Hallucinogenic mushrooms: these are their effects on our mind

This family of mushrooms contains psilocybin, a psychoactive substance with powerful effects.

If it is natural, it can't be bad, right? Guided by this fallacious reasoning there are many young people, and not so young, who firmly believe that the consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms will do them more good than harm.

Nothing could be further from the truth, for these mushrooms, which contain psilocybin in uncontrolled doses, are quite dangerous. A bad trip in a brain predisposed to disorders can have dramatic consequences.

It is true that ancient cultures used hallucinogenic mushrooms for all kinds of purposes, especially spiritual and religious ones.especially spiritual and religious ones. There are numerous rituals in Central America where hallucinogens are used to reach altered states of consciousness as a means to achieve certain spiritual goals.

Through the knowledge of these practices has come to us part of what we know about hallucinogenic mushrooms as well as the mythology and its aura of mysticism. The truth is that if we ignore for a moment all the magical paraphernalia, what we are left with are mushrooms with estimated amounts of psychedelic substances. mushrooms with estimated amounts of psychedelic substances..

What do hallucinogenic mushrooms contain?

The secret ingredient that makes us have hallucinations when ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms is psilocybin. It does not exist in just one species of mushroom, but in a family of more than 200 different species of mushrooms. All of them produce this compound, so they are grouped under the same category of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

In addition to psilocybin, they contain psilocin and baeocystin, both of which serve the same function.which serve the same function, but to a lesser extent.

Properties of psilocybin

Psilocybin is a compound with psychoactive properties. It is a prodruga precursor that is transformed into psilocin once ingested and metabolized. Once transformed, it acts on the brain in all its psychedelic splendor.

It acts as a functional agonist of serotonin as it is similar to it in its structure. In this way, it binds to many of the serotonin receptors, activating the same pathways as serotonin. In addition, it indirectly influences dopamine production in the basal ganglia. The coupling in serotonin receptors and dopamine production together explain the hallucinogenic effects.

Metabolism and hallucinogenic mushrooms

Due to their pharmacokinetic properties, mushrooms take 20 to 90 minutes to be digested, pass through the liver and reach the bloodstream. It is not until then that one notices their effects, which will last between 3 and 6 hours..

It is estimated that the typical recreational dose ranges from 10 to 50 milligrams of psilocybin, and that each gram of fresh hallucinogenic mushrooms contains one milligram of this compound, while each gram of dried hallucinogenic mushrooms contains 10 milligrams of psilocybin.

However, each person's metabolism is different. Some people are more sensitive than others to this compound and with a very small dose they can already have hallucinatory experiences. Because of this and because the amounts of compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms are estimated, people often ingest more than they should and end up having a bad time.

Effects of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Although they receive this name because it is the star effect or the one that is really desired when they are consumed, there are a multitude of effects that occur at the same time..

Recall that psilocybin is a non-selective agonist of certain serotonin receptors, so it will bind indiscriminately where its structure permits, especially in the frontal cortex involved in thinking, mood and perception.

1. Hallucinatory experiences and sensory disturbance

Hallucinations include content of all kinds. These can be of any modality, visual, auditory, sensory, gustatory or olfactory. As in addition to the presence of hallucinations, the normal perception itself is sharpened and changed, both properties are mixed. It is possible to see common objects in colors that do not correspond or to perceive them as distorted forms, to appreciate with greater intensity sounds that in an unaltered state would not be the object of attention, etcetera.

Although most of the hallucinatory experiences have a positive tone, it is possible to see common objects in different colors or to perceive them as distorted shapes. and they are lived in a pleasant way, the own state of mind and the state induced by the properties of the mushrooms can turn these experiences into a bad trip that will last a long time.

2. Experiences of well-being and openness

Many people, similar to what they experience with MDMA, become more open and creative. It is possible to feel a form of peace and to be in tune with the rest of people and objects accompanied by a need to open up and to share with the others this so pleasant sensation.

3. Relaxation or anxiety

Although these experiences of well-being occur in a state of deep relaxation, this is not always the case. Some people report experience abrupt periods of anxiety during the trip with hallucinogenic mushrooms.. These periods can range from a few minutes to occupy the entire psychedelic experience and be extremely unpleasant, so that they break the magic of the hallucinations and turn them into a bad pill from which it is impossible to escape.

4. Physiological changes

Physiological changes include sweating, tachycardia, nausea, accelerated breathing and dilation of the pupils.. Fortunately, hallucinogenic mushrooms do not make very drastic changes in physiology and a high dose is not as dangerous in the physical sense as with other drugs.

5. Unpleasant effects

Along with hallucinations and alterations in perception and thinking, other kinds of undesirable effects may occur. One of the most frequent unpleasant effects is paranoia, i.e., the conviction that the drug is a drug that can be used for a long period of time.that is, the conviction that one is being persecuted or the object of some kind of plot. This is a very aversive experience bordering on the psychotic and can become severe enough.

Long-term effects of hallucinogenic mushroom misuse can include persistent psychotic conditions with hallucinations, delusions and thought disturbances and persistent emotional disturbances such as major depression or dysthymia.

Although rare, these dramatic consequences are unpredictable. Anyone who is sensitive to hallucinogenic mushrooms, who has not been well informed, who has taken too much, who has not been well accompanied or who has consumed in an unfriendly environment can end up developing this type of symptoms which, besides being unpleasant, are usually not completely reversible and leave after-effects on the personality of the sufferer.