Mushrooms/psilocybin
Mushrooms containing psilocybin, commonly referred to as "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms," are hallucinogenic substances that produce significant alterations in perception, behavior, and physical functions. Psilocybin is metabolized in the body to psilocin, the active compound responsible for these effects, which resemble those of LSD. Historically, these mushrooms have been used for millennia in religious and spiritual ceremonies, particularly by indigenous peoples in Central and South America. However, they are classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States and many other countries, making their use illegal.
Recent research has shown potential therapeutic applications for psilocybin, particularly in treating conditions like depression, with the FDA recognizing several psilocybin therapies as breakthrough treatments. In terms of effects, psilocybin can induce a range of psychological experiences, including hallucinations and altered time perception, but it also carries risks such as nausea, confusion, and panic, especially at high doses. Furthermore, there is a danger of accidental poisoning if non-psychoactive mushrooms are mistakenly ingested. As interest in psilocybin's medicinal properties grows, ongoing studies continue to explore its efficacy and safety in clinical settings.
Subject Terms
Mushrooms/psilocybin
DEFINITION: The drug substances in “magic” mushrooms, psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) and psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), are hallucinogenic. They have properties similar to LSD, or acid, and produce alterations of digestive and cardiac function, motor reflexes, behavior, and perception.
- ALSO KNOWN AS: Magic mushrooms; shrooms
- STATUS: Illegal in the United States and numerous countries worldwide
- CLASSIFICATION: Schedule I controlled substance
- SOURCE: Certain mushrooms native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Mexico, and the United States
- TRANSMISSION ROUTE: Oral
History of Use
Hallucinogenic mushrooms containing psilocybin are thought to have existed as long or longer than the human race. Historically, artwork such as pictures, statues, and carvings depicting the mushrooms have been seen near tribal settlements. In Central and South America, psilocybin-containing mushrooms were commonly used in religious ceremonies until Spanish settlers spread Catholicism and banned their use. Mushrooms are sacred to indigenous peoples and are considered entheogens, psychoactive substances that guide their religious path through the spirit world.
In the early twentieth century, ethnobotanists Richard Evans Schultes and Blas Pablo Reko traveled to Mexico and sought out these mushrooms. Schultes published a report of his findings in 1939. After hearing of this work, ethnomycologists Roger Heim and R. Gordon Wasson and pediatrician Valentina Wasson traveled to Central America to investigate the use and effects of the mushrooms. In 1957, the Wassons published the article “Seeking the Magic Mushroom” in Life magazine.
Mushrooms symbolized hippie counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s and were commonly used in the United States and Great Britain. The mushrooms led to the discovery of LSD, a synthetic hallucinogen.
It is difficult to determine the level of use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms because most studies of drug use neglect to include this drug. The Monitoring the Future survey published in December 2023 reported that 6 percent of high school seniors had used hallucinogens other than LSD that year. This group of drugs includes peyote and psilocybin. According to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 3 percent of respondents ages twelve and older reported the use of hallucinogens (a category that included psilocybin mushrooms) in the previous year.
Meanwhile, research has been ongoing into the potential for the use of psilocybin in psychiatric therapy, particularly in the treatment of depression. By 2021, such research had continued to gain credence within the scientific and medical communities. After the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicated its support of these kinds of approaches by designating a psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) from the company COMPASS Pathways as a breakthrough therapy in 2018, bolstering the company's next steps in conducting a large-scale clinical trial. In 2019, the FDA approved the use of an esketamine nasal spray, noted for dissociative properties, for TRD. Furthermore, the FDA also designated a medical research group's psilocybin therapy in trials for major depressive disorder (MDD) as breakthrough therapy later that same year. In 2024, the FDA designated Cybin's psilocybin analog, CYB003, as a breakthrough therapy. The company was investigating the drug as an adjunctive treatment for MDD.
Effects and Potential Risks
Psilocybin and its active form, psilocin, are not inactivated by heating or freezing. To mask its bitter flavor, the mushroom is brewed into tea or cooked with other foods. Digestion and absorption of the psilocybin take about twenty minutes, and the effects last from four to six hours.
Psilocybin can produce relaxation or weakness of the muscles, lack of coordination, excessive pupil dilation, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness. Mushroom abusers are at risk of poisoning if poisonous mushrooms are accidentally ingested with psilocybin mushrooms.
The psychological effects of psilocybin use include hallucinations, an altered perception of the passage of time, and confusion between fantasy and reality. Panic and psychosis also may occur, especially with high doses. Persistent use comes with flashbacks, risk of psychiatric disease, memory impairment, and tolerance.
Bibliography
"COMPASS Pathways Receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Psilocybin Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression." COMPASS, 23 Oct. 2018, compasspathways.com/compass-pathways-receives-fda-breakthrough-therapy-designation-for-psilocybin-therapy-for-treatment-resistant-depression/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
de Quevedo, Joao L. "FDA Grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to CYB003, a Deuterated Psilocybin Analog Being Investigated as an Adjunctive Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)." McGovern Medical School Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 3 June 2024, med.uth.edu/psychiatry/2024/06/03/fda-grants-breakthrough-therapy-designation-to-cyb003-a-deuterated-psilocybin-analog-being-investigated-as-an-adjunctive-treatment-for-major-depressive-disorder-mdd/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
"FDA Approves New Nasal Spray Medication for Treatment-Resistant Depression; Available Only at a Certified Doctor's Office or Clinic." FDA, 5 Mar. 2019, www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-new-nasal-spray-medication-treatment-resistant-depression-available-only-certified. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Feltman, Rachel. "The FDA Is Fast-Tracking a Second Psilocybin Drug to Treat Depression." Popular Science, 26 Nov. 2019, www.popsci.com/story/health/psilocybin-magic-mushroom-fda-breakthrough-depression/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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Kreimer, Susan. "Psychedelic Therapy Could Benefit Millions of Depressed Americans, Study Finds." UPI, 13 Sept. 2024, www.upi.com/Health‗News/2024/09/13/uspsychedelic-therapystudy/2741726191458/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Laing, Richard R., ed. Hallucinogens: A Forensic Drug Handbook. Elsevier, 2003.
Miech, Richard A., et al. Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2023: Secondary School Students. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Dec. 2023, monitoringthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mtf2023.pdf. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Pollan, Michael. "The Trip Treatment." New Yorker. Condé Nast, 9 Feb. 2015, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/trip-treatment. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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