A new BBC Radio 4 series looking at the science of psychedelics, how they affect our consciousness and why they have been so sought after for experimentation and mental health research. There’s a personal dimension in this series too, with the host Tim Hayward having experienced 14 days in a coma.
“A few years ago, in the early days of COVID, I ended up in hospital, in a 14-day coma,” he said. “I think most people are unaware that a coma isn't just black nothingness. For me, it was two weeks of vivid and sometimes terrifying hallucination.”
“Altered states and hallucination, the causes and the incredibly deep effects have become a fascination for me. I would never, never have signed up voluntarily for that experience.”
The series also delves into its history of various substances. Do you know that pharmacies during the Victorian era used to feature cocaine pastilles to get you over a sore throat and heroin to get you over a cold.
