Sober livingPsilocybin mushroom Description, Species, Uses, Hallucinogen, & Facts

December 19, 2024by laskary0

Increased amygdala responses to emotional faces after psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. Pilot study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer. In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin as a ‘breakthrough therapy,’ allowing research and studies into its treatment potential. This meta-analysis included both RCTs and prospective open-label studies, and calculated...

This meta-analysis included both RCTs and prospective open-label studies, and calculated effect sizes by comparing to the placebo group or by using pre-treatment (baseline) values. One meta-analysis found that the highest assessed dose in clinical trials, 30 to 35 mg per 70 kg body weight, was the most effective, with an effect size (Hedges’ g) of 3.1 (relative to 1.3 overall), but based on only one study for that dosing subgroup. Psilocybin has been a subject of clinical research since the early 1960s, when the Harvard Psilocybin Project evaluated the potential value of psilocybin as a treatment for certain personality disorders. Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that people may petition the DEA for exemptions to use psilocybin for religious purposes. Similarly, religious groups like America’s Uniao do Vegetal (UDV) use psychedelics in traditional ceremonies. Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no recognized medical uses.

How are psilocybin laws enforced at the federal level?

Factors such as mental health, setting, quantity, and expectations may affect the experience someone has after using psilocybin. Hallucinogenic drugs may cause unpredictable, potentially dangerous behavior, which can lead to injuries. The only way to eliminate the risk of a bad trip is by not taking magic mushrooms. People should visit an emergency room immediately if these symptoms occur after eating mushrooms. Some psilocybin users risk accidental poisoning from eating a poisonous mushroom by mistake.

Psychiatric adverse effects

It shows high affinity for most of the serotonin receptors, with the notable exception of the serotonin 5-HT3 receptor. Psilocin’s major metabolic pathway is glucuronidation by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase enzymes including UGT1A10 and UGT1A9. Psilocin, the active form of psilocybin, is a substrate of the monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme MAO-A. The Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances assigns psilocybin a relatively high therapeutic index of 641 (higher values correspond to a better safety profile); for comparison, the therapeutic indices of aspirin and nicotine are 199 and 21, respectively.

Hallucinogens & Psychedelics

However, the UN drug treaties do not apply to cultivation, preparation, or international transport of psilocybin mushrooms. In 1956, Roger Heim identified the hallucinogenic mushroom that the Wassons had brought back from Mexico as Psilocybe and in 1958, Albert Hofmann first reported psilocin and psilocybin as the active compound in these mushrooms. In June 2025, Compass Pathways, which is developing psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, announced the results of a Phase III clinical trial of single-dose 25 mg psilocybin (COMP360) versus placebo. In Amsterdam, authorities provide education on and promote the safe use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, to reduce public harm.

Are psilocybin mushroom spores legal?

These results are consistent with the drug’s role in affecting prefrontal cortex activity and the role that the prefrontal cortex plays in time perception, but the neurochemical basis of psilocybin’s effects on perception of time is not known with certainty.
The mind-altering effects usually begin about 20 to 30 minutes after ingestion and can continue for as long as six to eight hours.
In another study, 2 mg psilocybin by intravenous injection given over 60 seconds had an immediate onset, reached a sustained peak after 4 minutes, and subsided completely after 45 to 60 minutes.
Those who had prior experience with psilocybin reported more pleasant experiences than those for whom the drug was novel.
Other genera with psilocybin-containing fungi include Agrocybe, Copelandia, Galerina, Gerronema, Gymnopilus, Hypholoma, Inocybe, Panaeolus, Pholiotina, and Pluteus.

The previous type species of the genus, Psilocybe montana (now Deconica montana), was in the non-bluing clade, but in 2010, the type species was changed to P. semilanceata, a member of the bluing clade. A 2002 study of the molecular phylogeny of the agarics indicated the genus Psilocybe as then defined was polyphyletic, falling into two distinct clades that are not directly related to each other.

Low doses are 5 to 10 mg, an intermediate or “good effect” dose is 20 mg, and high or ego-dissolution doses are 30 to 40 mg. It is also under development for the treatment of depression and for various other indications elsewhere, such as the United States and Europe, but has not yet been approved in other countries (see below). It is in late-stage clinical trials in the United States for treatment-resistant depression. Psilocybin is being studied as a possible medicine in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance use disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and other conditions such as cluster psilocybe semilanceata habitat headaches.

A second Phase III trial by Compass Pathways involving multiple different doses of psilocybin is also underway, with results expected next year. In the previously described dose-ranging Phase II trial of psilocybin for depression, the time to median depressive event after administration of psilocybin was 92 to 189 days for 25 mg, 43 to 83 days for 10 mg, and 21 to 62 days for 1 mg, depending on the analysis. A 2025 network meta-analysis of RCTs of psilocybin for depression found that it did not significantly improve depression scores relative to placebo on day 2 post-dose but did improve them day 8 and day 15 post-dose. Preliminary meta-analyses suggest that improvements in depressive symptoms with psilocybin are dose-dependent and that higher doses may result in greater improvements than lower doses. It has been proposed that psychedelics like psilocybin may in fact act as active “super placebos” when used for therapeutic purposes.

