Psühhonaudid. Narkootikumid ja nüüdisaegse mõttemaailma kujunemine

by Mike Jay, Lauri Liiders (Translator), Anu Parnabas (Editor)

20. sajandini uurisid teadlased narkootilisi aineid enda peal katsetades. Droogikogemuste värvikad kirjeldused viisid uute taipamisteni meeleteadustes, farmakoloogias, meditsiinis ja filosoofias. Ajakirjad ja proosateosed innustasid huvitunud avalikkust nendega ise katsetama: nii rändteatris, eksootilistel reisidel, kirjandussalongides kui ka okultsetes rituaalides.
Ent 20. sajandil hakati selliseid aineid üha sagedamini tajuma ühiskondliku probleemina ja ammune enese peal katsetamise komme hakkas hääbuma.

See raamat, mis muu hulgas kirjeldab Sigmund Freudi kokaiinieksperimente ja William Jamesi naerugaasiepifaaniat, hašiši tulekut läände ja narkootikumide kajastamist ilukirjanduses, toob esile kadumaläinud intellektuaalse traditsiooni, mis mõjutas psühholoogia sündi, alateadvuse avastamist ja modernismi esilekerkimist. Meelekosmost uurinud „psühhonaudid“, selgitades psühhoaktiivsete ainete mõju inimteadvusele, edendasid oma eksperimentidega märkimisväärselt õhtumaade teadust, filosoofiat ja kultuuri.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Psychology, Drugs, Philosophy, Health

352 pages, Paperback

Published September 18, 2025

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Reviews

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoyed the segments about Freud, I think they provided me an interesting nuance to what I was told about his drug usage in that history of psychology 101 class I took forever ago. It's pretty much the entire point of this book, to revisit (or explore) how we view self-experimentation with mind altering drugs and how our views of the people who partake in said experimentation has ebbed and flowed over time.

The book is pretty accessible, there is little to no jargon and even someone with little to no knowledge of the topic should be able to understand and enjoy it without resorting to extra material. That being said there is a fair amount of names and personally I found that the chronology sometimes got a little muddled.

It was a thought-provoking read for me in some regards so I might revisit this review later on.

I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[hayatem · Rating 5 out of 5]

كيف أثرت المواد المخدرة منذ مطلع استخدامها في القرن التاسع عشر حتى يومنا هذا في تشكيل العقل والتعايش معه. كما ساهمت في فتح آفاق علاجية جديدة للأمراض النفسية والعصبية، واستخدمت كمخدرات جراحية ومسكنات ألم قوية.
قام العديد من العلماء والأطباء بتجارب ذاتية على أنفسهم لقياس تأثير المواد المخدرة ومدى فعاليتها وأمانها للاستخدام بالرغم من المخاطر والاعتراضات الأخلاقية على ذلك. وأذكر هنا عدد من الأمثلة :

فريدريش سيرتونر (Friedrich Sertürner) – مورفين
في أوائل القرن الـ19
التجربة: بعد أن عزل المورفين من الأفيون، جربه على نفسه وأصدقائه!
النتيجة: لاحظ تأثيره القوي في تخفيف الألم والنوم العميق، لكنه أدرك أيضًا أنه قد يكون خطيرًا جدًا ومُسببًا للوفاة بجرعات عالية.
التأثير التاريخي: أول من عزل مادة فعالة من نبات مخدر، مؤسس علم “الكيمياء الدوائية”.

2. سيغموند فرويد (Sigmund Freud) – كوكايين
في ثمانينات القرن الـ19
التجربة: كان فرويد مفتونًا بالكوكايين، وجرّبه على نفسه لفترة طويلة، وأوصى به لعلاج الاكتئاب والإدمان على المورفين.
النتيجة: أصبح مدافعًا عنه، لكنه لاحقًا أدرك الأضرار عندما أدمن أحد أصدقائه عليه ومات لاحقًا.
الجانب المثير: كتب أوراقًا علمية عن الكوكايين بعنوان “Über Coca”.

❝وجدت في الكوكايين مادة مذهلة تساعد على تحسين المزاج، وتقلل من الإعياء، وتزيد من الثقة بالنفس.❞
— سيغموند فرويد، في رسالة إلى زوجته، 1884

❝في جرعات صغيرة، الكوكايين يمنحك الشعور بالسعادة ويجعل الكلمات تتدفق كالنهر.❞
— من ورقة بحثية لفرويد بعنوان “Über Coca”

لكن لاحقًا، واجه فرويد انتقادات شديدة حين بدأ الأطباء يلاحظون الآثار الجانبية والإدمان الناتج عن استخدام الكوكايين.


