results show us
  • Insights into theories and explanations of human behavior, emotion and thinking
  • Unlimited access to more compelling psychology content

Sign Up Now »

Share this page:

© 2013 Psychologist World and partners. Parts licensed under GNU FDL. Secure online payments provided by 2Checkout.com, Inc.
Terms of Use  |  About  |  Contact  |  Privacy & Cookies  |  Returns & Refunds  |  Hypnotherapy Training  |  Course Toolkit  |  Psychology Articles  |   What's New  |  Link to this Page