Ten Trips

Neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell punctures the hype around psychedelic drugs while providing the fullest picture yet of their limitlessly fascinating possibilities. ''Original and thrilling ... achieving profound insights'' Mike Jay, author of Psychonauts ''An incisive, deeply personal and beautifully written account of the power, the uses and the modern misuses of psychedelics. Highly recommended'' Anil Seth, author of Being You Psychedelics have made a comeback but remain a mystery. They are now a ''breakthrough therapy'' for mental illness but in truth we have only a vague idea how they work and there is a limit to what the science can reveal. To have any hope of understanding them, we must broaden our view - dramatically - of what they actually are. In this daring, perception-shifting odyssey, clinical neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell takes ten different drugs in ten different settings, journeying from a London neuroimaging lab 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, as well as with the drugs themselves, reveal the reality of psychedelics in all their strangeness, hilarity, darkness and wonder. ''A hair-raising hurtle of a ride'' Henry Shukman, author of One Blade of Grass ''Utterly compelling ... like having an out of body experience'' Mark Miodownik, author of Stuff Matters ''The psychedelic world has been waiting for this book'' Professor Erika Dyck

Autorentext
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.

Klappentext

'An original and thrilling investigation into psychedelics and the claims that currently surround them, achieving profound insights into their essential qualities' Mike Jay, author of Psychonauts

Psychedelics have made a comeback, but the truth is they remain a mystery.

In this daring, profound and wildly entertaining investigation, clinical neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell tests the claims being made for these substances by taking ten different psychedelics 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, and above all with the drugs themselves, take us beyond the hype and reveal the reality of psychedelics - that they are as enchanting but ultimately unfathomable as experience itself.

'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' Mark Miodownik, author of Stuff Matters

'An incisive, deeply personal and beautifully written account of the power, the uses and the modern misuses of psychedelics. Highly recommended' Anil Seth, author of Being You

'Wonderful . . . a journey into the nature and potential of consciousness itself' Literary Review

'Superb . . . brilliant' TLS