“Pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured.” —New York TimesA #1 New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018, and New York Times Notable Book A brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs–and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences When … the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.
A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan’s “mental travelogue” is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.
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Michael Pollan assembles a great deal of information here on the history, science, and effects of psychedelics. I found his frank recounting of his recent experiences with LSD, psilocybin, and toad venom most revealing. They appear to have softened his materialistic views and opened him to the possibilities of higher consciousness. He did, indeed, change his mind.
Acid. Shrooms. These were the drugs of the 60s I learned never to touch. I’d heard the stories of people cooking their brains, even seen a friend completely change in a high school burnout. The rumor was he’d tripped acid and never returned. I could barely handle weed.
So, no thank you.
I know Pollan from his other writings, primarily as they relate to ecology and plants. So when I heard him on Rogan talking about the medicinal value of psychadelics, I bought the audiobook and listened further. Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen the value of weed to people suffering from PSTD, insomnia, and mood disorder. I think it’s time to look more closely at some of these other long held beliefs concerning “dangerous drugs.”
Pollan does a thorough job of putting psychadelics into historical perspective and how it was demonized in the 60s by Timothy Leary and the recreational use of such materials to tune in, turn on and drop out. He brings the experiences up to present day usage and how its therapeutic value is helping people with depression and addiction. Not necessarily a wonder drug or one that everyone should use, but under proper guidance it shows real value.
Pollan is a fine writer, too. I found not only informative but enjoyed his prose when it came to his own experiences with guided trips. It did what any book of this nature aims to do. It changed my mind.
Science at its best.
the book gives a brief but very broad knowledge of the uprising and downfall of psychedelics.
Important information for our time. Very well researched.
Great primer on psychodelics.
Michael Pollen has delved incredibly deeply into the therapeutic research into hallucinogens starting in the early 1950’s up to the present, as well as the non-scientific, but often spiritual aspects of use and throws in a bit of neurophysiology and it’s all really interesting.
psychedelic man
or you could meditate
The status of hallucinogens in society and science is very interesting. Pollan’s first hand accounts of his altered states of mind under different substances, doses and settings depict the nuances of this class of drugs.
A most fascinating read. Pollan is a renowned journalist and this book is a testament to his thorough research and commitment to science. The book is broken down into chapters on the history of psychedelics, Pollan’s personal experience and mystical awareness, and the current research and trials in the therapeutic benefits of hallucinogenics for the treatment of addiction, PTSD, anxiety and depression, autism, mood and personality disorders, as well as applications during end of life care. I was enthralled and came away optimistic that there is a cure for afflictions that have been previously hard to treat.
Gripping, very important book!
The writer introduces us to the use of psychedelics in a theraputic environment to heal obsessions addictions and depression I found it fascinating that Bill W the founder of A A has a mystical healing with belladonna which led to the development of the 12 step program when the chaotic destructive part of addiction prevails it is important to turn to methods that halt the negative feedback loop as well as God or higher power for healing a beneficial work
Reading this has introduced me to so many more books. Mycelium Running, A Really Good Day, Trust Surrender Receive, to name a few. Not “just” recommended, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Excellent thought provoking nonfiction book!
I organized a book club around this book in the Gila Valley because my friend loved the book so much and I wanted something—for this first meeting—that was a fairly quick read, accessible, on an interesting and popular subject. I knew my book club members would be interested and also experienced, likely having taken hallucinogens in their youth. We could walk down memory lane together (although my experience is limited to a single dramatic night of peyote at the Grand Canyon Lodge in 1969, when I was a sophomore in high school). These were modest expectations which Pollan exceeded. The book led me to the future, not the past, which is really what I want a book to do. The neuroscience of How to Change Your Mind and the potential of opening our inner “doors of perception” for problems like addiction and depression is both exciting and also familiar. Also commonsense. It makes sense to me. I’m pleased to be introduced to new terms like the default mode network—that part of the brain that orchestrates and filters and could roughly be called the ego—and I am intrigued how certain drugs or meditative practices dampens its activity. I definitely want to dampen my own default mode network and am planning a therapy-guided trip somewhere, sometime, following Pollan’s lead in choosing and planning (as much as possible) that experience. I don’t mind at all that mystical experiences, the dissolution of the ego into the All, the One in All and the All in One, can be induced by a chemical. We are chemicals. We are molecules. We are the One in All and the All in One. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that.
I cannot recommend this book, as I felt mislead by the title. According to the author, if you want to change your mind eat magic mushrooms and take LSD. As a counselor and therapist this is not a part of the treatment I subscribe to.
Thought provoking and fascination look at psychodelic drugs.
I’ve never regretted my adolescent use of LSD, but reading this fascinating, lucid, wise and hopeful book did make me wonder if those drug experiences weren’t another example of youth wasted on the young. Michael Pollan, who waited until he was a grownup to experiment, is the perfect guide to today’s dawning psychedelic renaissance.
This is a challenging book, both for Pollen to write and for average people to read.
If you lived during the “60s”, you have ideas of what psychedelics are: how they act, what they do to the user, what type of person uses them.
If you read this book, you will find out that your ideas are not totally accurate.
There is a history of these “medicines” being used for reasons other than “dropping out”. They have been investigated for their healing properties for years.
They have also been used (psilocybin in particular) by people for thousands of years.
Pollan has given us much to explore and consider.
Well done.
Non-fiction told with occasional tonge-in-cheek humor.