# Magical mushrooms and other psychedelics



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

So I tripped on LSD and then on mushrooms in the past couple of weeks for the first time in a number of years.

The mushroom trip was very interesting because I felt like the mushrooms put me in touch with a deeper part of myself. A part of myself, *which does not have social anxiety.* The effect persisted even after the mushrooms wore off and then gradually over the next day or two I lost touch with that part of myself again and my social anxiety came back.

However, I think that repeated trips combined with a strict meditation practice could potentially be of real benefit to some people. I want to emphasize how important I think the meditation is, ultimately more important than the drugs even. I mean in the sense that, you can't just eat the mushroom and expect it to do all the work and cure you. What it can do is soften the identity you have built up over the years and instead connect you to a deeper part of yourself. But then it's your job to figure out how to maintain that connection.

Like all the other medications discussed on this forum, there are risks of course which are mostly psychological. A bad trip can lead to depression and anxiety in some people. Still, I think the risk of mushrooms is a lot less than many of the other medications that get dolled out like candy by doctors like SSRIs and benzos.

So anyway, has anyone tried to use psychedelics to treat social anxiety?

I plan to continue experimenting with both mushrooms and LSD for this purpose.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

Yeah, I recently did psilacetin (similar to psilocin, hence shrooms) and had a great time first time - killed anhedonia and gave a feeling of clarity regarding SA and OCD. Second time I ended up rather confused and got stuck in spots for ages due to OCD about getting the carpets dirty or something ridiculous. The second time I didn't combine it with any anxiolytic, whereas the first time was with MDAI. It can go both ways, so I would reccommend good combinations like that for people with anxiety wanting to trip, and definitely avoid combining psychedelics with anxiogenic drugs like stimulants, possibly weed too. Tripping on SSRIs requires a very high dose, but the benefit is that the SSRI forces it to be positive as MDAI did for me. And keep a benzo around for if it goes bad.


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## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

A couple of weeks ago at a house party/BBQ I got offered mushrooms while very drunk and took them. What happened afterwords, I'm still pretty blurry on some of those details. 

Afterwords, though, WOW. The next day was one of the worst hangovers ever, and yet I felt extremely happy. It's been 12 days since that night, and while the effect is now starting to fade, there still is an improvement in my mood. I can definitely see some potential in using psychadelics for mood disorders. 

I have some vague memories of when I was high. I was in an extremely good mood, I was anxiety-free, but I did have problems recalling memories. That one problem did kind of suck. While my social anxiety was almost non-existant, there was some dead air as I tried hard to recall memories to speak about.

My two other attempts at using mushrooms pretty much did nothing for me. One time was literally nothing, the other I got a slighty mood lift and some giggliness, but no psychadelic effects, nor any long lasting effects. The first two attempts I clearly didn't take enough (around 2 grams). The last time, I actually have no clue how much I took. Apparently I just reached into the bag and took some. Good thing I was drunk haha.

I may try take mushrooms again this summer. The long-lasting positive effects definitely have me intruged. There's a music festival that I go to every year, chances are I'll end up doing some there.


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## selenehaydee (Jun 8, 2011)

I did LSD for the first time a few weeks ago. I thought it would be this great trip like they show on tv, but instead, I got a very dark one. I explored the darkest places in my mind and somehow it helped me leave my demons behind, therefore helping my anxiety to ease. I recommend it for people, but be aware of what it might do to you.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

I agree it can be a valuable tool. There was a thread about it in this forum recently, with links to good further reading: Evidence for the use of psychedelics for treatment of anxiety and depression


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## broflovski (Feb 1, 2011)

euphoria said:


> Yeah, I recently did psilacetin (similar to psilocin, hence shrooms) and had a great time first time - killed anhedonia and gave a feeling of clarity regarding SA and OCD. Second time I ended up rather confused and got stuck in spots for ages due to OCD about getting the carpets dirty or something ridiculous. The second time I didn't combine it with any anxiolytic, whereas the first time was with MDAI. It can go both ways, so I would reccommend good combinations like that for people with anxiety wanting to trip, and definitely avoid combining psychedelics with anxiogenic drugs like stimulants, possibly weed too. Tripping on SSRIs requires a very high dose, but the benefit is that the SSRI forces it to be positive as MDAI did for me. And keep a benzo around for if it goes bad.


Psychedelic + anxiolytic combo seems very rational. I remember becoming very anxious from DOB, but with baclofen I enjoyed all the visuals etc along with calm and peace.


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## CD700 (Apr 22, 2010)

It's just a illusion i think.

