This is a book about the intersections of three dimensions. The first is the way social
scientists and historians treat the history of psychiatry and healing especially as it
intersects with psychedelics. The second encompasses a reflection on the substances themselves
and their effects on bodies. The third addresses traditional healing as it circles back to our
understanding of drugs and psychiatry. The chapters explore how these dimensions are distinct
but deeply intertwined themes that offer important insights into contemporary healing
practices.The intended audience of the volume is large and diverse: neuroscientists biologists
medical doctors psychiatrists psychologists mental health professionals interested in the
therapeutic application of psychedelic substances or who work with substance abuse depression
anxiety and PTSD patients and practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine
ethnobotanists and ethnopharmacologists lawyers criminologists and other specialists in
international law working on matters related to drug policy and human rights as well as
scholars of religious studies anthropologists sociologists and historians social scientists
concerned both with the history of science medicine and technology and concepts of health
illness and healing. It has a potentially large international audience especially considering
the increasing interest in psychedelic science and the growing spread of the use of traditional
psychoactives in the West.
