LSD My Problem Child is the story of LSD told by a concerned yet hopeful father and organic chemist, the late Albert Hofmann, PhD.
Credited with synthesizing and discovering the psychedelic effects of LSD, Hofmann traces the path of the drug from a promising psychiatric research medicine to a recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition. He documents his trek across Mexico to discover sacred plants related to LSD and shares correspondences with Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Walter Vogt.
The underlying current of this book is Hofmann’s powerful conclusion that mystical experiences may be our planet’s best hope for survival. Whether induced by LSD, meditation, or arising spontaneously, such experiences help us to comprehend “the wonder, the mystery of the divine, in the microcosm of the atom, in the macrocosm of the spiral nebula, in the seeds of plants, in the body and soul of people.”
More than sixty years after the birth of his “problem child,” Hofmann’s vision of its true potential is reaching relevancy. His pioneering work was featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary series “How to Change Your Mind.”
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Why this book matters
- The definitive account of LSD’s discovery and history, told by the man who synthesized it — Albert Hofmann — with the perspective of a scientist, mystic, and concerned father
- Traces LSD’s journey from promising psychiatric medicine to prohibited substance — a cautionary tale about fear, politics, and the suppression of healing
- Hofmann’s correspondence with Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Walter Vogt offers an intimate window into the intellectual world of the psychedelic pioneers
- Featured in the 2022 Netflix series “How to Change Your Mind” — essential context for the current renaissance of psychedelic science and therapy
- A book whose central argument — that mystical experience may be our planet’s best hope for survival — has never felt more urgent
