I Am My Own Laboratory

"I Am My Own Laboratory" is an experimental documentary on a remarkable woman. Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss and March, is an English scientist, drug policy reformer, artist and penetrative cultural provocateur. In 1998, she founded the Beckley Foundation, a charitable trust that promotes a rational, evidence-based approach to global drug policy policies and initiates, directs and supports pioneering neuroscientific and clinical research into the effects of psychoactive substances on the brain and cognition. The central aim of her research is to investigate new avenues of treatment for such mental illnesses as depression, anxiety and addiction, as well as to explore methods of enhancing well-being and creativity. Feilding learned about the ancient practice of trepanation from Bart Huges, whom she met in 1966, and who published a scroll on the topic. She trepanned herself in 1970.