Nebraska Dispensary. Magic mushrooms can be simply understood as a type or class of mushroom family. They are well known for their psychoactive nature and hallucinogenic effects. And this psychoactive effect in this mushroom type is due to a chemical compound namely psilocybin. As per research and studies, this compound is closely related to psychological impacts and most prominent of which is the alteration in the feelings, thoughts, and senses.
Due to this effect, the mushroom can be somewhat addictive. Additionally, no formal and recommended medical or medicinal usage of this mushroom has been discovered so far. Here is everything You should be aware of regarding magic mushrooms.
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Historical background and discovery:
If we talk about the historical background, this type of mushroom has been used for centuries but to a limited level. And the reason behind limited usage was their psychoactive nature as told in the beginning.
It is worth mentioning here that some people in past ages have been considering magic mushrooms as a naturally existing and spiritual drug. They had been using it to get high with peace. But scientific studies and research have not found any link between this mushroom with medicinal or treatment usage. Moreover, studies have revealed that the chances of misuse of this drug are also considerably high.
As far as the discovery of magic mushrooms is concerned, it was Dr. Albert Hofmann who came up with discovery of magic mushrooms in the year 1958. After the discovery of the magic mushroom, it has been prepared via cultural techniques.
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Commonly used names:
Magic mushrooms have been known by a lot of different names. The most commonly and widely used names for this specie of mushrooms are as given below.
- Liberty caps
- Golden tops
- Mushies
- Shrooms
- Amani
- Agaric
- Blue meanies
- Philosopher’s stones
- Liberties
So, if you see any of the above-mentioned names anywhere, you can easily find out that the subject being discussed is magic mushrooms.
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How do distinguish magic mushrooms from others?
As we know that a lot of species and types of mushrooms have been discovered and known so far. So, it can be difficult for one to find out whether a certain mushroom belongs to the magic mushroom family or not.
But there is nothing to worry about it as there are some physical or appearance-related features that distinguish magic mushrooms from others. Some of these features are stated below.
- Dry in nature
- Lengthy and slim stem structure
- Brown colored caps
- Stems featuring white and grey colors
If a mushroom species or type has any of the above-stated features in it, they belong to psilocybin mushrooms. In this way, you can easily distinguish them from others.
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Modes of usage or intake:
There are different modes people have been using for ancient times for intake of psilocybin mushrooms. If you are newly introduced to this mushroom type, you need to have some knowledge about various modes or methods of intake of this mushroom.
Some of the widely used methods in this regard are mentioned below. You can choose the one you feel comfortable with yourself.
- Mixing with eatables and food items
- A solution of this mushroom and drinking stuff like tea and breweries
- Smoking this product while mixed with tobacco, cannabinoids, and other related products
- It is also noteworthy that this mushroom is also available in liquid form and can be extracted accordingly. This liquid is brownish and clear.
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How does psilocybin mushroom work?
Magic mushrooms once taken produce a hallucinogenic effect in the body as mentioned earlier as well. And hallucinogenic effect covers a wide range of symptoms and bodily conditions. Some of the common examples of these symptoms are enhanced sensation, abnormal psychological behavior, feeling what is not real, etc.
And all thing that causes mainly the development of feelings and sensations is the conversion or transformation of the chemical compound psilocybin into psilocin. As a result of this conversion, when the psilocin level enhances in the human body, it causes an abnormal change in serotonin level.
And serotonin is a chemical compound that primarily occurs and works in the brain. Any abnormality in its level causes the abnormality in the feelings and perceptions which is known as getting high.
However, it must be kept in mind that the intensity or extent to which psilocybin affects the mental condition depends upon various factors. Some major of these factors are
- The amount or quantity taken
- Size to weight ratio of the person taking this compound
- Mental health
- Mental condition while doing intake
- Purity of the substance or chemical
The effect of this mushroom can be estimated by keeping the above-stated aspects in mind. When it comes to the activation or affecting time, the symptoms of the mushroom intake start appearing within a few minutes i-e twenty to thirty minutes. And the effect may continue for hours. On average it does not last longer than a period of six hours.
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Prominent usage symptoms:
After intake of shrooms, one may experience certain symptoms. Some major symptoms of usage of this mushroom include nausea, feelings of anxiety, a considerable change in perception level, and sensitivity.
In addition to the distorted working of the brain, the intake of shrooms causes abnormality in the metabolic rate of the body. Disturbance in the metabolic rate mostly results in the enhanced or boosted digestion of food leading to a higher level of appetite or in other words hunger level.
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What do modern researchers say about shrooms?
Though they are not fully prescribed or recommended for any sort of medicinal use or the curation of any disorder, still they can help and assist in overcoming certain health-related issues. And all these findings are based upon modern research conducted in highly reputed educational institutions including John Hopkins University.
John Hopkins University has recently recommended allowing psilocybin for the treatment of certain medical/ health disorders. The research carried out at this university has revealed that using psilocybin showed a remarkable improvement and recovery in those suffering from depression and hypertension.
Not only this but a controlled and calculated consumption of this chemical compound also helped in overcoming addiction to nicotine and other similar addictives. This means that magic mushrooms can also be used for treatment purposes to some extent.
Moreover, it has also been indicated from research-based studies that psilocybin mushrooms have some role in neutralizing the after-effects of certain intense treatments or curative measures. At the same time, it has also been found that they can be beneficial somewhat for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, opioid withdrawal or addiction, PTSD as well as Anorexia Nervosa.
Keeping in view this aspect, some of the cities in the world and especially in the US have removed the possession of shrooms from the category of criminal activity.
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Possible side effects:
There can be a lot of side effects of psilocybin intake no matter whether it is in the form of mushrooms or any other source. There are various psychological impacts of the intake of a said chemical compound, including addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Here are the major side effects that can be easily observed in a person who is using shrooms on regular basis or who are doing misusing this drug.
Dizziness
Palpitations
Anxiety or nervousness
Panic attacks
Distorted working of CNS
Disturbed motor control
Dementia
Weight reduction
Poor coordination of body muscles
Abnormal blood pressure
Overdosing:
Overdosing of psilocybin-containing objects like mushrooms can have more intense and harmful side effects. Before knowing them, one thing that needs to be cleared is why overdosing occurs and how many chances are there for overdosing.
It must be kept in mind that the more you use the shrooms, the more resistance or tolerance your body develops. And tolerance means that the response of your body towards the drug is reduced remarkably.
We can understand it in a way that if a body of a person is getting a certain effect from a small amount of psilocybin, next time the body of that person will need relatively more amount of the same substance or drug to get that much effect.
In short, we can say that it is tolerance or resistance of your body that may lead to overdosing. Overdosing can have serious side effects like diarrhea, deterioration of muscles, vomiting, panic attacks, and psychosis.
