En esta ejemplar investigación periodística, Pollan revisa archivos históricos y documentos científicos para separar la verdad de los mitos, la propaganda y el pánico moral alrededor de estas drogas que se ha ido acumulando desde los años sesenta, cuando un puñado de personajes rebeldes catalizaron una poderosa corriente hacia lo que entonces era un prometedor campo de investigación.

Sugerente, polémico y deslumbrante, una mezcla única de ciencia, memoria, historia y medicina, este libro es el resultado de un viaje a una nueva, emocionante e inesperada frontera de la percepción, de nuestra comprensión de la mente, del yo y de nuestro lugar en el mundo. El verdadero objeto de este «diario de a bordo» mental no son solo las drogas psicodélicas, sino el enigma en torno a la conciencia humana y a cómo deberíamos actuar cuando buscamos encontrar sentido a nuestras vidas en un mundo que nos regala al mismo tiempo momentos de placer y de dolor.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

One of the 10 New York Times Best Books 2018.

A Publisher Weekly Best Book 2018

A brilliant and brave investigation by Michael Pollan, author of five New York Times best sellers, into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences

When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into the experience of various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the Sixties, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs, but the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both struggle and beauty, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.