How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
Michael Pollan spent years reporting on the return of psychedelic research to universities like Johns Hopkins and NYU, where scientists were studying psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA as tools for depression, addiction, and end of life anxiety. He interviews researchers, therapists, underground guides, and terminal patients who have taken part in trials, and he walks readers through his own experiences with LSD, psilocybin, ayahuasca, and 5 MeO DMT. The book is careful, rigorous, and skeptical without being dismissive, and it treats the mystical experience with the same seriousness as the neuroscience. It became a surprise bestseller and later a Netflix series. It also helped move psychedelic therapy into the mainstream conversation.
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What you might want to know about How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Michael Pollan investigates the psychedelic renaissance and takes several trips himself.
Swisher has cited Pollan on her podcasts as one of her favorite non fiction writers, and she has recommended How to Change Your Mind as required reading on where the science of consciousness is headed.
Pollan is careful. He distinguishes clinical use from recreational use and stresses the importance of set, setting, and trained guides.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence was written by Michael Pollan, published in 2018 by Penguin Press.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence is 480 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence takes most readers 7 to 10 hours to finish.
How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.