3. هوفمان (Albert Hofmann) – LSD

في عام 1943 (وإن كان خارج القرن الـ19، لكنه حالة شهيرة جدًا)
التجربة: عن طريق الخطأ، تعرّض لمادة LSD التي صنعها في المختبر، وبدأ يشعر بتغير في وعيه، فقرر تجربة جرعة أكبر عن قصد بعد أيام.
النتيجة: دخل في أول “رحلة هلوسة” موثّقة في التاريخ الحديث.
سمّي اليوم: “يوم الدراجة” (Bicycle Day) لأنه عاد لمنزله على الدراجة تحت تأثير LSD.

❝كنت أعاني من رؤية غريبة… ألوان حية تتراقص، وأنماط غير مألوفة من الصور تتدفق وتتحول.❞
— ألبرت هوفمان، في وصف أول تجربة LSD له، 1943

‏❝LSD هو دواء يمكن أن يُستخدم كأداة نفسية عميقة، لكنه يحتاج إلى احترام كبير.❞
— من مذكراته “LSD: My Problem Child”


4. همفري أوسموند (Humphry Osmond) – المسكالين (Mescaline)

في الأربعينات والخمسينات
التجربة: جرّب مادة المسكالين بنفسه، ثم بدأ بدراستها كأداة لفهم الأمراض النفسية مثل الفصام.
النتيجة: ساهم في نشر مصطلح “psychedelic” (مؤثرات نفسية عميقة).

5. ويليام جيمس (William James) – أكسيد النيتروز (غاز الضحك)

في أواخر القرن 19
التجربة: جرّب الغاز واستنتج أن الوعي يمكن أن يتغير تمامًا بفعل مواد خارجية.
النتيجة: أثّرت هذه التجربة في فلسفته ونظرياته عن تعددية الوعي.

لكن مازال ليومنا هذا اعتراضات اخلاقية على التجارب الذاتية للمواد المخدرة بغرض طبي أو علمي لعدد من الأسباب اذكر منها:

السلامة الشخصية والمسؤولية المهنية.
التأثير على الجمهور والطلبة.
غياب الضوابط الأخلاقية.
السياق القانوني: في كثير من الدول، حتى لو كان الباحث طبيبًا أو عالِمًا، استخدام المخدرات غير المشروع يعرضه للملاحقة القانونية.التجربة الذاتية قد تُستخدم ضد الباحث لاحقًا لتشويه سمعته أو التشكيك في نتائج أبحاثه.

أمثلة تاريخية على الاعتراض:
• تيموثي ليري (Timothy Leary) – أستاذ من هارفارد، طُرد من الجامعة بسبب تجاربه الذاتية على LSD في الستينات، وقد وُصف بأنه غير مسؤول و”خطير ثقافيًا”.
• في ألمانيا والولايات المتحدة، أُوقفت العديد من الدراسات على MDMA وLSD في السبعينات والثمانينات بسبب المخاوف الأخلاقية والاجتماعية.

في يومنا هذا هناك عدد من التجارب التي تجري لاستخدام المواد المخدرة وفعاليتها في علاج بعض الأمراض وهذا يشمل حالات التوحد، صدمات النفس، الاكتئاب الشديد، القلق، وإدمان المواد. واذكر على سبيل المثال:
تجارب DMT، LSD، 5‑MeO‑DMT بمعدلات سريع، بعض منها في مراحل متقدمة لعلاج الاكتئاب والقلق.

العلاجات النفسية باستخدام المؤثرات (Psychedelics)
VLS-01 (DMT لعلاج الاكتئاب المقاوم للعلاج)
بحسب بيانات الشركة المطوّرة. بدأ المرحلة الثانية من التجارب السريرية في مارس 2025 لعلاج المكتئبين الذين لم يستجبوا للعلاجات التقليدية، وتوقع إعلان النتائج في أوائل 2026.

