Publisher's Synopsis
Taking Back My Mind details Gerardo's journey overcoming severe clinical depression with the use of psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as "magic mushrooms." His story begins in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where divorce, his dad's death, and several major health issues plunged him down the dark rabbit hole of depression. After ten months of intense suffering and falling victim to pharmaceutical drugs, Gerardo reached the brink of suicide. Then, on December 22, 2017, he ate a handful of psilocybin mushrooms and took a walk on the beach with his brother. This experience jolted him out of the deadly downward spiral he was on, literally overnight, sparking his rapid, magical, and transformative two year journey that eventually led him to the majestic mountains of southern Oaxaca in Mexico to film a documentary about his journey and his experience with the local indigenous Mazatec who continue to use these plant medicines and fungi for their own mental, emotional, and spiritual well being, like they have done for thousands of years. This adventure turned into the most important, educational, and enlightening trip of his life, learning things about Mexico and about his own family even that he could have never imagined. By sharing his story, Gerardo hopes to raise awareness for these life saving plant medicines, practices, and philosophies that keep him thriving every day. Depression is the leading cause of disability in the world. Over 3,000 people commit suicide every day worldwide. The mental health care industry has been stagnant for decades, unable to reverse this growing global epidemic, mainly because its approach to this deeply misunderstood condition is all wrong. Depression is not a disease, like most people think. It is a symptom of very complex and multifaceted biological, psychological, nutritional, environmental, and societal factors, among many others, and taking harmful, addictive pharmaceutical drugs to try to suppress natural and necessary human emotions is not the answer. One of the symptoms of an inadequate mental health care system is an opioid crisis, as people will use anything that is legally available to try to relieve their pain, many times with devastating results. It is time to change this paradigm and put science and human lives above politics. It's time to change the antiquated laws surrounding psychedelics. It's time to reawaken our incredible inner power and reconnect with nature. It's time to evolve. During this difficult time we find ourselves in 2020, it is more important than ever to remain as healthy as possible, to cultivate a calm and resilient mind, to cultivate presence, expand our awareness, and elevate our individual and collective consciousness, so that we may overcome, learn from, and transcend this current crisis of consciousness threatening our very existence. In this book, Gerardo shares the tools, routines, and practices that he uses to achieve this goal. We all know someone who is struggling or suffering from depression. Let's give them the gift of hope. Help support psychedelic research. All author royalties will be used to fund Gerardo's upcoming projects, including an upcoming documentary about Gerardo's journey, several psychedelic healing reatreats in California and Mexico, more books about mental health, and psychedelic research.
