Ten Trips: The New Reality of Psychedelics

A neuropsychologist takes ten different drugs in this panoramic view of psychedelics today Once demonised and still largely illegal, psychedelic drugs are now officially a 'breakthrough therapy', used to treat depression, trauma and addiction and to enhance well-being. But as neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell shows in this deeply serious yet wildly entertaining investigation, this approach misses what is so strange and valuable about them- the psychedelic experience itself. In Ten Trips he takes ten different drugs in ten different settings, journeying from a neuroimaging lab in London to the Colombian Amazon via Silicon Valley and his friend's basement kitchen. His encounters with scientists and gangsters, venture capitalists and con-men, psychonauts and shamans provide a panoramic view of psychedelics today- their capacity for healing but also trauma, for transcendence and corruption, profundity and hilarity. By removing psychedelics from their indigenous and underground cultures, we risk losing the very things we need to harness them. To make them safe or normal might ultimately destroy what makes them potent. That potential is indeed great, not as an antidote to mental illness - none exists - but as a way of changing our whole perspective on mental health and flourishing. Ten Trips is a dazzling, perception-shifting odyssey that shows how psychedelics can re-enchant us with the world.

About the Author :
Andy Mitchell is a neuropsychologist and therapist. He has specialized in treating patients with rare brain conditions, head injuries and epilepsy, and in the application of mindfulness for neurological patients. As a therapist he has worked with people with a range of mental health disorders. Before entering medicine, his first degree was in English Literature at Oxford University. He is originally from Leeds.

Review :
A collection of tales from the far frontiers of psychedelic experience . . . superb . . . brilliant Canny and somewhat sceptical ... rigorous and penetrating ... illuminating ... this is a wonderful book, a journey into the nature and potential of consciousness itself, and of life on this troubled and monopolised planet Philosophical and darkly humorous ... for all the mystical experiences [psychedelics] afford, divesting them of their shadow side does seekers a disservice, Mitchell holds A powerful reminder that psychedelics can’t be made sense of entirely within a framework of chemical interactions in the brain. We need to view them as something potent, to be respected An incisive, deeply personal and beautifully written account of the power, the uses and the modern misuses of psychedelics. Highly recommended An original and thrilling investigation into psychedelics and the claims that currently surround them, achieving profound insights into their essential qualities Utterly compelling. Some books are in a category of their own and this is one them. Reading it is like having an out of body experience Beguiling, captivating, mind-expanding. It's impossible to read this book and not be tempted to replicate some of its wild, sanity-stretching forays into the peculiarities of human perception A dazzling, timely book, as deep and poignant as it is madcap and hilarious A hair-raising hurtle of a ride into the belly of the psychedelic renaissance, fuelled by spectacular prose In Ten Trips, Andy Mitchell captures psychedelics' gonzo spirit and speaks to the psychonaut in all of us Eagle-eyed, poetic and always playful, Ten Trips is chock-full of profane illumination A gifted writer with a great ear for dialogue. Mitchell is not afraid to put himself in the telling, and it is this that makes Ten Trips true and real Mitchell's decapod of delirious drug experiences is an antidote to the hype and a rallying cry to keep psychedelics . . . psychedelic The psychedelic world has been waiting for this book: a sceptic's account of the allure of psychedelics