HOW DOES PSILOCYBIN WORK?
The chemicals psilocybin and psilocin are natural hallucinogens with a structure very similar to the serotonin’s structure. Serotonin is a chemical messenger that plays important roles in our brain and digestive systems. Because of this similarity, psilocin activates serotonin receptor, most often in the prefrontal cortex of brain that affects mood, cognition, and perception, after binding to the receptors in the brain that are meant for serotonin, Binding and activation of serotonin receptor sites link with the indication of psychedelic effects in a person. Hallucinogens also work in the brain’s other regions, responsible for the arousal and panic responses. After ingestion of psilocybin, the body converts it to psilocin and the hallucinogenic effects within the body usually triggers within 30 minutes of ingestion and last between 4 and 6 hours. However, in some individuals this duration can last for several days. Psilocybin is about 100 times less potent than LSD and 10 times less potent than mescaline.
EFFECTS OF USING PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS
It is quite true that use of any drug has no safe level as any drug carries some risk. So, be careful when taking any type of drug. Psilocybin mushrooms also cause different effects when they are consumed. Some of their effects are generally similar to those of LSD such as altered perception of time and space and intense changes in mood and feeling. On the basis of certain factors like size, weight and health of a person as well as the strength of the mushrooms and the amount taken, magic mushrooms affect everyone differently. When psilocybin mushrooms are taken, they produce the changes in consciousness mood, thought and perception, usually known as a ‘trip’, or a ‘psychedelic experience’. Particularly, when an individual take higher doses of these mushrooms, the effects can be extremely intense and indescribable. One of the most important considerations that should be made before deciding to take the moderate or high doses of this drug is whether they are likely to encounter the experience of losing hold on the distressing of reality. The experience of magic mushrooms varies from person to person, so what may be an easily manageable dose for you is not appropriate for your friend.
Moreover, during a trip or psychedelic experience, psilocybin mushrooms can induce visual and auditory hallucinations in people and make them feel euphoric. Hallucinations can be subtle or all-embracing in which a user may imagine change in colour tones, movement in surface, formation of colourful fractal patterns, etc. Similarly, when the users take high enough doses, they notice the objects alter into other things as well as they encounter a change in their perception of the world around them. Their perception of time may also changes and they feel minutes like hours and vice versa. Typically, the users feel these effects around 1 to 1.5 hours after ingesting a psilocybin mushroom dose orally. Above very small doses, it has become impossible for a user to act, behave or talk like a normal person. For some users, the experiences with the magic mushrooms can be spiritual that they encounter at the most personally important times in their lives. While for others, the experience can be regrettable or just a bit of interesting fun. The physical side effects of magic mushrooms can vary from one person to another. Usually, users may experience nausea and stomach discomfort as well as changes in heart rate, changes in blood pressure, increase in tendon reflexes, tremors, dilated pupils, restlessness or arousal, and troubles with coordinated movement. After a trip, users can also encounter delayed headaches which may persist for up to 2 days. When the users take more doses and bigger trips, they may feel wiped out and in need of rest plus the chances of unpleasant side-effects and after-effects are also increased in them.
Furthermore, the psychedelic side effects that users often experience are quite overwhelming, frightening or unpleasantly disorientating, at least for their passing moments. Throughout terrifying trips are much less common but they happen. The horrible psychological effects also occur with the increase in mushroom dosage. Strong emotions may be good or bad are often experienced by the users after bad trips. Many users who experience negative emotions can simultaneously accept the sense of calmness and detachment from them, especially if they remind themselves that the emotions they are feeling are temporary. The long-term effects of magic mushrooms occur in people who regularly use them. They may experience flashbacks including usually visual distortions that involve perceptual or emotional changes. After the drug was last taken, these flashbacks can come about weeks, months or even years. This can be disturbing, especially when a user recalls a frightening experience or hallucinations. If magic mushrooms are taken with other drugs, they can increase the chances of a bad trip as well as occurrence of a relapse or worsening of the condition. Tolerance develops rapidly if a user continually uses magic mushrooms and over time, the drug will have a little or no effect on the user. Whereas, the discontinuous use of mushrooms for a week will return user’s tolerance to normal level. Though, many withdrawal effects of magic mushrooms are not known, however, a user may experience some psychological effects or fatigue after withdrawing. The effects of magic mushrooms can kick in usually after 10 to 60 minutes after eating. The effects of the moderate dose will wear off about 4 hours. The effects of a strong dose will continue for hours, so after a trip it is dangerous to drive or work hard for a user. The strength of psilocybin mushrooms is extremely variable and that’s why, the response of different people to the same dose is quite different.
