Rachel Nuwer

I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, by Rachel Nuwer, is both a wonderful book on the science of MDMA (and hallucinogens in general) as well as a very interesting read on people's interactions with each other (both real and speculative).

First, the science. In discussing the science it is valuable to include the history as well, since politics played a big role in how slow we have been to start unleashing the potential medical benefits of MDMA (and other substances). The early experiences were largely recreational in nature but from those experiences came ideas on how it might be useful, in a controlled setting, for numerous ailments.

The science segues nicely into the interpersonal aspect, since many of the medical benefits stem from the tendency of MDMA to allow people to be less anxious and more compassionate and understanding. One thing that this book does do for someone like myself is substantiate some of the comments I used to make way back when I was periodically using psychedelics. I would tell people that it helped me to see the world as a much more connected place, see people as far more similar and likable than different and scary, which also helped me to appreciate the differences as just that, differences, and not something threatening. People used to say I was just rationalizing my enjoyment, and since I could only speak to my own experiences, I acknowledged that as a possibility. Maybe I was doing some rationalizing, but I apparently was also expressing something many others also felt.

Neither MDMA nor any other substance, or belief system for that matter, will cure all of society's ills on their own. But these can be part of an approach to living together that makes the world better for, if not all, the vast majority. At the very least, MDMA can and should be legal for the treatment of some conditions.

This book will appeal to those who like to read about possible medical treatments as well as those who simply want to know more about a substance they either have used or, conversely, bought into the hyperbole about how harmful it is.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (plus d'informations)