What’s magic about mushrooms?

By Lou Roberts

Lou Roberts is a business owner and business consultant. She has a PhD from Henley Business School, a Master's in Mindful Psychology from Bangor University, and a Master's in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck College London. She is convinced that, in years to come, the use of psilocybin will become normalised as a counter to stress, anxiety and depression. Lou Roberts is not her real name.

Editorial note: This article is about psilocybin – pronounced SILL-uh-SY-bin – which is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain species of mushrooms. In the UK, so-called “magic mushrooms” are classified as a Class A drug and possession, selling or using them carries heavy penalties.

My interest in psilocybin came about because I suffer from anxiety and I learned that some people were micro-dosing on magic mushrooms for this mental health condition. Micro-dosing is the idea that you take a very small dose of the active ingredient – avoiding the hallucinogenic effects of a “trip”.  It took me some time to figure out how to acquire these mushrooms but eventually, after some sleuthing, I found a great guide. Before sending me some micro-dosing pills, he insisted—during several Zoom calls—that I adhere to a strict dosing protocol. It was a beneficial addition to my mental health regimen, and I continue to micro-dose on an ad hoc basis.

The micro-dosing convinced me that my brain has a natural negative bias and that my life would be enhanced by a little nudge towards positivity.  I began to investigate a full “trip” and to figure out what the science says about psilocybin for mental health purposes in otherwise healthy participants.

For those in the UK reading this, be in no doubt that magic mushrooms are classified as a Class A drug and possession, selling or using them carries heavy penalties. I have travelled to Amsterdam where truffles are legal and have the same effect. In the Netherlands, truffles can be legally purchased and consumed and they are retailed with more care than we take with alcohol. Retailers are happy to advise and offer different recipes for different effects. I am not an academic researcher in this field, but I have done a lot of research myself, and in case this is a subject that interests you, I have appended some references.

American psychologist and writer Timothy Leary (1920-1996). His famous phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out" became a mantra of the 1960s counterculture movement.

The psychedelic movement in the 1960s set the legal context for the situation that we are now in.  American psychologist and writer Timothy Leary (1920-1996) and others took LSD and used the platform that their Harvard credentials afforded them to preach free love. This was a step too far for many and it provoked a political, social and academic backlash.  As a result, psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, DMT and mescaline have all suffered a hiatus of research on humans for nearly four decades. However, animal models have continued to be built and in the last decade human research has recommenced.

While considering the history of these drugs it is worth noting that all (with the exception of LSD, which is synthetic) have been deeply embedded in ancient rituals and religious ceremonies. Native tribes have used psychedelics to celebrate, commemorate or ameliorate coming of age, ascension to positions of power, seasons, and end of life transitions. But it is important to note that even in cultures where the power of these drugs was fully understood, they were not used promiscuously, but only in limited contexts within groups of safety and ritual.

From what I can glean from the current state of evidence in modern studies, there are three key considerations that I will try to outline – safety, addiction, and psychological harm.

1. The issue of safety has multiple components. It appears that these drugs do not have a toxic effect on the body. There seems to be no known lethal dose that one can take. In one seminar I attended there was a story of a drugs mule bringing LSD into the UK in their stomach in a condom. The condom burst and the mule effectively imbibed the full LSD quota of the condom – probably the equivalent of many hundreds of trips. They were tripping for days but otherwise suffered no ill effects – although one imagines quite some jail time.

2. Next is the question of addiction. Whilst lab animals will freely avail themselves of heroin or cocaine to the point of death, that is not the case with psychedelics. Animals will not re-administer these drugs to themselves when given free choice. Also, in humans, it appears that the drugs do not cause addiction, nor are there any withdrawal symptoms as suffered with barbiturates.

3. Although these drugs are unlikely to cause physical harm, there are small numbers of people who suffer psychological harm. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of trips are not nice. Worse, maybe around 3 per cent of participants develop long-term psychosis, but whether this is causal or correlational is not clear. These figures are sketchy because they are gleaned from self-reports of people outside of scientific trials – in other words, they are unbounded recreational consumers of psychedelics with no guard rails in place.

   
   

I turn now to the question of why these drugs, and psilocybin in particular, are of interest to science and to me. Psychedelics attach to serotonin receptors in the brain, causing some parts of the brain to be less active and many parts to be more connected. This results in the experience of an altered state of consciousness: the psychedelic state. Monastics and aesthetes demonstrate it is possible to achieve new levels of consciousness through extreme meditation practices. They report that it is possible, without the aid of drugs, to enter a different realm, where the mind is clear like a diamond, the heart is consumed with all-encompassing love, and one’s understanding of our place in the world is assured and unshakeable. However, most of us are unwilling to devote our entire lives to achieving the skills of practice that allow such new consciousness to arise. 

Psychedelics can open our minds to these extraordinary insights, and any positive effects can persist for the long term. In a Johns Hopkins University survey conducted among those who have experienced the effects of a magic mushroom trip, participants reported that these experiences ranked as the top three or four of their lives. In other words, the experience was as profound as, for example, the birth of a child. And these data were collected a year post trip.

“I was filled with an oceanic boundlessness beyond anything else I’d experienced in my life... These positive mental health benefits have convinced me that in years to come, the use of psilocybin will become normalised as a counter to stress, anxiety and depression.”

My research before going on a trip, and validated by my experience of the trip, was exactly that.  I was filled with an oceanic boundlessness beyond anything else I’d experienced in my life.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the preciousness of my life and the glory of nature and the world we live in. It was a glimpse into the essential nature of humanity with all ego stripped away. During the trip I experienced synaesthesia: sounds experienced as colours and the world filled with taste.  These feelings gave me a sense of clarity and certainty that has not left me even two years later. These positive mental health benefits have convinced me that in years to come, the use of psilocybin will become normalised as a counter to stress, anxiety and depression. I can imagine that it will be a cheaper and more reliable way to help people come to terms with the difficulties of life without many of the ill-effects that our current drugs inflict. There is good research on how it can be used positively to treat PTSD and drug-resistant depression.

However, with the risk of around 3 per cent of participants being harmed by a trip, it is important to understand the factors that can mitigate this. Research has suggested that the clue is probably within the ancient cultures where the practice has been ritualised. Thus, you will note that there are strict protocols for the administration of psychedelics. Foremost amongst these protocols are the “set” and “setting”, as follows:

• Having guides who watch over participants to ensure their safety and so that they feel cared for during the trip

• Integrative discussions before and after the experience, so that it is tethered to a wider understanding of life, interconnectedness and impermanence

• Prompts and cues to set up conditions of belonging, nurturing, and exploration.

What sets the current investigations apart from the free love era of the 1960s? We are in danger of medicalising these drugs and becoming rigid in our adherence to protocols. Nevertheless, if that is what it takes to bring these beneficial effects back into our society, that is a price worth paying.

References

• Efficacy of psilocybin for treating symptoms of depression: systematic review and meta-analysis BMJ 2024; 385 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-078084 (Published 01 May 2024)

• Borissova A, Rucker JJ. The development of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression: an update. BJPsych Bulletin. 2024;48(1):38-44. doi:10.1192/bjb.2023.25

• Rucker JJ, Marwood L, Ajantaival R-LJ, et al. The effects of psilocybin on cognitive and emotional functions in healthy participants: Results from a phase 1, randomised, placebo-controlled trial involving simultaneous psilocybin administration and preparation. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2022;36(1):114-125. doi:10.1177/02698811211064720

• James Fadiman and Sam Harris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGpTraCdyjg

• Psychedelic Science: Therapeutic Implications and Ethical Challenges with Roland Griffiths, PhD : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt6c2gzJ5TA