User Reviews

I found this to be a very hopeful and inspiring documentary, regarding the renaissance of psychedelic drugs for the treatment of the most critical mental illnesses. Research on four different drugs has been given the green light to resume after initial trials in the 1950s and early 1960s. These drugs are being proven to genuinely help with long entrenched maladies such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, providing real and lasting help to those so afflicted. Should be mandatory viewing for policymakers involved with overhauling America's mental health delivery system.

This series is a great way to show the beauty in these compounds and the benefits of medical use in a very interesting way. I believe this can change the future of mental health positively as well as many others.

It was also very educational in the history behind psychedelics which I also enjoyed to watch.

Really wonderful information, but I don't understand why they weigh so heavily on mysticism when we have a lot of scientific understanding how spirituality works. Our brains have a mechanism that is a bit of a slider switch between "self" and "no self". The more we live in fear, anxiety, focus, the more we trend towards "self" because it is precisely linked with survival - if you don't focus on "self" then you are less likely to survive in the wild. Psychedelics throw the switch the other way and make us forget about ourselves as individual beings, which much like religious experiences, makes us feel "one with all". It's not magic, it's an evolutionary mechanism. Wish they would talk more about the science we already have.

I've found it's hard to force spirituality on anybody, and difficult to stress the importance of these chemicals for living a full life (for some). Shows like this are excellent ways of spreading the word, and inspiring more people to get involved.

Michael Pollan explains things very well - if you've seen him on various podcasts or read his book you'll know that.

Sometimes a lot of the accounts can become slightly repetitive, but that's probably just my opinion as I've seen a lot of similar content.

Highly recommend.

MT.

The documentary unfolds meaningful topics that are much needed in our time of superficial, fast paced lives, governed by quick consumption media and confused values. Of course, the information is not new in any way since it has been explored for 1000s of years already. It's just that researching it from a scientific point of view is only a few decades old and has tragically been relegated to the woowoo department.

I've been saying the same things for the past 23 years, but of course, most people prefer to focus on gratifying their senses and anything beyond that falls on deaf ears.

Hopefully, this great docu will get the exposure it deserves. But the docu is not that important in itself. It's the message within that matters.

Our consciousness is the greatest mystery in our lives, and it is only by radically exploring this mystery that we can achieve lasting, positive change within ourselves. And it is only by doing that that we can hope to change society as a whole.

Michael Pollan has again proven himself to be one of the frontmen of the modern day psychedelic resurrection. Psychotherapy is the messiah to our current mental health epidemic. This series paints a rationalized, trustworthy picture of psychedelic substances, and puts it in a new light. Throughout the course of history, the human consciousness has consistently increased in complexity. The downside is that the mental complaints are increasing in complexity as well.

I truly believe the subject of this documentary is the key to stagnate the upward trend of the dark side of the human brain.

So long classified as dangerous drugs, certain psychedelics, when used under the integrity of trained guidance for the purpose of personal growth and healing, are amazingly effective at getting at the root cause of issues preventing us from being our best selves. This series does a wonderful job of presenting this perspective in a way that is both fascinating and informative.

I'm a proponent of psychedelics, they are useful and I have benefited from taking them. The film is an interesting, however one sided information is presented as fact. Pretty fun to watch if you realize that you are what you are watching is a proponents "for" sided argument in an academic debate. Factually there are some foibles: Bill Wilson started getting sober in 1935ish, LSD wasn't distributed until 1947. It did not birth AA, AA was around before WWII.

During the LSD experience the fella at the start has, he described himself in the womb with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck such that he couldn't breathe. Then described this as a memory from his past. It didn't seem anyone attempted to explain to him you don't breathe air in the womb. It was much more likely that it was metaphorical.

Pretty interesting if you realize you don't have to do psychedelics to accomplish something great, nor does taking psychedelics mean you will invent the next PCR technique.

I really enjoyed this series. I felt each episode dealt more with the possible medical applications of various psychedelic agents and as a whole lead me to suggest a series title of "How to Heal (Your Mind & Society)" which yes is also, "How to Change Your Mind", as what the series might have to offer.

There were many things going on in the 1960's - Viet Nam, Woodstock and drugs both medically and recreationally. A lot of drugs were misused so the government banned LSD. In a 2022 world there are so many drugs that are being used to treating mental health patients. This series is educational, informative and entertaining. It is worth watching but be warned that it is very repetitive.

Psychedelics could very well be the key that saves us. Every "world leader" should gather for a ceremony, at least once a year, instead of quarreling at a distance over riches or lands no one really owns.

I think I liked Michael Pollan. I've heard him in radio interviews. I have only watched like 15 minutes of this thing, and I already hate it with the intensity of the burning sun. Right off the start, you know it's bad cause he describes what appears to be a nasal spray of a specific cocktail of "tobacco" drugs, and he's idiotically thinking it's some amazing experience. IT'S CALLED NICOTINE YOU IDIOT.

I refuse to watch the rest as I'm sure it's complete crystal-loving drivel. I have nothing but disrespect for these boomer losers. Hallucinogens are quite wonderful, but this show sucks. Eat s--t, Michael Pollan. You'll probably think it's life changing.

Religion gets a bashing with no balance. America was not founded mainly on religious freedom. It had that idea to begin with for a few but the grip of gun violence and stealing of the land from the natives for personal wealth ruled.

The piece on the mass ground is untrue and has been fuelled by a catalogue of misinformation and no excavations have proved it to even be a grave. Even the number is made up.

