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Description
A groundbreaking work of investigative journalism exposing the race to profit off the psychedelics revolution, and the battle to control our mental health system.
When journalist Olivia Goldhill started reporting on psychedelics a decade ago, the science suggested that the still-criminalized drugs would transform the mental health industry. Studies showed that psychedelics could alleviate depression and trauma and were set to be the first new mental health treatment in a generation. But as she kept reporting, she uncovered a far more complex story.
A battle was brewing behind the scenes-a fight not just for control, but for the very meaning of these drugs. Hippies and scientists believed that tripping was a gateway to a more holistic approach to mental health, relying heavily on therapy and community support. But billionaire-backed entrepreneurs also saw an opportunity and threatened to subsume this alternative approach with cutthroat pharmaceutical tactics, controlling psychedelics with patents and churning out pills for profit. Meanwhile, activists in Oregon began to build their own system, entirely outside of the medical sphere.
In Empire of the Mind, Goldhill dives into the world of corporate behemoths, nonprofits, and community activists, each fighting to control the future of these potentially transformative-and lucrative-psychedelic therapies.
Sitting at the intersection of business and mental health, Empire of the Mind sounds an urgent alarm about how one of the last vestiges of counterculture could end up tamed into a capitalist product. With gripping on-the-ground reporting, Goldhill unveils the power of the mental health industry to control not just treatments, but our understanding of our own minds.
Product details
| Published | Jan 26 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 272 |
| ISBN | 9781639732197 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Illustrations | n/a |
| Dimensions | 235 x 156 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Turn on, tune in, cash out. This riveting expose reveals the big money and power trying to hijack the psychedelic revolution. The wild story spins from shocking cover ups to outlandish patent battles, revealing the enormous stakes in a hidden fight over the human mind.
Christopher Leonard, author of Kochland and The Lords of Easy Money
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Olivia Goldhill is a tenacious reporter, and Empire of the Mind is an insightful and compelling account of the forces shaping the psychedelic renaissance-a story of idealists, opportunism and the seemingly unshakable constraints of human nature. An essential read for understanding the strange new industry of altered states.
Kimon de Greef, author of The Ego Trip: Psychedelic Toads, a Trail of Deaths, and the Guru Who Peddled Transcendence
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As psychedelics race toward acceptance as medications for our minds, Olivia Goldhill waves a much-needed and well-researched yellow flag. Empire of the Mind exposes the dark side of the gurus, research institutions, and industry players that have promoted psychedelics as nearly magical cures.
Daniel Bergner, author of The Mind and the Moon: My Brother's Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches
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Such an important book: so beautifully written and moving that it holds its journalistic rigor lightly. Whether you're an enthusiastic psychonaut or have never heard of Timothy Leary, this fantastic book is a clear-eyed tour through an area of science, health, and philosophy that is controversial, complex, and fascinating.
Xand van Tulleken, author of Make Me Well: One Doctor's Quest to Understand the Confusing World of Wellness

























