Voyage aux confins de l'esprit

Michael Pollan has again proven himself to be one of the frontmen of the modern day psychedelic resurrection. Psychotherapy is the messiah to our current mental health epidemic. This series paints a rationalized, trustworthy picture of psychedelic substances, and puts it in a new light. Throughout the course of history, the human consciousness has consistently increased in complexity. The downside is that the mental complaints are increasing in complexity as well.

I truly believe the subject of this documentary is the key to stagnate the upward trend of the dark side of the human brain.

I watched the first episode, the one about LSD. In my younger daze I was quite well acquainted with the dreaded lysergic. I went to AA for many years and I heard about Bill W taking acid after he got sober. The TV show stated that he got sober because of his acid experience.....not so, he got sober 8 yrs before acid was invented. I heard he was looking for a cure for his long term depression so he tried acid.

Other than the misinformation I enjoyed watching the episode.

I really enjoyed this series. I felt each episode dealt more with the possible medical applications of various psychedelic agents and as a whole lead me to suggest a series title of "How to Heal (Your Mind & Society)" which yes is also, "How to Change Your Mind", as what the series might have to offer.

Really wonderful information, but I don't understand why they weigh so heavily on mysticism when we have a lot of scientific understanding how spirituality works. Our brains have a mechanism that is a bit of a slider switch between "self" and "no self". The more we live in fear, anxiety, focus, the more we trend towards "self" because it is precisely linked with survival - if you don't focus on "self" then you are less likely to survive in the wild. Psychedelics throw the switch the other way and make us forget about ourselves as individual beings, which much like religious experiences, makes us feel "one with all". It's not magic, it's an evolutionary mechanism. Wish they would talk more about the science we already have.

I found this to be a very hopeful and inspiring documentary, regarding the renaissance of psychedelic drugs for the treatment of the most critical mental illnesses. Research on four different drugs has been given the green light to resume after initial trials in the 1950s and early 1960s. These drugs are being proven to genuinely help with long entrenched maladies such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, providing real and lasting help to those so afflicted. Should be mandatory viewing for policymakers involved with overhauling America's mental health delivery system.