*سياسات حديثة لتقنين استخدام المخدرات:
عدد من الدول في السنوات الأخيرة بدأت تتبنى سياسات جديدة تجاه بعض أنواع المخدرات، خصوصًا تلك التي تُستخدم لأغراض علاجية أو نفسية. بعضها شرّع الاستخدام الطبي تحت إشراف مراكز مرخصة، وبعضها سمح بالاستخدام الشخصي في جرعات صغيرة ضمن إطار منظم وآمن. أذكر منها أمريكا، هولندا ، كندا ، وألمانيا وآخرون.
وهي تسمح باستخدام مواد معينة مثل MDMA وPsilocybin وKetamine لأغراض علاجية أو تأملية.

الكتاب رائع للمهتمين بدراسة تاريخ المواد المخدرة وتأثيرها العلاجي، وتاريخ الطب والوعي الإنساني .
وأبدع بندر الحربي في الترجمة .

[Nils · Rating 5 out of 5]

On its face it’s a cultural and scientific history of the emergence of interest in various mind-altering substances in the West, mainly the German, English, and French speaking portions. But what it really is, is a history of self-experimentation by scientists who perceived that while the physical effects of chemical on the body could be measured, the subjective, interior, or psychological effects could only be experienced directly by self-administration of the chemicals. What emerges from this in the end is the importance of drugs as a crucial subplot in the broad history of post-Enlightenment North Atlantic intellectual history, one that has run at oblique angles from the Enlightenment’s exaltation of reason and rationality, and shows how drug use has been a specific mechanism for exploring the limits and boundaries of reason defined as objective precision. Subjectivism, the Unconscious, Bounded Rationality, psychism, and other dodgy idea from the point of view of the prigs and puritans.

[AdiTurbo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out as a very interesting read from a fresh perspective - that of self-experimenting and whether it's a valid scientific research method, but by the middle of the book it dwindled to name-dropping and repetitive descriptions of the drug experiences of each and every known person who ever tried drugs. There is no point in going through every celebrity or cultural icon's drug tales if it doesn't serve to prove an argument, shed more light on the issue or deliver an insight. I just couldn't take it anymore. So even though the author is clearly knowledgeable on the subject, did thorough research and chose an interesting angle, I don't think it resulted in an interesting enough read. Sorry.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you fancy yourself a “lover of pleasure, a careless and merry idler of western pavements, a hunter out of snug restaurants, and a fine critic of fantastic dancing”? When you close your eyes, do you see a “saffron inkwell from which is born an emerald mushroom studded with rose fruits”? Growing up, were you inculcated to Just Say No? If you, like Sherlock Holmes, “abhor the dull routine of existence” and “crave for mental exultation,” check out Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind, a consciousness-expanding study of nineteenth and twentieth-century western knowledge of and attitudes toward drug use by cultural historian Mike Jay. If you’ve ever sampled “Dr. J. Collis Browne’s Chlorodyne” or battled insomnia with “spirit of urine and laudanum with milk for three nights,” take a break from your “ether frolics” and “voice tabloids” to consider whether “everything pleasant is forbidden,” a vice is merely a “taste you don’t share,” and “dream begins where the freedom to direct our thoughts ceases.”

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, the book was worth reading. The content was interesting and thorough. But I didn’t find the writing style conversational enough for my taste and at times I found the writing stilted and slow-moving. I also would have liked to read more about the scientific and medical aspects of the subject, but that’s a personal taste thing. I think that people interested in the drug culture side of the story will appreciate this book more than I did. Thank you to Netgalley and Yale University Press for the digital review copy.

[Joe Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of drug history as well as a history of Western civilization. I had no idea how much drugs shaped the modern world, especially our conception of the mind, so, safe to say learned much from this book.

[Erlend Thonstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool book. Informative, neutral description of the psychopharmacological history of cocaine, cannabis, ether, N20, chlorophorm, morphine, peyote and other substances in western culture. 4.5/5

[Daniel Hasegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing overview of the drug culture of the past few centuries. It mostly focuses on 1800s but it gives a great backdrop of the cultural setting of the time. I took so many notes about intense, heroic, and peculiar individuals labeled as Psychonauts.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Today, altered consciousness and non-ordinary reality are primarily associated with the psychedelics that emerged in the 1950s but, as we have seen, explorations of this kind date back much further: psychedelics have colonised a pre-existing cultural niche that flourished long before the term was coined.”

Mike Jay’s focus on the 19th and early 20th century investigations of nitrous, ether and chloroform make for a revealing study in how a culture engages with drugs and their consequent alterations in consciousness. We have, it turns out, an example with which to compare the way psychedelics entered the scene in the mid-20th century.

