Can Magic Mushrooms Help Ease Anxiety and Depression?

Depression and anxiety disorders continue to skyrocket worldwide. Around 280-million people live with anxiety or depression, and it’s destroying people’s mental health.

The problem with treating anxiety and depression is that the cure is sometimes worse than the disease. Reading people’s experiences using drugs like Xanax to manage their condition can play out like a horror story.

You go in for help and treatment. You leave with all your problems unresolved and nasty drug addiction to boot. The sad reality is Benzodiazepines, like those “Xannie” bars, are the only available treatment for the condition, along with other antipsychotics that have similar side effects that can ruin your life.

What if there was an all-natural way to provide you with the relief you need from anxiety and depression?

Magic mushrooms might provide the solution. Mental health professionals across the US, Canada, and the developed world are looking into this alternative treatment. Many of them are seeing impressive results in their patients.

What are Magic Mushrooms?

Before we go any further, let’s make something clear. This article isn’t medical advice. We’re not out here trying to dispense medical advice. That’s between you and your doctor.

With that out of the way, let’s unpack the mystery of magic mushrooms for you.

Magic mushrooms, aka “shrooms,” “fun guys,” or whatever, contain a potent hallucinogen known as “psilocybin.” You can find magic mushrooms growing in the wild in almost every country worldwide. The fungi are incredibly resilient and grow readily in natural environments.

We’ve all seen the fairy tale “Alice in Wonderland.” Remember those images showing the classic red-topped mushroom featuring white spots? That’s actually representing the “Amanita muscaria” variety of magic mushrooms.

What Happens When You eat Magic Mushrooms?

There are several ways to ingest magic mushrooms. You can eat them fresh or dry, sliced or whole. Add them to a pizza or dip them in honey to kill the dried fungi taste. Some people choose to add them to a tea and steep the psilocybin in hot water to release the drug from the plant matter.

At small doses of one to two grams per person, the mushrooms provide changes to your vision and perception. You may endure laughing fits with your friends or look at how the clouds change shape.

Doses approaching five grams or a “hero dose” will open the doors to another realm, and you’ll experience full-on hallucination.

Some mushroom therapies designed for relieving stress and anxiety can have a beginner step into a hero dose for their first experience. Those users attempting this type of trip must have a guide to lead them through the process. Doing it by yourself is a bad idea and could end up with you losing your mind for the next five or so hours.

Can Magic Mushrooms Help Relieve Anxiety and Depression?

Several naturopath practitioners use magic mushrooms to help people deal with problems like depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

A 2016 study shows psilocybin treatments can quickly reduce feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, and depression in cancer patients. A 2020 study shows psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder showed promising results in patients.

However, there is yet to be any large-scale study performed on the benefits of psilocybin treatment for mental health disorders. As a result, it’s still an obscure therapy and somewhat fringe medicine at the moment.

Are Magic Mushrooms Safe to Consume?

Yes, magic mushrooms are entirely safe to consume, provided you match the right dose to your experience level. Taking too high an amount without anyone around to walk you through the experience could turn it into a nightmare.

Newbies worried about the strength of the shroom should take half the suggested dose and wait for an hour to see how they feel. If you’re self-medicating, it might be a good idea to invite a friend around that’s keen to try it with you or has experience with magic mushrooms.

The psilocybin may take up to 90-minutes to start working in your system. If you ate a fat-heavy meal before taking the shrooms, it would take longer to feel the effects than taking them on an empty stomach.

Some users may find that the mushrooms make them feel nauseous, especially at higher doses. If you feel like vomiting, you must let it go. Users who experience a purge find that it intensifies the feelings and sensations of the “high” as soon as they finish purging.

Some other mild symptoms people may experience are headache, anxiety, dizziness, or sleepiness. 

Who Should Avoid Magic Mushrooms?

While shrooms offer plenty of potential in relieving stress, anxiety, and depression – they aren’t for everyone. Some of the reports in the media make it look like they are a miracle drug, but that’s not the case.

Stay away from mushrooms if you suffer from epilepsy, schizophrenia, psychosis, or severe mental health disorder. Consult with your doctor, not a naturopath healer, if you’re dealing with these issues.

What Is Microdosing?

Microdosing mushrooms involve taking small amounts in the 0.1 to 0.5-gram range every morning. Supposedly, the mushrooms give you the benefit of a balanced mood and an enhanced feeling of well-being without you tripping your face off at work.

The concept of microdosing comes out of Silicon Valley. Some engineers started using the strategy to help them cope with stress, and it became popular in the tech industry.

While plenty of anecdotal evidence suggests it works, there is no concrete proof of its efficacy for managing mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

In Closing – Can Magic Mushrooms Help Ease Anxiety and Depression?

While there is no conclusive evidence surrounding the use of magic mushrooms for treating these mental health disorders, psilocybin therapy does show potential.

More people flock to this alternative treatment every year. Many patients experience impressive results after a single guided treatment session.

While it’s never going to be a mainstream treatment, psilocybin therapy is unlocking a new door to caring for people with these issues.

With time, we’re sure to see the media becoming more interested in the results people experience with this controversial therapy.