Austin, Texas, is known for keeping things weird, but last week, the city got downright trippy when 600 people descended on it to expand their minds.
asserted
people → know → minds
There were neuroscientists and researchers, wellness gurus and biohackers, seasoned psychonauts who’d journeyed to South America to take ayahuasca with a shaman — and enough women who looked like PTA moms to staff an entire elementary school fundraiser.
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who → be → fundraiser
They’d come for the magic mushrooms, the mind-bending molecules and the tantalizing promise of a better brain.
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They → come → brain
Welcome to the new frontier of wellness, where psychedelics are no longer just for tie-dyed hippies.
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psychedelics → welcome → hippies
Today, they’re attracting an increasingly mainstream crowd, with many betting that these once-taboo substances could be the next big thing in mental health.
uncertain
substances → attract → health
“It’s astonishing to me how legitimate it looks these days,” Rick Doblin, a leading advocate in the field, told me backstage at Dave Asprey’s inaugural Beyond Psychedelics Conference, held October 12-14.
asserted
Doblin → ’ → Conference
“I’m still so used to it being something that was a career ender for people, even wanting to do psychedelic research,” said Doblin, who founded the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in 1986.
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who → ’m → 1986
These days, the landscape looks very different.
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landscape → look → ?
Major institutions, including Johns Hopkins and Mount Sinai, are investigating the potential applications of psychedelics in mental health care.
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institutions → include → care
Investors have poured substantial sums into the burgeoning industry, betting that these substances could help treat conditions that have proved difficult to manage with conventional approaches.
uncertain
that → pour → approaches
The legal barriers are shifting, too.
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barriers → shift → ?
Some states and cities have moved to decriminalize certain psychedelics, while others have established regulated pathways for therapy assisted by psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in some fungi.
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others → move → fungi
Even Washington is taking notice.
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Washington → take → notice
In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate the review of qualifying treatments for serious mental illnesses, including treatment-resistant depression and PTSD.
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Trump → sign → depression
“This is the time for psychedelics to reemerge,” Asprey declared during his opening speech, drawing a roar of applause from attendees sipping Danger Coffee spiked with grass-fed butter and creatine.
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Asprey → reemerge → butter
The 52-year-old entrepreneur and bestselling author is the creator of biohacking — a movement focused on improving health, sharpening mental performance and extending longevity through everything from diet and supplements to cutting-edge technology.
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entrepreneur → bestselle → technology
Now, he’s bringing psychedelics into the mix.
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he → bring → mix
“Optimization is dead,” Asprey told me, sporting his signature True Dark glasses and sci-fi rocker garb.
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Asprey → tell → glasses
“What we’re doing with psychedelics is actually enhancing,” he said.
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he → do → psychedelics
“Each of them has a role, but none of them are optimizing what you’ve got — they’re giving you more.”
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they → have → more
The question now is whether psychedelics can actually deliver on what some of these experts say — and more importantly, safely.
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some → deliver → experts
Leading researchers I spoke with cautioned that much remains unknown about how these substances work, who stands to benefit and what risks they pose.
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they → lead → risks
A journey into the industry
The psychedelics event was a smaller, more specialized offshoot of Asprey’s long-running Beyond Biohacking Conference.
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event → run → Conference
Tickets started at $599 for a one-day pass, granting access to dozens of talks on emerging treatments, scientific developments and market trends.
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Tickets → start → treatments
General admission attendees could also test-drive “consciousness tech” or join early-morning “wisdom circles” featuring breathwork and Indigenous rituals intended to alter consciousness without drugs.
uncertain
attendees → drive → drugs
For $1,699, VIP guests scored a two-day pass, lunches with Asprey and select speakers, and access to a luxe lounge stocked with snacks, drinks and recovery tools.
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guests → score → snacks
Roaming the conference, I found myself amid a sea of flowy pants, dreamcatcher earrings and tribal-print ponchos.
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I → roam → pants
Everyone seemed impossibly chill, eager to flash a smile — or pull me in for a hug.
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Everyone → seem → hug
But beneath the kumbaya vibes, many attendees were looking for something more serious than a good time.
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attendees → look → time
“Psychedelics have liberated me,” one woman told me, an EMF-blocking necklace dangling from her neck.
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woman → liberate → neck
“They’ve helped me feel deeply connected with my authentic self, free from the stuff that gets in the way and distracts me from who I am.”
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I → help → me
Several attendees described years of mental health struggles and deep-seated trauma that conventional treatments — from pharmaceuticals to traditional therapy — hadn’t relieved.
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treatments → describe → therapy
“When those things fail you, you feel like an exception.
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you → fail → exception
Like maybe everyone else can achieve health and balance and happiness, but you can’t,” said an attendee who had spent years grappling with severe PTSD after serving in the military.
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who → achieve → military
“Plant medicine helped me get there.
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me → help → ?
In the conference lecture halls, researchers explored whether certain psychedelic compounds, administered in controlled settings and often alongside psychological support, could help treat difficult mental health conditions — and the hurdles standing in the way.
uncertain
compounds → explore → way
“Part of the challenge we have as clinicians who are licensed in America is that we can only use what is federally legal,” explained Dr. David Rabin, a psychedelic-assisted therapy and clinical practice neuroscientist.
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Rabin → have → America
Ketamine, he noted, is one of the few drugs with psychedelic-like effects that can be legally prescribed in the US.
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that → note → US
“It’s fantastic medicine when used with psychotherapy,” Rabin said.
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Rabin → ’ → psychotherapy
“We see tremendous results for PTSD and depression in particular, and to some extent ADHD and anxiety disorders.
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We → see → extent
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
