In the spring of 2010, a front page story appeared in the New York Times headlined “ Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning in Again.” The story recounted a study on terminally ill patients who, after taking magic mushrooms, lost fear of death and came to peace with their illness.Īt at dinner party in the San Francisco Bay Area he listened to a prominent psychologist talk about the positive effects of recent LSD trips on her professional work, and lead to her having deeper insights in her life. Three data points caused him to revisit the topic: In his late 20s, he tried magic mushrooms two or three times. He was raised in the era of condemnation of drug. How to Change Your Mind is the story of the renaissance of LSD and psilocybin.

Beginning in 1990, a small group of scientists and psychotherapists resolved to recover something precious that had been lost from both science and culture. By the end of the 60s, however, a moral panic arose following counter culture adoption of the drug. Gordon Wasson's wrote about his experiences with mushroom ceremonies in Life Magazine ( reprinted here), and how the Catholic Church brutally suppressed the magic mushroom ceremonies after the Spanish conquest.įor most of the 1950 and early 1960s many in the psychiatric establishment regarded LSD as a miracle drug. Pollan begins with a brief history of LSD and psilocybin.

No more room in hell objective maps