Carbogen

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Carbogen, also called Meduna's Mixture after its inventor, is a life-supporting mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen gas, containing at least 20% oxygen and generally about 50% CO₂. When Carbogen is inhaled, the increase of carbon dioxide in the lungs causes a perception, both psychological and physiological, of suffocation. This is because the brain perceives an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the lungs as a decrease in oxygen levels. In nature, this is generally true, and has evolved as an evolutionary mechanism to prevent all mammals from drowning by failing to surface in water. Therefore, inhalation of Carbogen causes the body to react as if it were not receiving sufficient oxygen. Breathing quickens and deepens, heart rate increases, and cells release alkaline buffering agents to remove carbonic acid from the bloodstream. Not surprisingly, the sensation of inhaling carbogen is highly unpleasant and is likely to cause panic, near-death experiences, and other discomfort.

Carbogen was once used in psychology to determine how a patient would react to an altered state of consciousness or to a sensation of loss of control. Individuals who reacted especially negatively to Carbogen were generally not administered other psychotheraputic drugs for fear of similar reactions. Now, Carbogen is rarely used, largely due to the decline in psychotheraputics.

Meduna discovered that inhaling a mixture of 70% oxygen and 30% carbon dioxide provided an experience of an altered state of consciousness, often accompanied by substantial abreaction. With proper preparation and administration, he found that clients could be helped considerably to become free of their neuroses.

Inhaling a sufficient number of breaths of this mixture has the effect of dissolving the resistances holding down repressed feelings, permitting their expression. There is usually a rapid succession of imagery, and the discharge of feelings is often accompanied by a considerable amount of insight.

It is claimed that several treatments with this mixture was an excellent procedure to introduce novices to altered states of consciousness.^{[citation needed]} Carbogen users are said to have discovered unconscious contents of their mind, with the experience clearing away repressed material and freeing the subject for a smoother, more profound psychedelic experience.^{[citation needed]}