The metaphysical context at that time was German Idealism and its abstractions. Hegel was all the rage, and in fact William James’s experiments with nitrous, Jay argues, have to take into account his struggle with Hegel’s philosophy. Taken as a whole, this period presents the same gamut of reactions: from “nitrous theatres” in which the disoriented state of the imbiber becomes a monetized spectacle, to materialists who refuse to allow that the nitrous experience is anything other than a “delusion,” to prophets proclaiming the “anesthetic revolution” and the divine qualities of nitrous.

Over and over again we see people making the same mistake: believing that drugs have a linear metaphysical effect. “Take this and you’ll see.” It happened with nitrous, and it is happening now with psychedelics.

Drugs don’t draw their own conclusions about reality. We do.

[Felix George Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The invention of 'drugs' can be seen as an attempt, characteristic of its historical moment, to draw a sharp line between good and bad substances and enforce it with state control. Yet we have known since antiquity that good and bad are not inherent in any particular plant or molecule. As the classical authority Dioscorides wrote over two thousand years ago, "the dose makes the poison": all drugs have the potential to heal or to harm.'

So fascinating, well-researched and well-argued. My fav parts were the tasty morsels of various scientists'/artists'/writers' testimonies of their self-experimentations, some really beautiful descriptions in there.
Sometimes a little name- and date-heavy but on the whole accessibly written. I learned so much, would recommend to anyone inquisitively inclined.

[Ard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of how the western world discovered drugs and their wide ranging effects, focussing for the most part on the 19th century. While interesting and sometimes amusing, it's also pretty repetitive, featuring many, many people who tried nitrous oxide or cocaine or hash or whatever and wrote about it, but whose story didn't really add to much to the multitude of similar stories in this book or necessarily to the main argument. In the first half of the book I regularly reread the text on the back, wondering where all of this was going. It sure was interesting, but not as fascinating as I had expected.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Psychonauts" reads like a work of sociology, primarily focused on the pre-20th century, with only brief mentions of the discoveries and advances made in the mid to late 20th century. I appreciated the book didn't overlap too much with the work of Michael Pollan ("How to Change Your Mind" and "This is Your Mind on Plants"). I was unfortunately looking for contemporary information on the matter, so this wasn't the book for me. Fentanyl Inc and the above mentioned "How to Change Your Mind" covered that interval in far more depth. Still, an informative read.

[Ville Verkkapuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, fun study on my favourite subject: drugs. Why is it my favourite? Because it touches so many subjects: our society, creativity, a need for peace, transcendence, God, progress, slacking off, trauma, failed society, sad histories... it's about everything, always. As was this; a great and wild, fun ride. Reminded me of Trippi ihmemaahan by Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, which is absolutely hilarious, too. The name drops here are pretty wild, from Baudelaire to Balzac to Freud et cetera, many familiar things yet still fresh. I bought this from a bookstore in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco and the atmosphere and day were magical, I loved it and will forever cherish that memory through this book.

[Nathanael · Rating 2 out of 5]

A thorough history of the discovery of and experimentation with many mind altering substances. It is interesting how tightly connected many of them are to the occult and spiritualism. I felt this book glorified the self experimentation the scientists and psychologists utilized, while downplaying the destructive force most of the drugs mentioned have been in the world.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this rather hard going - and wasn’t sure what the point of it was. There is nothing quite so boring as someone describing their drug experiences - and surely the fact that cannabis makes you giggle and gives you the munchies isn’t news…

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly interesting topic but I struggled a bit reading it – there's a clear focus for each chapter on at least one main player and/or one drug but it felt a bit too unfocused, dipping in and out of various snippets of events, people and places. In the end I'm not sure what I'm taking away, knowledge-wise, other than a handful of interesting starting points.

[Nike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mycket engagerade, lätt flytande prosa. En klar femma tack vare tesens originalet, alla spännande exempel från idéhistoriens periferi och det ljuvliga språket – trots viss ovarsamhet när det kommer till källmaterialet och implicerande av orsakssamband som inte kan bevisas.

[Farah van der Kooi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
overall a good overview of the different opinions and perspectives about the use of drugs both in a medical setting and recreationally. sometimes it jumped between time periods and i thought the book would have a tiny bit more of a chemistry perspective but interesting nevertheless.