Most of the schools were run by the government and not the churches so get your facts right.

Whilst the world has gone mad in the media to justify climate change the corporations and governments do nothing to help the situation.

This is a great subject, lots of interesting facts and so on. However, how they present it, what I'd call production and/or production value, is terrible. My friend described it as a bad PowerPoint, and as I laughed I realized, that's exactly how I feel.

This is a wonderful, science-based documentary that challenges everything they taught us in school about psychedelics.

Each episode is devoted to a different substance and covers a wide range of topics from the history of its discovery and use, scientific research, personal accounts of profound transformation induced by the substance, the political battle against the use of psychedelics and more.

Some reviews here say that the series is based on anecdotal evidence and no scientists were consulted. This is completely untrue and anyone claiming so did not watch the documentary. There are many people form the scientific community showing up in the series and sharing their knowledge and actual scientific data on this topic.

I hope the series gets seen by the right people and I hope that helps in making psychedelics mainstream AGAIN.

If you, a family member, or close friend have tried every pharmaceutical drug on the market to alleviate your suffering, and you still are struggling to make ends meet, this documentary series is FOR YOU.

Personally, I and my family member suffering from these insidious diseases have not tried these drugs, but the thought that there is another option, gives me hope and peace of mind.

It is human nature to question the unknown, and there's always that saying "too good to be true". However, until you suffer like my family has, you have no idea the impact this show has made on our lives. Keep faith, stay strong, and know you are NOT alone.

I watched the first episode, the one about LSD. In my younger daze I was quite well acquainted with the dreaded lysergic. I went to AA for many years and I heard about Bill W taking acid after he got sober. The TV show stated that he got sober because of his acid experience.....not so, he got sober 8 yrs before acid was invented. I heard he was looking for a cure for his long term depression so he tried acid.

Other than the misinformation I enjoyed watching the episode.

...for the doctor I am, who regrets but don't wonder that so much misconception and disinformation has been thrown on these plants/substances.

A short search on the internet showed Peyote can be easily bought online, some sites are in UK ( don't know about taxes and legislation here, if you are not an US resident) so I wonder why Michael Pollan hasn't made appeal to these sources to complete his itinerary.

I would also liked not to see all these masks and people keeping weird distances when gathered - I know we've all gone through this insanity but the movie is about extending the boundaries of the mind and opening the mind and go against the mainstream of thought and then you see children with harmful masks on the street - it's like hairs in the soup.

Sure i know it has its benefits in correct setting and so on, but na the people need something stronger and a lot more natural - ie actual psychedelics ! Lsd , Peyote , psilocybe! That there any of those 3 is powerful enough to truly deliver change ! For one btw mdma isnt a true psychedelic (not that the docuseries mentioned these but just for the record - niether is fly agaric for that matter it's a deliriant by far a psychedelic , and neither is ketimine! It's a dangerous dissociative!! You want the things that really make you associate the world around us..)

And don't pissy foot around with it either , as in on great experience is much beneficial than several light micro doses , sure start low but look to work way along over the course of a month...

More psychedelic retreats are needed across Europe , starting with the U. K. ! They are proven to work , so why waste anymore time longing this off ! ?

This was awesome!!! The fact that it changes how you think and your beliefs is more than necessary in this world everywhere.

My suggestion would be to study their effects on psychopaths and sociopaths, to see if they can get connected to the spiritual side of being a human and if they can start feeling real empathy and understand it. Also for prison people, they would actually understand and feel what damage they have done and actually work on themselves to be better and maybe even get reintegrated in society.

A lot can be done and tried with these substances, I just hope that we can all come together as people and fight for what's really important and eradicate this toxic greed that has engulfed us for so long.

Why wasn't dmt included? And why talk about peyote if you don't want people to use peyote? I feel this is just gonna backfire, telling everyone about it will just make a bunch of enterprising people all the more hunt it down.

Having some familiarity with the various ebbs and flows of public sentiment and "science" regarding a fair number of substances, I was fully prepared for the inevitable sales pitch about the God drug - MDMA - and even for the Song of Ayahuasca. Imagine my surprise when the first episode - LSD - was chock full of images and snarky analysis regarding replacing Judeo/Christian traditions and beliefs. They couldn't even wait for the more appropriate episodes. Now, lest anyone think that I am dead set against drugs for benefits, I am fully aware of the fact that FDA / AMA medications range from mildly helpful to extremely dangerous, and that a gigantic percentage of the American public has been carefully brainwashed to think drugs are the answer to all our woes. 37 million are on anti-depressants. It is inevitable that outside experimentation would rise and that idiot-pandering Netflix would inject their own brand of value.

Still, a lot of people are unaware that mushrooms were at the root of the most vicious warriors in history, ie, the Viking berserkers, who worked themselves into a murderous frenzy by the use of drugs. At one time or another, meth, cocaine, and a variety of opioids were thought to be the perfect and nonaddictive solution to creativity and happiness. Heroin use was legend among jazz musicians, many of whom died directly or indirectly from its use. But buyer beware - Netflix would not have so many messages about religion if they just wanted you to feel better.

Not only does this documentary feel incredibly skewed towards being positive on drugs, it's boring as hell. Those giving this a 10 were probably on LSD.

Not sure if anyone noticed but every person in this series that expressed their opinion and shared the knowledge on this topic does not have sufficient level of credibility to say and assure general population that these type of drugs are harmless and "beneficial." Did not see any pharmacists or actual doctors in it (not PhD or PsychD).

One star is for the information given on the history of drugs.