Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics

In 2018, Londoño (national correspondent, New York Times) attended a retreat deep in Brazil’s rainforest. Severely depressed, he thought the retreat’s ceremonies, which involved drinking a psychoactive brew called ayahuasca, would help him. He was surprised when consuming it gave him relief nearly instantly. Since then, he has attended other retreats, taken more ayahuasca and other medicinal psychedelics, and talked to others who’ve taken medicinal psychedelics. He found that many of these substances have helped others with debilitating depression as well. This engaging book is a chronological collection of his and their experiences. He highlights both the potential beneficial and negative effects of powerful mind-altering compounds along with the many legal issues associated with them. Of special note are the stories he has of war veterans using psychedelics to help them overcome the effects of PTSD.