[Fidel · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro sigue la historia de diversas sustancias psicoactivas (hachís,éter, óxido nitroso, thc....)desde el punto de vista de la evolución y experimentación científica, su impacto en la sociedad y si retroalimentación.
Muy interesante

[Jim Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catalepsy in which the patient became a waxen statue oblivious for an hour to all external stimuli.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Yale University Press for an advance copy on the history of drugs and those who chronicled their experiments both for science and for literature.

Humans have always been explorers. The need to know what is behind that rise, where this river leads and what is on the other side, is something some humans need to know, and others want to exploit. Similar to shaking a gift before opening, humans want to know, and if something is frowned on by polite society, or even better people in authority, well to many that is a reason to explore. This holds true for the inner world as well as the outer world. Humans need a reason to believe. This can't be all there is. There has to be things we can't see, secrets that being raised in a society we have been trained even ordered not to see. Drugs can open this inner world. For deep meanings, to finding a way past trauma, and for just getting through the day. Every experience is different, some can try and move on, some try to find out why, some try and want more, more tries, more experiences, more on top of more. Psychonauts by Mike Jay is a look at those tried drugs for a variety of reasons, science, art, theology, boredom, what they learned, and what happens when governments and puritanical thoughts get in the way of learning, and experimenting.

The book begins with an interesting take on two scientists who tried a long thought lost drug, experimenting on it themselves, based on an old underground newspaper, and written for an academic audience. These two men were roundly denounced by scientists, ethicists, and of course government lackeys for being improper, unethical and wrong. This was in 1995. Within a few years this lizard drug would be feted and talked about for all the great things it could do to help people. From this slight past, readers are brought back further, to Sigmund Freud and his buying of cocaine to help him deal with this tiredness, and problems being around people. Cocaine to Freud was wonderful, and he became quite the apostle, until it became embarrassing, and a part of his life that he would tend to skip over. From there readers learn of other experimenters, writers, artists, and common people, who tried, and wrote about their experiences on drugs, the rise of literary movements, and strides in medicine and philosophical thought. Also the rise of the War on Drugs, and how the benefits of these pharmaceuticals have been ignored and devalued for so long.

A fascinating book that covers quite a lot of subjects. Mike Jay is not only a good writer, but can balance a huge cast of famous, infamous and unknown people, and a huge cast of drugs, without ever losing the narrative, or making it seem like a lecture. Art, science, music, laws, philosophy, and more are discussed and not in a hey kids I am rapping with you kind of way. This is a serious history, with lots of stories, both good and bad. Some stories are kind of humorous, such as the chloroform party, where a group opened up a jar filled with the gas, smelled a nice smell, than the lead researcher awoke on the floor, under his table hearing the sound of bodies falling around him. In fact many of these early psychonauts seemed to do everything wrong, and yet their research are still of value. Jay explores both the artists who found their gifts via drugs, and the changes in politics that artists began to create, and the government enforcement that made us a nation that said no, without knowing why.

A very good book, something that will appeal to literary scholars, hipsters, and historians. A book that will be appearing on quite a few podcasts as there is quite a lot to be learned from reading. One of my favorite new histories of this year.

[Ryan Berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

How seriously should we take drugs as a method of spiritual discovery, personal betterment, and an overall boon to humanity rather than a vice?

This is a comprehensive history of how mind-altering substances have been used throughout history from early adoption by doctors to when the neologism of "drugs" was freshly minted and then saddled with enormous amounts of baggage.

Psychonauts makes a compelling case that the way society treats substances is not so set-in-stone as the war on drugs might lead you to believe. Renowned minds in the fields of medicine, philosophy and art have all extolled the benefits of having these experiences, though the book plays fair and also examines not only the terrible costs of these experiences and whether they invalidate the rewards or are merely a dark dimension of tapping them as a resource.

Much of the material is shockingly repetitive to the point where I thought multiple sections had been copy-pasted. Jay comes equipped with an arsenal of interesting facts and proper contexts for understanding drugs but doesn't arrange his argument in a way that builds to something larger, interweaves ideas at the proper places, or is even sometimes satisfactorily coherent. He doesn't get lost in florid prose that tries too hard to capture the crystalline visions of drug tripping, as his writing style that joins many of the quotes doesn't stand out (which is probably a good thing given his source material). It's the most basic sequencing of information that I feel gets too chaotic.

Still, it rarely gets old listening to some of the most important poets and writers in the world discuss their experience with drugs. As Jay points out, there is a desire among enthusiasts and believers to have trained reporters describe the sensations and observations in these altered states.

