Quite the trip

Psychedelics are increasingly part of mainstream consciousness and conversation. We hear of Silicon Valley savants taking microdoses of LSD to enhance productivity, artists experimenting with novel compounds to inspire creativity and physicians seeking new treatments for substance abuse disorder.

Award-winning Canadian journalist Amanda Siebert credits hallucinogenic mushrooms with successfully treating her long-standing depression. Psyched, Siebert’s second book, is an examination of how these oft-maligned substances may yet show promise for a wide variety of maladies.

Research into psychedelics and its cousins, such as the dissociatives and empathogens, faces a curious bind. Public and political concerns over safety and morality introduce considerable barriers to academic work that could assess the safety profiles of these substances in the first place.

These hindrances are gradually eroding: each year brings greater numbers of drug-related research studies. As Siebert details, we’re beginning to put the efficacy of plant and synthetic hallucinogens on secure scientific footing.

Some of the earliest medical research, much of it carried out in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, explored LSD as treatment for alcohol dependency. Lesser known is the promise that MDMA and ketamine, for example, show in this regard. Siebert documents a plethora of possibilities: ayahuasca may ease depression; psilocybin could attenuate end-of-life anxiety; MDMA could alleviate symptoms of PTSD; and ketamine may be useful when treating depression and eating disorders.

The seven compounds surveyed in Psyched have both medical potential and histories of recreational use. By and large, Siebert eschews discussion of the latter, but also highlights a third area of potential utility. Psychedelics can provide opportunities for considering familiar problems anew, for a radical reframing of one’s relation to self and community and for reflection and renewal. Many of the subjects whose experiences are shared here speak of a greater sense of unity and interconnection with the world and a gentler, more forgiving perspective on their own past and struggles.

The organization of Psyched is exemplary. Each of the psychedelics receives a full-chapter treatment following a similar pattern, consisting of case studies, proposed biochemical explanations of each drug’s action, a discussion of dose and effect and an examination of treatment approaches. Siebert doesn’t shy from highlighting potential risks, such as with ibogaine and MDMA. Particularly welcome are overviews of the traditional cultural use. Here Siebert is sensitive not only to the past, but to the way contemporary Indigenous cultures understand and seek to reclaim their plant medicines.

Siebert’s willingness to let practitioners share their stories comes with a certain risk. Skeptical readers may find discussions of ethereal energies or the claim, for one example, that ibogaine allowed one individual to somehow see into her internal organs and locate heretofore unknown tumours a little off-putting. On the other end of the spectrum, the sections describing each drug’s proposed mechanisms of action are a bit uneven. Siebert generally lets the experts handle the heavy lifting in this regard, and some are more equipped than others to translate complicated medical terminology into vernacular. The description of how MDMA operates within the body is clear and easy to follow; in other cases a large degree of obscurity remains.

Psyched is a welcome addition to the growing body of popular literature on psychedelics. This slender volume provides a focused overview of the most relevant areas of research and application for each substance, while providing enough background and history so the reader has appropriate context.

Siebert may be a proponent of the benefits of psychedelics, but she is no Timothy Leary — and for that researchers are no doubt grateful.

Jarett Myskiw is a retired shed builder.

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