Guzmán increased his estimate of the number of psilocybin-containing Psilocybe to 144 species in a 2005 review.
Based on in vitro studies, it has been estimated that MAO-A is responsible for about 81% of psilocin’s phase I hepatic metabolism.
Effects of psilocybin versus escitalopram on rumination and thought suppression in depression.
There is significant first-pass metabolism of psilocybin and psilocin with oral administration.

Long-term effects

Examples of MAOIs that may potentiate psychedelics behaving as MAO-A substrates, such as psilocin, include phenelzine, tranylcypromine, isocarboxazid, and moclobemide, as well as harmala alkaloids like harmine and harmaline and chronic tobacco smoking. Combination of MAO-substrate psychedelics with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) can result in overdose and toxicity. The exact extent to which psilocin (and by extension psilocybin) is metabolized by MAO-A is not fully clear, but has ranged from 4% to 33% in different studies based on metabolite excretion. A clinical trial of psilocybin and midazolam coadministration found that midazolam clouded psilocybin’s effects and impaired memory of the experience. Benzodiazepines such as diazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam, and lorazepam, as well as alcohol, which act as GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators, have been limitedly studied in combination with psilocybin and other psychedelics and are not known to directly interact with them. Serotonin 5-HT2A receptor antagonists that have been specifically shown in clinical studies to diminish or abolish psilocybin’s effects include ketanserin, risperidone, and chlorpromazine.

Psilocybin as a treatment for depression

In the United States, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been testing psilocybin and psilocin in an effort to reduce veterans’ mental health problems and suicide rates. Widespread recreational use of these mushrooms, however, prompted state and federal governments to strictly control them in many places. The men publicized the fungi’s consciousness-expanding properties, which are somewhat similar to synthetic drugs such as LSD.

What are the penalties for possessing psilocybin in states where it is illegal?

Psilocybin is most commonly consumed in the form of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, such as Psilocybe species like Psilocybe cubensis. Psilocybin-containing mushrooms vary in their psilocybin and psilocin content, but are typically around 1% of the dried weight of the mushrooms (in terms of total or combined psilocybin and psilocin content). Especially at higher doses and combined with psychological support, psilocybin can produce rapid and sometimes lasting antidepressant effects that generally outperform placebo but show only modest advantages over conventional SSRIs; evidence quality is generally low and trial bias is common.

Clinical trials, including both open-label trials and double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs), have found that single doses of psilocybin produce rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects outperforming placebo in people with major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. Likewise, a 2010 Dutch study ranked the relative harm of psilocybin mushrooms compared to a selection of 19 recreational drugs, including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, and tobacco. At certain doses, psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin, can change peoples’ moods, thoughts, and perceptions. The lethal dose from psilocybin toxicity alone is unknown, and has rarely been documented—as of 2011update, only two cases attributed to overdosing on hallucinogenic mushrooms (without concurrent use of other drugs) have been reported in the scientific literature, and those may involve factors other than psilocybin.d In a 2024 meta-analysis of RCTs of psychedelics and escitalopram for treatment of depression, only “high-dose” psilocybin (≥20 mg) significantly outperformed escitalopram in improving depressive symptoms.

No psilocybin has been detected in the blood in humans after oral administration, suggesting virtually complete dephosphorylation into psilocin with the first pass. There is significant first-pass metabolism of psilocybin and psilocin with oral administration. Psilocybin is dephosphorylated into its active form psilocin in the body and hence is a prodrug. Conversely, psilocin is lipophilic and readily crosses the blood–brain barrier to exert effects in the central nervous system. The effects of food on the pharmacokinetics of psilocybin have not been reported and are unknown, but no clear sign of food effects has been observed in preliminary analyses.

It may also distort how some people who use the drug perceive objects and people in their environment. Only the truffle form of magic mushrooms (such as P. tampanensis) are currently legal, but these still contain the active ingredients and produce similar effect as the caps and stalks. There is some skepticism as to whether or not these “sacred mushrooms” were actually in the genus Psilocybe. By the 20th century, hallucinogenic mushroom use was thought by non-Native Americans to have disappeared entirely. Hallucinogenic species of Psilocybe have a long history of use among the native peoples of Mesoamerica for religious communion, divination, and healing, from pre-Columbian times up to the present day. This is a plausible basis for the psychological effects of these hallucinogenic compounds.

Taking certain additional psychoactive drugs may reduce or end the effects of hallucinogens by counteracting their effects on the brain. Magic mushrooms have a low risk of addiction, but research is ongoing, and people may risk poisoning from picking the wrong types of mushrooms. Adverse side effects are often mild or moderate and may resolve with time, but some people may require medical treatment.

Psilocybin works by binding to and activating serotonin receptors in parts of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. By the early 1970s, a number of psychoactive Psilocybe species were described from temperate North America, Europe, and Asia and were widely collected. The popularization of entheogens by Wasson, Timothy Leary, and others has led to an explosion in the use of hallucinogenic Psilocybe throughout the world.