Can psychedelics really treat mental health problems? How do psychedelics affect the human brain? In what ways do psychedelics have the potential to fix society?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In How to Change Your Mind<\/em>, Michael Pollan shows his research on psychedelic trials and their impact on society. He also explores the history of psychedelics<\/a> from the prehistoric period until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read below for a brief overview of How to Change Your Mind<\/em> by Michael Pollan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n In How to Change Your Mind<\/em><\/a>, Michael Pollan explores the potential of psychedelics for mental health treatment and discusses the cultural and social implications of these substances. He traces their history, from their use by indigenous cultures for spiritual and healing purposes to their prohibition by the US government in 1970. Pollan focuses most of his attention on two specific psychedelics\u2014LSD and psilocybin, also known as \u201cacid\u201d and \u201cmagic mushrooms,\u201d since these two substances have had the biggest impact on modern Western culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After exploring the complex and troubled history of these substances, Pollan examines the recent resurgence of scientific interest in psychedelics, as researchers have begun to explore their potential to treat depression, addiction, and other mental health issues. He also delves into the complex legal and cultural issues surrounding psychedelics and considers what their re-emergence might mean for our society as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we\u2019ll begin with a definition and brief history of psychedelics. The word \u201cpsychedelic\u201d means \u201cmind manifesting.\u201d<\/strong> Coined in 1957, it\u2019s a relatively recent term, but humans’ relationship with these substances is hardly new. Psychedelics are sometimes referred to by anthropologists as entheogens, <\/em>which is derived from the Greek \u201cgod within,\u201d and they are also commonly called \u201challucinogens.\u201d Pollan explains that anthropologists and other scholars generally shun the latter term, however, because of its implication that the experiences caused by these substances are not real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this section, we\u2019ll summarize the history of psychedelics, as Pollan explains it, in three phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humans\u2019 relationship with psychedelics is longer than recorded history. Pollan tells us that indigenous cultures all over the world have developed unique relationships with natural consciousness-altering substances and have used them in healing and spiritual practices for thousands of years.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Archaeologists have found evidence of the use of psychedelic substances well into prehistoric times, and written documentation of their use goes as far back as ancient Greece. Some scholars believe the earliest Christian eucharist rituals in Greece were carry-overs from ancient Dionysian rituals revolving around a psychedelic brew. And cultures throughout Mesoamerica used mushrooms and other psychedelics in their religious practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But these practices would all come under attack by the Roman Catholic Church, first in ancient Greece and then later in the 16th and 17th centuries during the Spanish colonial conquest of the Americas. Pollan says Spanish priests who missionized the Aztecs in modern-day Mexico declared that the Aztecs\u2019 consumption of mushrooms was a communion with the devil. These kinds of assumptions resulted in deliberate suppression of the use of psychedelics by native peoples, including the Aztecs\u2014who used psychedelic mushrooms and morning glory seeds\u2014and Native American tribes<\/a>, some of whom use a psychedelic cactus called peyote<\/em>. The Church quickly sought to eradicate these practices because they undermined the Church\u2019s authority and threatened the spread of Christianity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite repeated efforts by ruling powers to stamp out psychedelic use, Pollan says the ancient and enduring history of humans\u2019 relationship with these substances suggests that they must serve important functions. Some scholars even suggest that psychedelics may be the most important historical driver of the development of religion and of the evolution of human consciousness<\/a>. <\/strong>We\u2019ll discuss this more in Part 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a decades-long ban, a few researchers attempted in the 1990s to resurrect interest in the study of psychedelics for mental health and spirituality. But it was only in 2006 that a new renaissance of psychedelic research was kicked off with another Johns Hopkins study. It was described in a paper titled \u201cPsilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance<\/a>.