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A review by hodes4me
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
5.0
Psychedelic drugs have a long and complicated history—from their discovery in the 1950s to their popularization and ultimate villainization in the 1960s. In How to Change your Mind, Michael Pollan doesn't pull any punches about their complicated history, or about the subjectivity of the psychedelic experience, but he does provide a scientific perspective that hopefully will help in the revitalization of an important mental health tool.
The truly fascinating parts of How to Change your Mind, at least for me, came towards the end of the book, when Pollan delves into the neuroscience of these molecules; what your brain looks like and how it changes on psychedelics. He also dives into the recent resurgence in their use for combatting the mental health crisis—how they're being used to fight addiction, depression, end-of-life anxiety, and an array of other issues. The treatment methods are far from typical for modern science, but the results speak for themselves, and in a day and age when nearly every tool being used to treat mental health disorders is failing pathetically, a vastly unconventional solution might be exactly what is needed.
It's hard to have an objective viewpoint after the experiences Pollan went through in researching for this book, but I think he strikes a great balance in expressing optimism for the future of these compounds, and objectivity in stating the facts and putting the more eccentric personalities and viewpoints in a more realistic light.
The truly fascinating parts of How to Change your Mind, at least for me, came towards the end of the book, when Pollan delves into the neuroscience of these molecules; what your brain looks like and how it changes on psychedelics. He also dives into the recent resurgence in their use for combatting the mental health crisis—how they're being used to fight addiction, depression, end-of-life anxiety, and an array of other issues. The treatment methods are far from typical for modern science, but the results speak for themselves, and in a day and age when nearly every tool being used to treat mental health disorders is failing pathetically, a vastly unconventional solution might be exactly what is needed.
It's hard to have an objective viewpoint after the experiences Pollan went through in researching for this book, but I think he strikes a great balance in expressing optimism for the future of these compounds, and objectivity in stating the facts and putting the more eccentric personalities and viewpoints in a more realistic light.