Mushrooms
Effects

The psychophysical effects of these mushrooms come on anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour after consumption, depending on how empty the stomach is, and last between four and five hours; unlike, say, LSD which lasts in the region of ten to twelve hours.  Psilocybin is about a hundred times less potent than LSD, but about ten times more so then mescaline, the active ingredient of the peyote cactus.

When mushrooms are eaten most of the psilocybin is chemically converted (dephosphorylated) into the more potent psilocin by the action of stomach enzymes (though the fate of baeocystin is less well understood).  From there, both enter the blood, are distributed very rapidly through the body and are able to cross the blood-brain barrier, the obstacle  that ordinarily prevents toxic substances from entering and damaging the precarious biochemistry the brain..  Psilocybin and psilocin belong to a class of chemicals called indole alkaloids, or tryptamines, which are structurally similar to the endogenous neurotransmitter serotonin.  Alterations in the normal supply and uptake of serotonin are implicated in a range of physiological and psychological disorders, such as depression and migraine, and in the action of a variety of psychoactive drugs.  For example, Ecstasy, or MDMA, works by flooding the brain with serotonin, producing intense feelings of pleasure, whereas the anti-depressant Prozac causes an even production of serotonin and a more controlled elevation of mood.  The close similarity of psilocybin and psilocin to serotonin means that they latch onto the brain’s so called 5-HT2A serotonin receptor sites ( but unlike LSD, psilocybin does not directly affect dopamine, the neurotransmitter implicated in schizophrenia).  It is rather as if a new, alien but curiously compatible piece of software is thrown into the brain’s computer, disrupting its normal operations in novel and unexpected ways

As for the subjective effects of eating magic mushrooms, these depend on a number of variables: upon  the species consumed; whether the mushrooms are eaten fresh or dried, or with food; and the environment in which the mushrooms are taken.  In addition to desirable transformations of mood and perception, mushrooms can cause ominous disturbances to the digestive system – stomach aches and nausea – and make physical movement difficult: walking can take the most intense act of will.   The old 1960s adage of correct set (mental preparation) and setting ( a safe and supportive environment) still holds true.

The epithet ‘magic’ appears apposite and well earned, for mushrooms create an overall ambience of earthy, Tolkienesque enchantment.  The world, and especially the natural world, appears in a new light, as if some ordinarily obscured and secret aspect of it has been suddenly revealed.  The smallest details – leaves, bark , cobwebs, grains of sand  appear exquisitely beautiful and heavy with meaning.  Consciousness appears less bounded than it is ordinarily, for trees plants and even rocks seem to be, in some peculiar sense, aware. 

It is with eyes closed however, that the most dramatic alterations of consciousness become apparent.  Here the phantasmagoria of psychedelic patterns and visuals are most powerfully encountered, arching unbidden across the inner screen of the mind’s eye;  it is a struggle to describe.

Interestingly enough, users report that different psilocybin species produce quite distinctive subjective effects. Fore example, some say that with Liberty Caps visuals are more organic and earthy, whereas with cubensis they are more alien and architectural.  The parsimonious explanation is that every hallucinogenic species contains its own unique composition of alkaloids which, though they may be only weakly active, synergise with the heavyweight ingredients, psilocybin and psilocin, and influence the way in which they work.  – Monocular science, having settled upon these two as the responsible agents, has yet to set about investigating the unique pharmacological dynamics of each and every species.

From a physiological point of view, the health risks from magic mushrooms are minimal (though no drug can be said to be entirely risk free).  In mice the LD50, that is the does at which 50% of the experimental subjects die, is 280mg/kg of body weight, but a high dose in humans is only 0.5 mg/kg.  With such a low toxicity it has been estimated that you would have to eat your own body weight in mushrooms to take a lethal does, and indeed there are no reported cases of fatalities from psilocybin mushrooms, though children may be more at risk of physical harm.  One foolhardy individual made himself dangerously ill by taking his mushrooms intravenously. 

From clinical trials we know that taking psilocybin is a literally hair raising experience (it causes piloerection) which leaves subjects wide-eyed (it famously triggers mydriasis, a marked dilation of the pupils).  Psilocybin’s tendency  to increase heart rate and lower blood pressure at high dosages suggests that people with heart or blood pressure problems might be at risk.  Mushrooms are not addictive in any way, and indeed a tolerance to the active ingredients quickly builds up so that they have diminishing effects the more often they are taken.  As a sign of its low toxicity, psilocybin is very quickly excreted from the body, with two-thirds of any dose removed after three hours.

It is in the psychological domain that magic mushrooms become more problematic – Even experienced users know that mushroom trips can turn nasty: the visions can become hellish, the Gnostic insights can be too much to take in, the fear of dying or going mad  or of permanently losing one’s identity can become overbearing.  Quiet reassurance is usually enough to turn the trip around, for its peak is over relatively quickly, but in extreme cases sedation may be necessary.  It has fortunately been appreciated by the medical community that the old fashioned rush for the stomach pump (gastric lavage) merely makes a bad situation worse. 

PET scans of the brain have shown that most psilocin activity occurs in the areas of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate and the temporomedial cortex.  Interestingly, these same areas are implicated in certain types of schizophrenia, especially the type of psychosis known as hallucinatory ego disintegration, though an exact equivalence between tripping on mushrooms and schizophrenia is far from proven.  Nevertheless, it stands to reason that anyone with a personal of family history of mental illness, or who is depressed or feeling psychologically unstable in any way, should assiduously avoid mushrooms, or any other psychoactive drugs for that matter.

From Shroom A Cultural History by Andy Letcher

© Shroom Liberation Front 2007