\u201d Pollan tells us that this work made a few crucially important contributions to the history and understanding of psychedelics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s turn now to a discussion of what recent research has found about how psychedelics work, both in terms of the subjective psychological experiences they trigger and their physiological effects on the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is now mounting scientific evidence that psychedelics have the potential to treat mental health problems that can be otherwise treatment-resistant. <\/strong>Pollan tells us that two recent studies have shown an 80% success rate in the alleviation of anxiety and depression<\/a> among cancer patients. Similar results have been achieved with studies using psychedelics<\/a> to treat addiction. These kinds of success rates, he says, are unprecedented with any other form of treatment. But how do they work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike other pharmaceutical treatments, Pollan explains that with psychedelics it may not necessarily be the chemical reaction in the brain that\u2019s therapeutic but the experience<\/em> resulting from it. <\/strong>And that experience isn\u2019t centered on the \u201cvisions\u201d the subject has, but on the revelations they have from those visions. In this section, we\u2019ll look at how psychedelic experiences are described, as well as what researchers have learned about what\u2019s going on in subjects\u2019 brains to produce these experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reviewing the large volume of psychedelic research from the 1950s through today, Pollan notes that there have been a number of conflicting conclusions\u2014some studies have had significantly higher success rates than others. He suggests that one factor contributing to disparities in results is the difference in \u201cset and setting,\u201d a crucial factor in psychedelic experimentation. <\/strong>\u201cSet\u201d refers to the mindset of the person at the time they take the psychedelic, and \u201csetting\u201d to the space and context within which the drug is taken. Leary stressed the vital importance of these factors for the outcome of the experience, and they remain central to the approach to psychedelics in research today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollan describes how these studies are conducted in clinical settings. He says participants are put in a comfortable room at the research center with a guide who is trained to direct the subject\u2019s experience. The rooms are generally created to be pleasant, tranquil spaces, with soothing music playing. Guides may give the subject a description beforehand of what they\u2019re likely to experience, and the subjects are always asked to relax and allow the experience to unfold. Having a guide there to remind the subject of this mitigates the risk of them becoming too fearful and going into a negative trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest challenges with understanding how psychedelics work is that the experiences themselves are notoriously difficult to describe<\/strong>\u2014participants almost always express a lack of ability to put the experiences into words. When they do describe them, the experiences tend to sound like hallucinatory or dream-like events, or even like spiritual clich\u00e9s\u2014for example, the description that \u201ceverything is love\u201d or the sense of \u201coneness with the universe.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other common descriptions of psychedelic experience include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These trips are usually accompanied by vivid sensory experiences of the outer and\/or inner world. Psychedelic-assisted therapy often takes place with a mask covering the subject\u2019s eyes, so the subject experiences all of their \u201cvisions\u201d in their mind. But those who have psychedelic experiences in a non-clinical setting, without their eyes covered, tend to experience the outer world, especially nature, as particularly colorful, beautiful, and awe-inspiring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollan presents two possible explanations for what happens when one undergoes a psychedelic experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, upon reflecting on these two possible explanations, he asks: Does the distinction really matter? When talking about experiences<\/a> like \u201coneness with the universe,\u201d how can you distinguish between whether it was a \u201creal\u201d experience or a drug-induced hallucination? Pollan ultimately concludes that it\u2019s an irrelevant question, because whatever chemical reaction is happening, the insights, revelations, and psychological effects are undoubtedly as real as anything else\u2014and maybe more so.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While research into the neurological effects of psychedelics is young, and researchers haven\u2019t yet pieced it all together, some theorize that the substances may affect the way our brains filter or interpret information. Pollan says this research challenges conventional notions that the experiences are \u201challucinations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Researchers at Imperial College in London in 2009 looked at brain scans of people undergoing psychedelic experiences with psilocybin. They expected to see increased <\/em>brain activity, and that was the case for some regions, including those associated with emotions and memories\u2014particularly otherwise subconscious ones. Considering the experiences people describe, this was not surprising. But what was<\/em> surprising was the reduced<\/em> activity in the \u201cdefault mode network\u201d\u2014a network of brain regions<\/a> responsible for our sense of self as a distinct individual. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This network is also responsible for filtering information from the outside world. Pollan says this filter allows us to operate more efficiently by allowing only the most important pieces of information in at any given time. So, he explains, because this default mode network is suppressed during a psychedelic experience, that means the brain is letting in sensory input that\u2019s normally restricted. We know, for example, that people see colors differently (often perceiving them as brighter) and hear music in a more intense and nuanced way under the influence of psychedelics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, Pollan says the brain research suggests that the way we perceive things in the altered state<\/a> could be the unfiltered<\/em> reality, while our brains usually act as filters\u2014weeding out all the \u201cunnecessary\u201d information\u2014to simplify our everyday experience. In other words, he says one could argue that our everyday consciousness is essentially a hallucination in itself\u2014it\u2019s composed only of the information the brain lets in and is processed against our prior experiences.