Psyched

Seven Cutting-Edge Psychedelics Changing the World

By: Amanda Siebert

Narrated by: Amanda Siebert

• A uniquely practical guide to a trending topic: Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind has sold 180k+ copies. Companies that are developing psychedelic treatments are shooting up in value. Psyched serves as a simple yet definitive guide to these trending treatments, explaining to a lay listener how they work and why.
• Seven psychedelic substances are explored in-depth including MDMA, LSD, ketamine, ayahuasca, peyote, iboga and psilocybin.
• Backed by extensive research: Siebert synthesizes pages and pages of clinical trials, interviews with medical professionals and health practitioners, patient testimonials, and stories from Indigenous peoples.
• Engaging and easy-to-read: simple, short chapters give listeners everything they need to know about each treatment.
• Depression, anxiety, trauma, and pain: are all explored as difficulties that can be aided by psychedelics.

©2022 Amanda Siebert (P)2022 Greystone Books

Critic reviews

“[A] well-researched, impassioned survey … Siebert elegantly combines history, accessible science, case studies, and her own experience with drugs … This smart study fascinates.”—Publishers Weekly

“Siebert shows us how psychedelics can transform mental health and enhance the way we live.”—Sara Gottfried MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Hormone Cure

“A captivating read that weaves together extensive data and heartfelt personal stories to share how society can use psychedelics to transform the way we exist in the world.”—Robin Divine, writer, psychedelic advocate, and creator of Black People Trip

Great overview for those new to psychedelics

Concise review and/or overview of the history and current state of various traditional and non-traditional psychedelics. I appreciated the mix of both indigenous wisdom and scientific or clinical research. This book would be best for beginners or newcomers to the field. Those experienced in psychedelics may glean most from deeper, more thorough information found in other books.

Average info, boringly self-righteous at times

The good: straightforward reportage of the existing knowledge without getting too weedy

The bad: the dangers associated with various compounds are stated with little to no context or comparative risk analysis, eg, mortality from ketamine use versus mortality from alcohol use

The annoying: preachy and woke at times, with an epilogue that with no hint of irony excoriates corporate greed and intellectual property—while the author sells (for profit) her copyright-protected work (paying lip service to indigenous wisdom) on a software platform owned by a billionaire corporation that relies on a hardware platform owned by a trillionaire corporation.