Psychiatrist Julie Holland’s Good Chemistry could equally be called In Praise of Psychedelics. She argues that when used in accordance with the evidence, drugs such as MDNA, cannabis, LSD and psilocybin can be psychologically helpful for people with many sorts of mental disorders and psychological problems. But wait, there’s more! She also argues that psychedelics can help people with relationship problems, especially when one has PTSD. That’s only the first two chapters. She goes on to argue that these drugs can change consciousness so as to improve relationships with one’s family, with the community, with the earth, and even the cosmos. 

Holland emphasizes that her work has a scientific basis, and there is science here. You can see the glossary of terms and a bibliography online, and there is plenty of neuroscience here. But obviously there’s not a lot of hard science on developing a strong relationship with the cosmos, and so a fair amount of the book is more speculative and programmatic than evidence-based. Holland claims at the start that the heart of social problems in the USA comes from a lack of connection between people, with an increasing proportion of the population living alone, and most of the population hooked to their phones, isolating them from those around them. She also argues that the widespread opiate addiction problem comes from a lack of connection between people. These are big claims that are hard to verify. Maybe it is true that if everyone were well connected with loved ones mental disorders and addiction would massively decrease, but that’s not an experiment that is easy to perform. We may see a correlation between people who are well connected with others and people who don’t have big psychological problems, but it will be hard to separate out cause and effect. 

The most empirically-based parts of the book are on the use of drugs to treat trauma. Holland puts studies in the context of wider neuroscientific knowledge, evolutionary psychology, animals studies, and some psychoanalytic theory. She has a particular fondness for the work of Carl Jung. She gives a nice summary of the “rat park” addiction experiment.  My favorite discovery from reading this book is that animal researchers gave MDNA to octopuses, normally very antisocial creatures, and they started hugging each other. So there is plenty here of interest. 

There are also a good number of helpful hints. Holland recommends breathing exercises to deal with anxiety and for couples to stare into each other’s eyes to increase their connection. 

On the other hand, Holland provides no advice about how to find a therapist who specializes in using psychedelics, or how to work out whether the therapist is a good one. Since most of these drugs are illegal to some extent, this is not very surprising. But still, it means that readers impressed by the potential of psychedelics are left to improvise. Readers can do internet searches for MDNA therapy or psychedelic therapy, but most of these substances are illegal in the US. It won’t take long to find helpful info, such as Legal Ways to Pursue Psychedelic Experiences. But presumably most people who are impatient to try these therapies will use their own initiative to obtain the substances they need. NY Times writer Michael Pollan has already done this and even listed resources on his own site.

Most readers of Good Chemistry will finish the book at least curious about some uses of psychedelics or other drugs, even if it is only CBD to help with anxiety. It is an exciting area of modern research though since the pharmaceutical companies may find it difficult to make a profit out of these drugs, research may not be well funded. Nevertheless, there has been research going on and so it should continue. 

Jean Ann Douglass does a fine job reading the audiobook.

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology. He lives in Suffolk County of Long Island, NY. He is Full Adjunct Professor at St John’s University, Vice President of AAPP and is an APPA Certified Philosophical Counselor.

Categories: Psychotherapy, Medications

Keywords: psychotherapy, psychedelics, psilocybin, MDNA