Why does the ego disappear?

Experiments have shown that psychedelics diminish blood flow and oxygen consumption in an area of the brain called the default mode network, or DMN. The DMN, which scientists have nicknamed the “me network,” acts as a gatekeeper for consciousness, filtering out information so that the brain can operate more efficiently. As the DMN gets turned off, people experience a sudden opening of the gates of perception, ideas, and visions, with vivid hallucinations that give participants new insights into themselves and into life itself.

What are the benefits?

Researchers say they can be profound and wide-ranging. One

2014 Johns Hopkins study found that 80 percent of smokers who underwent psilocybin-assisted therapy reported that they remained smoke-free six months afterward. “The universe was so great, and there were so many things you could do and see in it that killing yourself seemed like a dumb idea,” one smoker told Pollan. A

2016 study reported that 83 percent of cancer patients with depression and anxiety enjoyed profound increases in life satisfaction or well-being from a single psilocybin dose. About two-thirds of study participants ranked the therapy among the “top five spiritually significant” events in their lives. One professed atheist recalled feeling “bathed in God’s love.” Fear of death often disappears.

Why are these drugs illegal?

During the 1950s, some psychologists thought psychedelics could revolutionize mental health treatment. But when recreational use of these powerful substances became popular among hippies in the 1960s, it sparked a backlash, with tales of bad trips and psychotic breaks. In 1965, the federal government banned psychedelic drugs, and the companies stopped producing them for research. Timothy Leary, the rebel psychologist who encouraged youngsters to “turn on, tune in, and drop out,” was branded “the most dangerous man in America” by President Richard Nixon. But after decades of underground use, research into their value has experienced a renaissance. In 2018, the FDA designated psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” for depression and anxiety. A year later, Johns Hopkins University launched the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research—the same year that Imperial College in London launched its center. “The hoary ’60s platitude that psychedelics would help unlock the secrets of consciousness,” Pollan says, “may turn out not to be so preposterous after all.”