The exploration of cultural contexts for drugs ultimately makes this book worth reading. Reading about the use and abuse of drugs by doctors (and their spouses!) was fascinating, as were the hasheesh dens and pharmaceutical tinkerers and even two surprisingly fun dives into the literary world with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

I kept waiting for Jay to talk about Huxley, who is finally referenced in the last fifth~ of the book-- a massive feat of restraint. Huxley, as the author of Brave New World and the essays The Doors of Perception & Heaven and Hell, is a towering figure in the world of mind-altering substances. His cerebral spelunking was not the first or most expansive dive into what it's like to trip (which becomes painfully obvious throughout the book, making me wonder why it was Huxley's book caught the gust of mainstream updrafts), but his warning about state-sanctioned mind alteration was revolutionary. To hear him renounce some of the spiritual journey he'd been on because he'd properly weighed the costs and seen the room for abuse and control spoke volumes.

Lots of good, interesting information that could be much more artfully arranged.

[ApolloEyes7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Mike Jay writes books about "drugs" and in a way attempts to destigmatize them. In this book, Psychonauts, he digs really deep into Opium and Cocaine in particular, especially in the first third of the book, delineating Sigmund Freud's use of Cocaine and Morphine. Also, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's personification of Sherlock Holmes in his early novels as administering Cocaine and Opium. Which changed, of course, as reports of these substances addictive qualities and side effects led to them becoming unwelcome and banned by laws against their common use. For example, the removal of Cocaine from Coca-Cola, overdose deaths, etc. Like his previous book, Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic, these books are like information dumps of drug history.

I gave this one four stars. Almost three. But I gave his previous book four stars and it's basically the same. It just covers more different substances. I do feel he needs more chapters and can take somewhat more of a novelist approach, or approach of an opinion piece. This is because his books are like gigantic news articles that scroll and give you tons of information, and some thought, but never go too deep. That's kind of frustrating! Still, if you are just walking or driving and need an easy read and want to learn a couple things, Mike Jay is the man for that!

A lot of these topics are common knowledge for people familiar with similar books, however Mike Jay always has some interesting information that didn't reach your ears! Drug culture, or "medication" use, or "substances", whichever taboo or nontaboo word you use, is a reality in our world. You may be antidrug, but have you ever taken sugar, caffeine, or prescription or over the counter medications? Who determines which medications are the most evil? During periods of time (eras) this all kind of changed. Addictions used to be thought to be vulnerabilities of the wealthy and scientific.

I won't bore you. The rest of you already know about these topics, or you can find them in this book, which I read on Audible. If you liked Mike Jay's last book you'll like this. There's a kind of person who reads books like this and you don't have to experiment to enjoy a good drug history book. They are books for the curious. People not curious about what substances are or how they work should not read this (or they could in order to benefit and learn things). The curious will wonder, maybe they'll explore the Tarot section of the book store, investigate ghosts and mystical motifs, or listen to Jimi Hendrix. A book like this could be more interesting to a person who never used any substances described in the book! For the curious, open-minded. Mike Jay, read on a weekend day.

[History Today]

As early as the 1790s, doctors, scientists and other specialists sought to plumb the expanses of their minds through psychoactive drug use in pursuit of better knowledge of their chosen substances’ effects. On these quests, self-experimentation was long regarded as indispensable and, before the late 19th century, had public and professional support. As the century progressed, the mood changed due to growing concerns regarding the risk of addiction, a preference for ‘objective’ forms of research that overlooked a drug’s benefits, and – consequently – support for outlawing their use. The last 30 years have seen resumed support for self-experimentation in ascertaining the usefulness of psychedelic drugs. Taking the long view, Mike Jay helps us understand the historical complexities behind modern-day drug policy.

Jay’s title comes from the German author Ernst Jünger. In his 1949 novel Heliopolis Jünger coined the term psychonauts to refer to people who used drugs to explore their minds. Collectively, Jay’s subjects experimented with laughing gas, ether, chloroform, hashish, morphine, cocaine, mescaline and LSD. Some of his psychonauts will be familiar: Sigmund Freud, for example, who used cocaine and studied its potential therapeutic value, or Timothy Leary, who experimented with LSD. Jay also includes many less famous but equally influential self-experimenters, sharing their insights, their impacts and the reasons why their approaches fell from favour.

