Trippy by Ernesto Londo?o

Comes out today! Trippy by Ernesto Londo?o postures to cover the potential and pitfalls of psychedelics in health through personal experience. He starts with ayahuasca retreats, the original subject of his book, and expands slightly to other psychedelics, such as kambo, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), and psilocybin.

The most powerful story is his introduction to ayahuasca at a retreat in the Brazilian rainforest. After a nine-day visit of promise and disappointment, he notes that “this experience had fundamentally jolted my mind and lifted my mood. Loops of obsessive, dark thoughts, so often the grist of depression, had given way to a more expansive and curious perception of the current moment.” This led to a “sublime sense of calm.” This is the promise of psychedelics to help address the health crisis in mental illness. Although folks have experimented scientifically and socially in the past, it appears that now is the age where we have the best opportunity to shed stigma over the illnesses, which are caused by diseases, and the treatments using psychedelics taken from traditional medicines used in religious rituals and for therapeutic purposes, as well as “new” drugs developed and marketed recently.

The future is not always as bright as promised. Londo?o tells the sad tale of an adventurous retreat selling kambo purging rituals and delivering rape. He notes that “when you’re administering psychoactive drugs to people in distress, a lot can go terribly wrong.”

Many of the cures introduce significant adverse side effects with little scientific evidence of positive effects. As in all health situations, the folks looking for cures are suffering from real illnesses and diseases. Distress and desperation are the norm to them and they rightfully are looking for relief. And many have tried conventional medicine without luck and many are at their wit’s end. The vulnerability, Londo?o notes, from sleep deprivation and “powerful mind-altering drugs” (and the stress of the underlying illness) compromises consent. He cites an U.S. State Department advisory, most recently re-issued in November 2023, specific to Ayahuasca and Kambo ceremonies in Peru. Scary. Potential tools to fight diseases pose significant risks, especially at the hands of unscrupulous shamans. Londo?o attends a psychedelics conference “where a dizzying array of quacks, showboats, and acclaimed scientists took turns holding court.” Only the latter are worth listening to, but the former command much more attention and money; Londo?o notes that “most [leading scholars] expressed concern that the hype is outpacing the science.”

Londo?o describes his experience on ketamine as a “blissful withdrawal” where he lost control of his body and mind, awakening his mind forty-five minutes later thinking about the dance of faith and fear. One of his fears was of “how future employers would think of the mental health challenges [he discloses] in [his] book.” He balanced that against the faith that those employers might weigh the “perspective and resilience” gained by exploring his health. We need more people willing to recognize that health is health and everyone deserves good health.

Londo?o concludes his trip with the recognition that some potential solutions have to be binned due to the significant extensive long-time psychotherapy that can be required for effective treatment of some mental health issues. But the impact would be massive to individuals and society, at large. There are no practical answers in Londo?o’s book, but a personal introduction to some of the health issues and potential psychedelic solutions that we need to explore as individuals and as society.

@celadonbooks #readtrippy