I remember the first few times i got stoned, I swear I had figured out my social phobia and of course when i sobered up it was still there.
People who chase answers in mind altered states are already on a path to trouble.
I'm not anti drugs or anything but just be careful


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

blakeyz said:


> It's just a illusion i think.
> 
> I remember the first few times i got stoned, I swear I had figured out my social phobia and of course when i sobered up it was still there.
> *People who chase answers in mind altered states are already on a path to trouble.*
> I'm not anti drugs or anything but just be careful


Why though? I highly recommend everyone proceed with the utmost care and caution. Do not trip too often and if you feel that it is harming you, stop. ALso make sure to include long periods of sobriety every once in a while (and by long I mean 6 months or more). I think these are necessary for perspective and will help prevent you from getting lost in in your own psychedelic fantasy world.

As for the benefits being illusions, I'm not convinced. Of course your social phobia was still there when you sobered up. Like I tried to explain in the original post, all the drug really does is show you something. It doesn't cure you, you still have to do that yourself perhaps through meditation. But I think psychedelics can be an aid to that process. I could be wrong, but there are many cases all over the internet of people reporting benefits from psychedelic drugs.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

broflovski said:


> Psychedelic + anxiolytic combo seems very rational. I remember becoming very anxious from DOB, but with baclofen I enjoyed all the visuals etc along with calm and peace.


Adding an anxiolytic can be the key to ensuring a good trip. Especially for us people who are more likely to have depression and anxiety.

I always preload my psychedelics with Phenibut/Baclofen. They both last about the same length of time as your typical LSD/aMT trip so they work very well together.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

blakeyz said:


> It's just a illusion i think.
> 
> I remember the first few times i got stoned, I swear I had figured out my social phobia and of course when i sobered up it was still there.
> People who chase answers in mind altered states are already on a path to trouble.
> I'm not anti drugs or anything but just be careful


A path to trouble in what way?

If it doesn't help you when your sober again then nothing lost, but there is the chance that it will make you see your life and outlook in a different positive way, and at least some of that can be taken back to your normal sober thought processes.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

ugh1979 said:


> Adding an anxiolytic can be the key to ensuring a good trip. Especially for us people who are more likely to have depression and anxiety.
> 
> I always preload my psychedelics with Phenibut/Baclofen. They both last about the same length of time as your typical LSD/aMT trip so they work very well together.


I laugh when people candyflip. The fact that they have no idea that their lsd will peak when they start coming down off pills is some very dark humor...

I'd drop a tab, feel the strength of the peak then flip and that ensures that even with sh!t pills you shouldnt have any porblems


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## CD700 (Apr 22, 2010)

Recipe For Disaster said:


> Why though? I highly recommend everyone proceed with the utmost care and caution. Do not trip too often and if you feel that it is harming you, stop. ALso make sure to include long periods of sobriety every once in a while (and by long I mean 6 months or more). I think these are necessary for perspective and will help prevent you from getting lost in in your own psychedelic fantasy world.
> 
> As for the benefits being illusions, I'm not convinced. Of course your social phobia was still there when you sobered up. Like I tried to explain in the original post, all the drug really does is show you something. It doesn't cure you, you still have to do that yourself perhaps through meditation. But I think psychedelics can be an aid to that process. I could be wrong, but there are many cases all over the internet of people reporting benefits from psychedelic drugs.


I don't believe that any answer can be found in a drug induced state, that's all. I have nothing against drugs in fact they should legalize all of them in my opinion.
I think your on the way to schizophrenia if you start believing the hallucinations and to me that is what you are starting to do.
Choof causes schizophrenia especially in teenagers, there is no doubt in that.
Didn't stop me smoking it but it made my anxiety worse and introduced me to panic attacks. I think as people who suffer a mental illness then we are closest to the edge of going over into schizophrenia so im just putting it out there because your original post is encouraging for people to give trips a shot.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> I laugh when people candyflip. The fact that they have no idea that their lsd will peak when they start coming down off pills is some very dark humor...
> 
> I'd drop a tab, feel the strength of the peak then flip and that ensures that even with sh!t pills you shouldnt have any porblems


Yeah very true.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

blakeyz said:


> I don't believe that any answer can be found in a drug induced state, that's all. I have nothing against drugs in fact they should legalize all of them in my opinion.
> I think your on the way to schizophrenia if you start believing the hallucinations and to me that is what you are starting to do.
> Choof causes schizophrenia especially in teenagers, there is no doubt in that.
> Didn't stop me smoking it but it made my anxiety worse and introduced me to panic attacks. I think as people who suffer a mental illness then we are closest to the edge of going over into schizophrenia so im just putting it out there because your original post is encouraging for people to give trips a shot.


Who is saying they are believing in hallucinations? The hallucination side (which can often be very mild anyway depending on which psychedelic you take) is of zero importance to the treatment of social anxiety.

There is a lot lot more to tripping than just the visual element.