Advocates of self-experimentation insisted that, without trying it themselves, they could not understand a drug’s effects, given how inscrutable second-hand accounts could be. In the 1790s, one such psychonaut wrote of laughing gas that, under its influence, ‘I feel like the sound of a harp’. Many researchers hoped to experience the visions and feelings that the substances inspired, and thereby to determine the drugs’ value in treating ailments. Others saw substances as providing a portal to insights and truths otherwise unattainable or hidden. When the French psychiatrist Jacques-Joseph Moreau tried hashish, for example, he concluded that ‘the inner world of dreams and the waking state of reason’ could ‘coexist and observe one another’. In 1902, the American philosopher William James claimed that our ‘waking consciousness’ was not our only consciousness.

Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.

Elizabeth K. Gray is the author of Habit Forming: Drug Addiction in America, 1776-1914 (Oxford University Press, 2022).

[Jim G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched and referenced history of scientific, medical, psychological, and cultural approach to utilising various drugs for self-exploration, and use in research and scientific communities with a focus on 18th-early 20th century consciousness studies and text. Roots itself in Freud's early research but the prevailing lens Jay uses is William James's famous work on mystical and religious experience. Takes the reader through a journey through late 19th century Paris, London culturally with plenty of discussion on Yeats, Baudelaire, Wordsworth, Robert Louis Stevenson; as well as the philosophical backdrop experiences and experimentation were occurring, including Hegel, Kant and others. Takes reader through the shifting societal norms of late 19th into 20th century in rise of social progressivism, ie. John Stuart Mill and early sociology, Durkheim, Weber, which frames many of the 20th century backlash and approaches to prohibition, rise of liberal institutions, productive class vs under-class, modern alienation and disillusionment etc.
While sufficiently covers 20th century modern and late modern movements and events around Aleister Crowley, Leary and others into the 1960's landscape and war on drugs, the book avoids pitfalls of other discourse on these topics which primarily either demonise or over-sensationalise. Yet still leaves the reader open-minded, particularly by building the backbone of the approach around William James work and then transitioning nicely into Aldous Huxley; correctly leaving the reader with a quick dose (no pun intended) of current promising research with psychedelics on PTSD, Depression, Addiction as well as other neurological and physiological potential benefits, and perhaps more in a western society becoming increasing medicated with legal prescription medicine while simultaneously become more physically unfit and having increases in mental illness, suicide rates and other neurological disease...Given societal / corporate stigmas this remains a challenging topic to discuss, let alone research, books like this are important to shift the narrative and fact patterns, without sensationalising and undermining the efforts to bring discussions on consciousness and altered states further into mainstream spaces. Jay does a great job doing this, and is an important work to provide the historical scientific and cultural background into the dialogue, although it is not a leisurely read.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind by Mike Jay is a wonderful history of drugs in, primarily, western culture and how they played a role in how all of us experience the world.

Like the title makes clear, this is about the "making of the modern mind," so there really shouldn't be a problem about not going deep into the science. That is kinda like criticizing a book about heavy metal for not going deep enough into James Taylor. If you want the science, there are plenty of options available, have a ball. This is not that book, never claimed to be and, frankly, serves a much bigger purpose by not being that book. How we got here is about how people use what science gives us, not the science itself. Both are essential, but unapplied science doesn't cause societal impact.

In light of the reassessment of psychoactive drugs for medical use, the focus here is largely on that area. It is, after all, the substances that caused or assisted with both scientific and artistic advances that became among the most misunderstood and the most criminalized. And no, those writers did not all see God (and a lot of their writing was very successful, but probably over the idiot's head), that is an ignorant comment from someone who prefers to capitalize on the criminalization of drugs rather than any benefits humans can gain. Pity the fool.

Jay certainly highlights both the positives and negatives of early experimentation and use, but also shows how so many of those people did exhibit caution, based on the science available to them then. For every historical figure one can point to who overdid it, there are a handful who, like Freud, exhibited moderation and caution. And, even for those who have no experience with nor desire to try these drugs, their discoveries have played a role in how we view the world.

I would recommend this to readers who would like a history to accompany the current events that will no doubt be reported with bias and sensationalism on both sides. This is not just for those into the "drug culture," but those into contemporary culture as a whole. Take off the blinders!

