• Examines the contemporary psychedelic phenomenon, including the history of criminalization and legalization, psychedelics’ effects on the brain, recent clinical research, and new therapeutic potentials
• Explores substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, ketamine, and MDMA, including scientific evidence for psychedelics’ potential to treat addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma, and neurodegenerative diseases
• Includes extensive practical information on safety, risk, and harm reduction for both laypeople and mental health practitioners
Presenting a comprehensive guide to the exciting new landscape around psychedelics, psychopharmacologist and researcher Anton Gomez-Escolar examines the long history of criminalizing and (slowly) legalizing these substances and their increasingly demonstrable positive effects on body, mind, and spirit.
Exploring substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, ketamine, MDMA, and others, Gomez-Escolar looks at the multitude of scientific studies providing critical evidence for psychedelics’ ability to treat addiction, depression, anxiety, and trauma, as well as their potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. He provides key information for therapists and other health practitioners as well as exploring the benefits of microdosing and the specific ways in which mental health issues related to COVID-19 could be alleviated by psychedelics. Breaking down substances by type, the author looks at the main risks of each psychedelic and its benefits, best harm-reduction strategies, and the neural pathways they affect. Gomez-Escolar also includes a large selection of resources for people seeking to engage personally with psychedelics for healing.