Are magic mushrooms dangerous?

P. cubensis has a low toxicity, and is considered to be relatively harmless when compared to the potential health effects of many other drugs. Yet as with any illicit substance that can affect how our bodies function, there are risks.  For some people, the experience won’t be all that pleasant, triggering psychological distress, dizziness, weakness, and stomach upset. Depending on existing mental health issues, this could trigger trauma, or ongoing recurrences such as flashbacks. Carrying out certain activities while under the psychedelic’s influence, such as swimming or driving, puts individuals at higher risk of accidents.

Then there are the risks taken to get high in the first place. Foraging for mushrooms – magic or other – can result in chowing down on a deadly variety, for example. While recklessly delivering doses of psilocybin in other ways, such as through the end of a syringe, presents its own potentially lethal health risks. Legally speaking, psilocybin is a prohibited substance in many places around the globe, leading to anything from fines to jail time for possessing or trafficking magic mushrooms. This is slowly changing, with jurisdictions decriminalising possession of small amounts of the psychedelic mushrooms in recent years.

How do magic mushrooms affect the brain?

Our body breaks psilocybin down into the chemical psilocin, which also happens to be another psychoactive compound found in P. cubensis. It’s actually psilocin that affects our nervous system, competing with other messenger chemicals in activating several different types of serotonin receptors known as 5-HT receptors. It’s this competition that interferes with the functioning of areas of the brain involved in the management of a wide variety of functions, from mood to temperature control, to appetite, to excitation of the senses.

By affecting levels of another neurotransmitter, called glutamate, in areas of the brain involved in thought and self-esteem, the compound can shift our perspective on our sense of self and how we are connected to our environment. A more general response to these shifts in brain chemistry seems to be a restructuring of neural networks, suggesting psychedelics like psilocybin seem to ‘reset’ how the brain is wired on a ........