How To Change Your Mind is an upcoming four-part documentary series about the history and medicinal use of psychedelic drugs, each part zeroing in on a different drug.
Release date
The docu-series is set to premiere on Netflix on July 12 and will consist of four parts.
Creators
Presented by Alex Gibney and Michael Pollan
Directed by Alison Ellwood and Lucy Walker
Produced by Isaac Bolden, Julian Cautherley, Alison Ellwood, Alex Gibney, Evan Lerner, Alexandra Meistrell, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Michael Pollan, Tahria Sheather, Lucy Walker
Synopsis
“Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and New York Times best-selling author Michael Pollan present this documentary series event in four parts, each focused on a different mind-altering substance: LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and mescaline. With Pollan as our guide, we journey to the frontiers of the new psychedelic renaissance – and look back at almost-forgotten historical context – to explore the potential of these substances to heal and change minds as well as culture.”
Other details
Also discussed in the series is Maria Sabina’s role in Westerners’ exposure to the mind-opening effects of psychedelic drugs. A Mexican shaman, she was the first to allow those from western cultures to engage in a healing ritual, which required participants to ingest psilocybin mushrooms in order to heal.
Trailer
Presented by Alex Gibney and Michael Pollan, How To Change Your Mind explores the subject of psychedelic drugs, shedding light on the bright side of the controversial substance. Considered “bad and evil” by many, the mind-altering substances are said to scramble your chromosomes and compel you to jump off buildings.
Based on a book of the same name by Pollan, the series covers the various benefits and appalling controversies of four psychedelic drugs – mescaline, psilocybin, MDMA and LSD. It also illustrates the past and future of their use as a medicine by putting forth the contributions of Maria Sabina and the ongoing drug war.
Turning to past studies to understand the true effects of the drugs, Pollan came across some surprising results. Through real accounts of those suffering from mental health problems like OCD, PTSD, alcoholism, and depression who benefitted from its use, the series depicts the potential of psychedelic therapy to revolutionize mental health care.
It argues that these drugs that broaden the lens of the mind are the tools to help get a better understanding of the mind and relieve human suffering.
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