Psilocybin - Effects on the Body

Effects on the Body

Psilocybin enters the central nervous system and disrupts the levels of serotoninA combination of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen; it is found in the brain, blood, and stomach lining and acts as a neurotransmitter and blood vessel regulator. in the brain and body. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitterA substance that helps spread nerve impulses from one nerve cell to another.. In normal balance, serotonin controls moods, regulates anxiety, and helps the brain process information from the five senses. It also influences digestion, blood flow, and other organ performance. When a user eats a psilocybin-containing mushroom, the psilocybin activates serotonin receptors in the place of serotonin. This brings on changes in perception and mood swings. It can cause tremors, nausea, and sleeplessness.

A Strange and Risky Experience

A psilocybin user will typically eat 1 to 5 grams of the drug, or the equivalent of two to four mushrooms. If the user chews on the mushrooms or holds them in his or her mouth for several minutes, the effects of the drug begin in about ten minutes. Eating and swallowing the mushrooms delay the effects for about thirty to forty-five minutes. When the psilocybin passes through the digestive system and into the liver, it is changed into psilocin, the active tryptamine compoundA crystalline compound of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen that is made in plant and animal tissues.. The psilocin moves through the bloodstream to the brain.

At the onset of a psilocybin experience, the user may feel a tingling throughout the body. Some people experience anxiety at this point. As the drug's effects heighten over the next two hours, the user may undergo extreme mood swings, feeling euphoriaPronounced yu-FOR-ee-yuh; a state of extreme happiness and enhanced well-being; the opposite of dysphoria. and an urge to laugh, or feeling frightened or deeply depressed. Changes occur in all of the senses. Users might "see" sounds or "taste" colors. Vision is altered. Although the user does not see things that aren't there—the true meaning of "hallucination"—the user will perceive that colors become more brilliant, that boundaries are distorted, and that his or her own body has changed significantly. Sometimes these distortions of vision become permanent, and people discover that they have become overly sensitive to all movement and to the behavior of light.

The drug alters the sense of time as well. Users report feeling that time is standing still, or moving backward. They may feel that the boundaries between their bodies and the earth have dissolved. This loss of sense of self is called "ego dissolution." Researchers think it plays an important role in the religious uses of the drug, but it can be frightening for people who use psilocybin just to get high.

Since serotonin plays a role in the thinking process, users on a psilocybin trip may experience distortions in thinking. These can be positive, leading to a sort of religious ecstasy and sense of communication with higher powers. The distortion can just as easily be negative, leading to panic, fear of self and others, and misunderstanding when others try to help. Whether the sensations are pleasant or nightmarish, little can be done to ease them. The user must simply wait for the drug to exit the brain. This usually occurs within two to six hours.

Psilocybin Dangers and Mental Disorders

Psilocybin users have reported that, after using mushrooms, they often experience mood swings over the following days. People who suffer from schizophrenia or other mood disorders can trigger lasting episodes of mental illness by taking psilocybin. Anyone with a family history of schizophrenia or other psychiatric conditions should never take psilocybin.

Scientists note that psilocybin is not habit-forming, but it does quickly produce toleranceA condition in which higher and higher doses of a drug are needed to produce the original effect or high experienced.. This increases the danger of panic reaction and also introduces the danger of overdose. While not fatal, overdoses of psilocybin can bring on mental illness in otherwise healthy people. Psilocybin may also damage the heart.

Psilocybin has been linked to flashbacks, which occur when a user re-lives experiences of a drug trip after the drug has worn off. Flashbacks are more common in people who suffered from mental disorders before they took the drug.

Some people are allergic to psilocybin. For these people, eating "magic mushrooms" can lead to: 1) coma—a state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be aroused by noise or other stimuli; 2) convulsions—the twitching of limbs and the involuntary contracting of muscles while in a state of unconsciousness; and 3) seizures—brain disturbances that cause loss of consciousness and uncontrolled movements in the limbs and tongue. For young children, a single dose of psilocybin can cause fatal heart problems, seizures, and coma.

What's in a Name?

The word psilocybin is a combination of two Greek words, psilo ("bald") and cybe ("head"). Psychedelic mushrooms are most commonly called "shrooms."