RISKS INVOLVED IN GETTING MAGIC MUSHROOMS
The main risk involved in picking your own magic mushrooms is that some of them are quite similar in appearance to the certain types of poisonous mushrooms. So, it is risky to pick magic mushrooms without the guidance of someone with experience. If you have doubt, do not pick them. Buying magic mushrooms has the same risks as buying any illegal drug. The market is not properly regulated, so it is possible that the original products may be adulterated with other substances.
HEALTH RISKS OF USING PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS
There are several health risks of using psilocybin mushrooms that a user can experience, some of which are physically toxic to your body while others are harmful for your brain. Psilocybin mushrooms strongly affects the judgment and coordination of users, so after using psilocybin mushrooms, it is dangerous to drive. There are many urban myths about the unusual deaths caused by the effects of hallucinogenic drugs on the behaviours of users. Very few people get injured occasionally or killed with hallucinogenic drugs. Psilocybin can induce different states in a user like state of fear, confusion, misery and agitation. It is quite common that users may experience difficult moments due to the negative effects of hallucinogenic mushrooms or bad trips but usually these can be overcome. It is said that high doses of magic mushrooms can increase the risks of disastrous, prolonged and traumatic effects called a ‘psychedelic crisis’, but this is not common. The users can suffer more with the increased risk of unpleasant effects if they take drug without preparation or if they take drug in a less-than-ideal setting, like a busy, loud party full of strangers. Some users may also experience persistent, distressing visual alterations among the world around them. Physicians now diagnose this condition and call it hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), also known as a flashback. A flashback is a traumatic recall of an intensely upsetting experience.
MEDICAL USES OF PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS
According to the recent researches, psilocybin mushrooms can be used in modern medicines. Though, psilocybin even in too small doses can produce hallucinogenic effects, still it is used to give relief to people who are suffering from chronic cluster headaches. However, more appropriate clinical trials are needed to conduct to know whether psilocybin is indeed useful as a treatment or not. Many investigations have reported that the use of psilocybin alongside psychotherapy can treat some psychiatric problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. More research studies are needed to investigate these potential medical uses further. Now-a-days, many psychological specialists use psilocybin and similar hallucinogens as a treatment to reduce the symptoms of depression. While some researchers are looking into some therapeutic uses for psilocybin, they still, regard psilocybin as unsafe and illegal.
ARE PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS ADDICTIVE?
It has been observed that psilocybin is not chemically addictive, so people do not become addicted to psilocybin mushrooms. No physical symptoms occur in users when they stop using them. Although some users take magic mushrooms on regular basis, still they can struggle to stop taking them if they feel that the drug is inducing problems in them. The people who use drugs regularly and heavily, they are more likely experience harms such as HPPD, but on the other hand they become more or temporary tolerant to the effects of psilocybin. The users also experience cross-tolerance with other drugs, including LSD and mescaline. So, if they want to experience the full effects of these drugs, they must wait at least several days between doses.
MYTHS & MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOM
There are many misconceptions and myths about magic mushrooms. One of the misconceptions about magic mushrooms is that they are deadly. Though, there are several types of mushrooms that can cause sudden death by inducing different symptoms in users like kidney failure, coma, etc. However, the magic mushrooms with psilocybin aren’t among the deadly types of fungi. It is also a myth about magic mushrooms that they can cause brain bleeding, stomach bleeding, etc. There is absolutely no evidence of brain or stomach bleeding in users who ingest psilocybin mushrooms. No intense complications have been observed in healthy individuals who use magic mushrooms. It is also a misconception that magic mushrooms can cause fear and anxiety in users but no clear evidences are found that can support this misunderstanding. It is also said that shrooms can make people go insane. People who take magic mushrooms can return to their normal physical and mental state within a matter of hours after taking them.