As for not believing any answer can be found from the use of psychedelics, that is folly. There is a very long history of the direct use of psychedelics providing/sparking valuable ideas and insights. Are you aware there is a Nobel prize winner who puts his Nobel winning research partly down to insights he had when on LSD? And there are other Noble laureates who are also known to have have used psychedelics to assist them when conducting their prize winning research. Go check Kary Mullis and Francis Krick to name two.


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## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

I think for people with good self-restraint, people who don't use drugs "just to get high," psychedelics can be an enlightening experience. 

Never worked that way for me since I usually just wanted to get high to ease the pain, but I met someone (ironically in a sober living house) who swore that magical mushrooms cured his depression and I believed him. He was basically forced to rehab by his parents who didn't approve of his drug taking, but he wasn't an addict as far as I could tell. 

Remember, even cultures that embrace psychedelics are usually opposed to over-indulgence in psychedelics. Meditation is probably a good idea. Experienced meditators claim (from what I have read online) that they don't need to rely on the drugs to help facilitate that quiet peace of mind. Easier said than done. I wish I was there.


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## ugh1979 (Aug 27, 2010)

kev said:


> Remember, even cultures that embrace psychedelics are usually opposed to over-indulgence in psychedelics.


Indeed. The communities psychedelic drug use was usually managed by an experienced elder such as a shaman or medicine man/woman.

Over indulgence has never been tolerated, as people have always needed to respect there is a time and place for such things, as they need to be of suitable state of mind to do all the other things in life required to survive.


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

blakeyz said:


> I don't believe that any answer can be found in a drug induced state, that's all. I have nothing against drugs in fact they should legalize all of them in my opinion.
> I think your on the way to schizophrenia if you start believing the hallucinations and to me that is what you are starting to do.
> Choof causes schizophrenia especially in teenagers, there is no doubt in that.
> Didn't stop me smoking it but it made my anxiety worse and introduced me to panic attacks. I think as people who suffer a mental illness then we are closest to the edge of going over into schizophrenia so im just putting it out there because your original post is encouraging for people to give trips a shot.


I don't follow your logic here. Marijuana worsened your anxiety and caused you panic attacks so you conclude that mushrooms cause schizophrenia? That doesn't quite follow.

It's not that I don't understand where you are coming from. I too, developed problems with anxiety and panic attacks as a result of heavy cannabis use when I was a teenager. I abused cannabis to a ridiculous level and I deeply regret it. However, I still don't have schizophrenia.

These days I consider marijuana to be a potent psychedelic drug which should be treated with the same respect as one would treat LSD or mushrooms. The problem with marijuana is that it is addictive. Far more addictive than LSD or mushrooms (if you can even call those addictive). When I would come down from a marijuana high, the first thing I'd want to do would be smoke more. After coming down from a mushroom trip, I don't feel the same urge to eat more mushrooms right away and from what I've read even if I did they would stop working fairly quickly due to tolerance. Marijuana tolerance does not build as fast, so it is a lot easier to abuse marijuana. Not that I don't think marijuana can be helpful to some people, I just abused it thus rendering it useless to me and causing me to focus on LSD and mushrooms these days, which I think provide for greater clarity anyway.

Of course all drugs carry risks but I think the risks from mushrooms are equal to or less than a lot of the other drugs that are commonly discussed on this forum. So I don't see anything wrong with "encouraging for people to give trips a shot". How do you feel about SSRIs, benzos and amphetamines?

As for your statement that you don't believe any answer can be found in a drug induced state, I would argue that psychedelic drugs do sometimes lead to positive behavioral changes. There has been research which has supported this conclusion. I'm not saying they will make you enlightened. I just don't see why they shouldn't be considered in a world where it's common place and acceptable to use drugs which kill and/or harm astronomically large numbers of people like alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

No anxiety from shrooms for me, never had a negative experience.

Also, as it's been mentioned, weed doesn't make me anxious either these days (I got nervous the first few times I smoked though because I wasn't used to the way it made my body feel and thought I was having a heart attack). There's no proof that weed _causes_ schizophrenia either, it just triggers it in people who would have developed it anyway. There's countless studies out there that prove this.

Honestly, the only seriously bad drug experience I've had was on an SSRI, which triggered dysphoric mania.


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## ValiantThor (Dec 6, 2010)

I had a few good trips on lsd, but im not into how long it lasts, and how long it takes to recover. I took a total of 8 tabs because im was dumb like that, i took them at 11pm by myself, tripped really hard till about 10 am, tripped that whole day and into the night without sleep, tripped well into the next day, slept for about 4 hours that night, and when i woke up my wallpaper was still moving and changing color, and very mild visions lasted that day as well. It was some of the stongest lsd you can get. Mushrooms however and just wonderful. Never had a bad time with em. Trips are really spiritual, the comedown isnt bad at all, and you can recover really fast. Lsd just feels like it fried my brain, i felt mentally exhuasted. Lsd can be good, just dont take as much as i did.


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