Dried Psilocybin Mushrooms and Mental Health: What the Research Shows
Psilocybin mushrooms are one of the earliest hallucinogenic natural items, considered as an important part in various traditional rituals. The main psychoactive component of so-called "magic mushrooms," psilocybin, is only known to many people as a recreational drug and possibly as a member of the counterculture of the 1960s. According to a survey held in 2022, use of dry psilocybin mushrooms has been documented in many tribes and places around the world for as long as 8,000 years.
Psilocybin may be useful in treating or managing diseases including addiction, depression, and mood problems associated with end-stage cancer in medical settings. However, a rising amount of research over the last 20 years has demonstrated the psilocybin therapy benefits for treating a variety of mental and behavioural health conditions. The authors of the review point out that research is still being done, though.
How Do "Magic" Mushrooms Work?
Magic mushrooms are the therapeutic type of mushrooms containing psilocybin “a psychedelic” that works as an hallucinogenic agent when consumed. In a therapeutic setting, these psychedelic facilitators offer various forms, for instance some offers magic mushroom soup, some in the form of gelatin capsules containing a definite amount of psilocybin substance. The effects of dry psilocybin mushrooms start to show after 30 to 45 minutes. They have a six-hour lifespan. Nausea and excessive yawning are common early side effects. The "trip" starts after these preliminary effects.
How Psilocybin Affects the Brain?
Consuming magic mushrooms often connected to mild trips that could lead to both relaxation or drowsiness. The person may experience a distorted sense of time, place, and altered state of consciousness.
The psilocybin in dry psilocybin mushrooms is converted by the body into psilocin, which triggers serotonin receptors in the brain. Such stimulation may cause hallucinations. In areas of the brain like the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, psilocybin binds to and activates serotonin receptors.
These brain regions have an impact on perception, mood, and thought processes. Other parts of the brain that control arousal and panic reactions are also affected by hallucinogens. However, an excessive dosage may result in psychosis, a chronic mental illness. Magic mushrooms often result in:
Hallucinations that are visual, sensory, and aural
A religious, spiritual, or mystical encounter
Heightened emotions and euphoria
Time that is moving more quickly or more slowly
Street Names for Magic Mushrooms
People may also refer to magic mushrooms as:
Psilocybin Mushroom
Street Names
Purple passion
Sacred Mushrooms
Shrooms/ Zoomers/ Boomers
Simple Simon
Mushies
How People Consume Dry Psilocybin Mushrooms?
Dry psilocybin mushrooms are tiny and typically tan or brown in color. People often use magic mushrooms in the form of brewed tea or mixed it with other food to lessen the bitterness. Psychedelic therapists offer psilocybin gelatin capsules containing a certain amount of psilocybin substance. Moreover, shrooms can be ground into a powder.. Some people use them as chocolate truffles and cover them with chocolate before eating.
Are Magic Mushrooms Addictive?
As psilocybin is not seen as a physiologically addictive substance. Regular users need high dosages to have any impact because it is easy to develop a tolerance to the drug. Usually, this deters compulsive use. However, using dry psilocybin mushrooms can lead to psychological dependence, which can cause harmful behavior akin to physical addiction.
Magic Mushrooms for Mental Health: What Researchers Say About It?
The popularity of dry psilocybin mushrooms for mental health therapy is increasing day by day. This results from the positive outcomes of psilocybin found by various researchers as well as psilocybin therapy benefits. Here are some of the effects of dry psilocybin mushrooms to treat mental problems according to researchers.
Dried Psilocybin Mushrooms works as an Antidepressant
A review published in 2022 suggests that psilocybin might be used therapeutically to alleviate depression. According to the researchers, it might aid in controlling the reward system in those who are depressed or contemplating suicide.
According to the review's research, psilocybin may also be useful in treating end-stage cancer-related anxiety and despair.
An experimental study held in 2023, reveals that a single dosage of psilocybin offered to 104 participants shows promising effects to treat symptoms of depression for a minimum of 6 weeks post therapy sessions. When compared to adults who took a placebo, those who took dry psilocybin mushrooms reported a clinically significant decrease in depressed symptoms. Psilocybin may have both short-term and long-term antidepressant effects, according to another 2024 study. To fully grasp its potential as a therapy option, more research is needed.
Psilocybin for Anorexia Nervosa and Quitting Smoking
Studies on psilocybin's effects in treating anorexia nervosa and quitting smoking have also yielded encouraging results. Johns Hopkins received the first federal grant for the study of a psychedelic medication in the United States in fifty years in October 2021 from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the potential benefits of psilocybin as a smoking cessation aid.
Summary
The use of dry psilocybin mushrooms or shrooms has been common since ancient cultures. Researchers are now working to find the effect of magic mushrooms for mental health. Smaller-scale research on psilocybin's impact on depression has examined the effects of single, double, or occasionally triple doses of the drug, with positive outcomes in each case. The findings show long-lasting psilocybin therapy benefits. However, users may only need to take it occasionally to experience them, which could lower the likelihood of negative side effects.