<\/strong> And Pollan says it\u2019s likely that this one particular mode of consciousness evolved to be our default one because it best allows us to efficiently complete tasks<\/a> necessary for survival. But he says it\u2019s only one of multiple possible modes of perception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the course of research for this book, Pollan decided to undertake his own personal experimentation with psychedelics. As an American man in his 60s, he\u2019d long been aware of psychedelics but had never tried them. After interviewing dozens of people, and hearing so many stories of transformation, healing, and realization, Pollan was driven to see if he could also derive some benefit from these substances.<\/strong> He knew this would be the only way to truly understand the subject. So he confronted his fears and used his connections from this book\u2019s research to arrange some trips for himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollan\u2019s experiences mirror those described in the research. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollan explains that, in addition to individual mental health uses, psychedelics have important social and cultural implications for human society\u2014in the past, present, and future. Psychedelics may have contributed to our cognitive and spiritual evolution<\/a> and have the potential to better our world.<\/strong> In this section, we\u2019ll discuss the ways that psychedelics could have helped early hominids<\/a> to evolve into the self-aware homo sapiens we are today, as well as how these substances could help get us out of some of our modern messes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One question posed by Pollan, and which other researchers have pondered, is: Why would these plants and fungi evolve with properties that affect the human mind this way? Some researchers believe that the production of these chemicals by plants and fungi is in service to a symbiotic relationship with humans. <\/strong>And some researchers even suggest that these altered states of consciousness may have been crucial for humanity\u2019s evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1992, ethnobotanist Terence McKenna proposed the \u201cStoned Ape Theory.\u201d His hypothesis was that the cognitive development of hominids was due to their consumption of psilocybin mushrooms, which caused an evolutionary leap in consciousness.<\/strong> The theory suggests that this leap allowed for the development of language, religion, and other forms of symbolic thought\u2014traits that distinguish humans from any other species. Pollan points out, though, that the theory has been contested by other researchers, who argue that there\u2019s no concrete evidence to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The effect of these chemicals on humans could be explainable by arguing that they\u2019re toxins, meant to \u201cpoison\u201d predators as a self-defense mechanism. However, Pollan learned from mycologist Paul Stamets that human ingestion of mushrooms actually helps<\/em> the fungi, as the consumer will eventually eliminate their spores elsewhere. Stamets argues that the psilocybin is more likely an <\/strong>attractant <\/em><\/strong>for hosts rather than a <\/strong>deterrent<\/em><\/strong> to predators<\/strong>. And more than just a reproductive strategy, Stamets believes there\u2019s a higher intelligence on Earth that\u2019s attempting to communicate with us through fungi. He argues that fungi are intelligent and that they offer their mind-altering properties to us in exchange for our spreading of their spores. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Pollan is skeptical of some of Stamets\u2019s more radical claims, he admits that his own psychedelic experiences have inspired a feeling of a connective consciousness pervading all of nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During Pollan\u2019s research, he found that many experts involved in studying psychedelics have eventually shifted their emphasis from the treatment of individuals to the potential for the treatment of society as a whole. He explains that this is because the benefits of psychedelics<\/a> may contribute to greater empathy, a deeper sense of connection with others, and a reconnection to nature.<\/strong> On this last point, many argue this could be a key to solving the growing environmental crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Change Your Mind<\/em> by Michael Pollan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Part 1: The History of Psychedelics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
History of Psychedelics in the Ancient World<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Research on Psychedelics is Revived<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Part 2: The Science of Psychedelics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Is This Research Conducted?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Indescribability of the Psychedelic State<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What Do Psychedelics Do to the Brain?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Pollan Goes on Trips of His Own <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Part 3: The Social and Cultural Implications of Psychedelics<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Stoned Ape Theory<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDepatterning\u201d Could Save the World<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n