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Mike Jay, the publishers and NetGalley for this Advance reading copy of Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind. It's a detailed account of how people in some advanced societies in the west experimented with drugs and used them to stimulate thought and art. It's not an encyclopedic look at the topic – Jay focuses on people in Paris, London, Vienna, and William James in America. He follows the scientists who used self-experimentation to test out properties of drugs, but also to see what they could learn about subjective experience, and for enjoyment (the famous dinner parties of James Young Simpson, where guests would test out the latest chemical synthesised by the doctor gets a mention, as do the 'ether frolics' of medical students at the end of term).

Of course, it wasn't just scientists who were experimenting and the book is full of stories of the artists who used drugs to transcend reality. It also looks at how the use of drugs seeped into culture. Patent medicines were commonly laced with opiates, cocaine, ether or chloroform; in Paris, ether was added to cocktails. Prepared tinctures and pills could be bought from pharmacies, and the ill could self-medicate using pharmacological manuals.

Far from the staid and stuffy image we sometimes have of Victorian culture, Psychonauts gives a picture of open-mindedness and relentless curiosity. The final chapters cover the backlash against drugs in the early 20th century and the discovery of psychedelics. It's a fascinating book – I took lots of notes – but it is quite academic in style, so it took me quite a while to read and digest. If you're looking for a light book on the subject, this may not be for you.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Jay has written other work on aspects of the drug culture – although he may dispute the use of the word 'drug' as the varying types of psychoactive materials have changed the designation.
The book aptly breaks down the use, definition, experimentation with, and effect of drugs in excellent ways to understand the impact without any overly detailed explication of a particular period or look of it. Some of us of a certain age look at the 1960's as a unique period, the center of the universe. It was not the first or perhaps most thoughtful of the periods of experimentation throughout relatively modern history. The brisk tour focuses on the nineteenth century onwards because the thoughts, writings, and research of the period had the most influence on the present. There is some connection of drugs or other ecstatic practices from earlier times, but these are in the context of the time period.
For me, influential writers, scientists, charlatans, and others, were sequenced into whole cloth that is a full picture of the current time. Perhaps what isn't covered completely is the impact of opioids during the most current times, but I'm not sure that impact is as important as it is tragic.
I really recommend this book not because it touts or endorses drugs, but because it contextualizes them within our history.

[أويس عبد القادر · Rating 5 out of 5]

تثير المخدرات على أشكالها غموضا وفضولا في الإنسان، وبالنسبة لأغلب الذين جربوها كانت تجربتهم الأولى بدافع الفضول، ومن فورها تتحول هذه المخدرات إلى باب يفضي إلى تجربة نفسية عميقة لا يمكن وصفها بكلمات، ولا يمكن لإنسان إدراكها إلا أن يعيشها
لهذا تساءل الإنسان -من بين ما تساءل- ما سر هذه الرؤى والخبرات التي أعيشها حال تعاطي المخدر؟ هل هي حقيقة؟ هل تفضي المخدرات لعالم آخر؟ لحقيقة لا يمكن كنهها بالعقل والمنطق؟ هل هي مماثلة لما يتحدث عنه الصوفيون؟
وضعت هذه التساؤلات على محك النقد في أوروبا القرن السابع عشر والثامن عشر والتاسع عشر، عندما صار المنهج العلمي أداة منتشرة بين المفكرين لاكتشاف الحقيقة، فظهر مصطلح الرائد النفسي أو الملّاح النفسي psychonauts
ويشير المصطلح إلى هؤلاء المفكرين والحالمين والطامحين في أن يجدوا في المخدرات طريقا يوصلهم إلى حقائق ظلت عصية على العقول، إذن هم ليسوا مجرد متعاطين ومدمنين، بل هم مفكرون منهم سيغموند فرويد النفساني، ووليام جيمس الفيلسوف، ووليام رامزي الكيميائي، جميعهم حاولوا أن يسبروا أغوار الوعي من خلال المخدرات لعلهم يهتدون إلى شيء.
ستجد في الكتاب شواهد كثيرة، واقتباسات وقصصا، وتتبعا لظهور هذه الممارسة إن صح التعبير، وهذا ما يدل على سعة اطلاع الباحث وصبره في الرجوع إلى المصادر القديمة والتفتيش فيها.
والترجمة العربية موفقة جدا، وليس بها أدنى ركاكة أو عيب، كتاب جيد لمن أراد الاطلاع والبحث في هذا الموضوع، هو كنز جديد يدخل للعربية.