In Ten Trips neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell takes ten different psychedelic drugs in ten different settings in order to test the claims being made for these mysterious plants and compounds, while exposing their limitlessly fascinating possibilities.
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The more we learn about psychedelics, the less we seem to understand them.
Once demonised and still largely illegal, psychedelic drugs are now officially a 'breakthrough therapy' in the treatment of mental illness. What were dangerous portals to the unknown are now an instrument for healing trauma, conquering addiction and enhancing well-being. But treating psychedelics this way neglects what is so unusual and valuable about them - not least the variety of the psychedelic experience itself.
In Ten Trips neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell takes ten different drugs in ten different locations. His journey from a neuroimaging lab in London to the desert of Colombia, via Silicon Valley and his friend's basement kitchen reveals a richer, stranger view. Through his encounters with scientists and gangsters, psychonauts and shamans, with musicians, monks, therapists and con-men, we see psychedelics' full potential: for healing and trauma, for ecstatic one-ness and utter terror, for transcendence and corruption, profundity and laughter.
He argues that by removing psychedelics from their cultures and rituals, both indigenous and underground, we risk rejecting the expertise and the contexts which hold the key to understanding them and from which their real benefits may derive. To make psychedelics safe or normal might ultimately destroy what makes them potent. Their promise is indeed huge, not as an antidote to mental illness but as a way of changing our whole perspective on mental health and flourishing.
Ultimately, psychedelics may also be what drugs always have been - a way to escape an unbearable reality. But treated properly, with humility and care, they are a way to reenchant us with the world.
In Ten Trips neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell takes ten different psychedelic drugs in ten different settings in order to test the claims being made for these mysterious plants and compounds, while exposing their limitlessly fascinating possibilities.
____
The more we learn about psychedelics, the less we seem to understand them.
Once demonised and still largely illegal, psychedelic drugs are now officially a 'breakthrough therapy' in the treatment of mental illness. What were dangerous portals to the unknown are now an instrument for healing trauma, conquering addiction and enhancing well-being. But treating psychedelics this way neglects what is so unusual and valuable about them - not least the variety of the psychedelic experience itself.
In Ten Trips neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell takes ten different drugs in ten different locations. His journey from a neuroimaging lab in London to the desert of Colombia, via Silicon Valley and his friend's basement kitchen reveals a richer, stranger view. Through his encounters with scientists and gangsters, psychonauts and shamans, with musicians, monks, therapists and con-men, we see psychedelics' full potential: for healing and trauma, for ecstatic one-ness and utter terror, for transcendence and corruption, profundity and laughter.
He argues that by removing psychedelics from their cultures and rituals, both indigenous and underground, we risk rejecting the expertise and the contexts which hold the key to understanding them and from which their real benefits may derive. To make psychedelics safe or normal might ultimately destroy what makes them potent. Their promise is indeed huge, not as an antidote to mental illness but as a way of changing our whole perspective on mental health and flourishing.
Ultimately, psychedelics may also be what drugs always have been - a way to escape an unbearable reality. But treated properly, with humility and care, they are a way to reenchant us with the world.
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.
A collection of tales from the far frontiers of psychedelic
experience . . . superb . . . brilliant
*TLS*
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
*Literary Review*
Philosophical and darkly humorous ... for all the mystical
experiences [psychedelics] afford, divesting them of their shadow
side does seekers a disservice, Mitchell holds
*Spectator*
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
*New Scientist*
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*
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*
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*
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
*Stuart Ritchie, author of Science Fictions*
A dazzling, timely book, as deep and poignant as it is madcap and
hilarious
*Professor Mark Lythgoe, Director of the Centre for Advanced
Biomedical Imaging, University College London*
A hair-raising hurtle of a ride into the belly of the psychedelic
renaissance, fuelled by spectacular prose
*Henry Shukman, author of One Blade of Grass*
In Ten Trips, Andy Mitchell captures psychedelics' gonzo spirit and
speaks to the psychonaut in all of us
*Katherine MacLean, author Midnight Water: A Psychedelic
Memoir*
Eagle-eyed, poetic and always playful, Ten Trips is chock-full of
profane illumination
*Tehseen Noorani, Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy,
University of Auckland*
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
*Michael Taussig, author of Mastery of Non-Mastery in the Age of
Meltdown*
Mitchell's decapod of delirious drug experiences is an antidote to
the hype and a rallying cry to keep psychedelics . . .
psychedelic
*Josh Hardman, Psychedelic Alpha*
The psychedelic world has been waiting for this book: a sceptic's
account of the allure of psychedelics
*Erika Dyck, Professor in History of Health & Social Justice,
University of Saskatchewan*
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