How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (2018)

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-4

Chapter 5-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

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Themes

The Complex Relationship Between Science and Psychedelics

The worlds of science and psychedelics have drastically different ways of approaching their work, to the point where many scientists who became interested in psychedelics lost passion for their scientific work and found understanding the psychedelic state more engaging. The main issue between the two groups is the fact that science relies on quantitative data to prove that a phenomenon exists or that a treatment works. Scientists need proof that is statistically significant, or else the work is deemed not rigorous and not viable. The realm of psychedelics is focused around spiritual matters and impacts on consciousness, which cannot be held to traditional scientific standards.

Drug trials typically require a placebo and stipulate that the placebo be blinded to the recipient and the researcher. This is nearly impossible to accomplish with psychedelics because it becomes apparent very quickly which one a volunteer has taken, both to the volunteer and the guide. It is also difficult to determine what is an effect of the drug and what is an effect of set and setting. It’s not clear whether these variables can be isolated, which makes it more difficult to understand the cause-and-effect relationship between the drug, neurochemistry, the setting, and the volunteer’s mindset.

There is no way to predict how a patient will react to the drug, unless they have a history of psychosis. Most drug trials focus on treating one thing, while psychedelics can impact numerous mental states, whether an individual has a mental illness or not. There might be ways to generalize outcomes—for example, people with depression experiencing a decrease in symptoms, or terminally ill patients becoming generally less fearful of death—but the route to get there is different for each person and may differ each time the drug is taken.

Spiritual experiences cannot be quantified by science, and so we rely on the phenomenon and the outcomes that patients experience. There will never be a scientific definition of a spiritual outcome that is followed with certainty, the way that the effects of other drugs can be followed with certainty. Determining how to continue to psychedelic research will take time and careful consideration, as the process must maintain both critical scientific rigor and respect for the personal, spiritual nature of a psychedelic journey.

Cultural Norms Can Impede Scientific Discovery

Moral panic fueled the fire that eventually took out the first wave of psychedelic research. Spurred by Timothy Leary speaking of LSD as a wrecking ball that could break down social norms, the media latched on to any negative data that leaked out about psychedelic research. The enthusiasm of people who practiced psychedelics didn’t help either, as the same people who were administering research studies were taking the drugs or allowing their personal experiences and biases to influence their science.

Psychiatrists looking at a person experiencing psychedelics might be quick to assume they’re exhibiting psychosis or a mental disorder, because there is no personal or cultural precedent to guide someone who has never tried LSD before. The media also latched on to this, taking examples of bad trips or people who experienced psychosis due to psychedelic use and blaming the drugs rather than acknowledging the impact of set, setting, a good trip guide, and predisposition to psychosis. This all inspired a moral manic that swept through society and condemned the entire field, despite a lack of accurate information to back this panic up.

We can also see how culture and society impact scientific research into stem cells, mouse model studies, or “curing” autism. Uneducated and informed people craft narratives that impede scientific study or damage communities. In the example of stem cell research, the general public is largely opposed to stem cell research due to a belief that stem cells come only from fetuses. In the example of “curing” autism, people who are not autistic view autism as a disease to be cured rather than another way of living life. The people who fund research to look for a “cure” to autism don’t ask what autistic people experience or what they hope to gain from scientific research into autism. These two examples of how cultural and social norms dictate what areas of science are studied and why exemplify why psychedelic research has encountered so many roadblocks.

Psychedelics Ease the Rigidity of Everyday Thought Patterns

In the first wave of psychedelic research, scientists determined that ego dissolution was necessary for a full spiritual experience and noted that there were direct correlations between a psychedelic experience and behavior changes in those who took the drug. For example, alcoholics were able to stay sober following psychedelic experiences. Scientists found that ego death was crucial for these experiences, as well. However, while they could note such changes in personality and lifestyle, there was no way for them to quantify that data or understand it in relation to neurobiology.

Now that the second wave of psychedelic research is underway, scientists can use neuroimaging tools to visualize what is going on in the brain during these experiences. They can measure oxygen consumption, brain activity, blood flow, and many other variables to draw better conclusions about what occurs in the brain during a psychedelic experience, not just what occurs on the outside. These techniques led to the discovery of the default mode network (DMN), which quickly became crucial to understanding how the mind works and how mental illness develops.

The DMN acts as a controller for our brain, keeping our thought patterns in line and order. While this might seem like a good thing, too much order creates rigid thinking and repetitive thought patterns that can damage our creativity, our problem-solving abilities, and our mental health. Having some plasticity to our thoughts opens us up to new ideas, allowing us to view reality in a different way. Psychedelics have been a good tool for doing just that.

People have wild thoughts and experiences on psychedelics because they dampen the DMN, which allows thought patterns to diversify and interact in a new way. Users can view their situations through new lenses and devise new solutions to problems that previously weren’t as obvious. And while the psychedelic experience lasts only a few hours, the impact on thought patterns can last a long time, sometimes months or years, as users view their situations from entirely new perspectives that can unlock emotions or thoughts that can help them overcome hurdles or find deeper meaning in their ordinary experience.

This thought plasticity is akin to that of a child, as discussed in Chapter 5. Children can take in more stimuli and are more creative problem-solvers because their thoughts are much less rigid. This is also why children pick up new technologies and concepts so quickly, while adults often struggle to keep up with the changeable technological landscape. Adults can use psychedelics to revisit this childlike state of mind even after they have aged out of it.

It’s not clear how often a person should refresh their DMN, or when society will get to point where taking psychedelics to increase creativity is a consistent practice. We see instances of this in the phenomenon of microdosing, which is common in Silicon Valley, where individuals work on ideas to change the technological future. It’s also unclear whether this more open state of mind is harmful if visited consistently, since adult brains prefer rigid thought patterns. However, psychedelics have taught us more about consciousness and how the brain operates, which will eventually lead us to better neurological understanding and help clarify what operating conditions are best for the brain.

Psychedelic Use and Infectious EnthusiasmPsychedelic Use and Infectious Enthusiasm

Nearly all psychedelics researchers, or those working in the field of psychedelics, have had a foundational experience that changed their life. Almost every person Pollan interviewed in How to Change Your Mind recounts the first time they took a psychedelic, and how that changed their life and reshaped their life goals.

In the 20th century this enthusiasm was beneficial because it drove curiosity about how psychedelics work and established the psychedelic research field. It allowed people to consider how the psychedelic experience could help others, and so they dedicated themselves to the cause. When psychedelics were criminalized and research defunded, that same enthusiasm drove people to create entire organizations based around bringing psychedelic research back to science, and putting psychedelic compounds back into the public’s hands. Others who had a more spiritual experience became psychedelic therapists who help guide others on their own journeys.

But this enthusiasm also had detriments. Many researchers enjoyed psychedelics so much that they took them alongside volunteers in their studies, or used their own biases to make erroneous conclusions not support by their data, or they falsified data altogether. These enthusiasts were determined to change the world and the world’s perception, all based on the one experience that they had. This drove Timothy Leary, Al Hubbard, and R. Gordon Wasson’s attempts to change the world with psychedelics by spreading it as far as they could. In some cases, this only fueled public panic on the issue, and research was never conducted and disseminated in an incremental way that would allow people to understand and support the findings.

Many who use psychedelics cite the experience as one of the most profound moments in their lives, one they are usually very eager to talk about and share. They also tend to seek out that feeling again, because there are few methods that provide that sense of ego death and spirituality.

The psychedelic experience is consistently described as transformative, but it is critical to keep that enthusiasm and curiosity in check to avoid faulty science and the moral panic that plagued the first wave of psychedelic research.