Psilocybin
{magic mushrooms, shrooms}
Set and setting
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Empty stomach
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Water and snacks
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Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms. These mushrooms cause changes to how you perceive, feel and think. This is often called ‘tripping’. This can be pleasant or unpleasant, depending on the dose, the individual and the environment.
In this guide, you’ll learn about how magic mushrooms work, and how to reduce your risks when using them. The focus with psychedelics, including mushrooms, is on ensuring a safe environment and the reduction of psychological distress. Really unpleasant and intense psychedelic experiences are commonly called ‘bad trips’. You can find our psychedelics page here for more general information and advice on psychedelic use.
Psilocybin acts by causing changes to your serotonin receptors in your brain, which are involved in various processes, including mood, cognition and vision - this is similar to how LSD and DMT act. Have a look at the FAQ section for common queries about shrooms if you’re in a hurry.
This page is a currently under construction.
FAQs¶
What is the difference between shrooms and truffles?
Magic mushrooms refers to the part of mushrooms seen growing above the ground (the ‘cap’), while truffles come from underground, similar to the roots of a plant. It is commonly believed that truffles are weaker than the mushrooms, however there is no scientific evidence for this.
How can I avoid a bad trip on shrooms?
The risk of a ‘bad trip’ from psychedelics, including mushrooms, depends on the dose, your mindset and the environment (‘set and setting’). The likelihood of experiencing unpleasant effects is much greater at high doses. You are also much more likely to have a ‘bad trip’, iIf you are in a stressed or poor mood, or in a stressful or strange environment you are much more likely to have a ‘bad trip’. The pulp of the mushroom and other chemicals in it can cause nausea and make the overall experience unpleasant. Some people mix mushrooms with lemon juice, or make tea from them, which is meant to help reduce the nausea. For more general advice on safe psychedelic experiences, see here.
Can psilocybin help my mental health? / Does it have health benefits?
Recently, shrooms have been involved in research looking at the effects of psilocybin on various mental health disorders, with some evidence to show their benefit. However, these studies provide psilocybin in a clinically controlled safe environment with professional therapy, and more research is needed to understand their effects on mental health.
Testing and identifying magic mushrooms¶
Testing and checking for psilocybin is complicated because of the mushroom itself - it will naturally contain many other chemicals that could respond to reagent test kits. Because of this, Ehrlich’s reagent, a common test used for psychedelics such as LSD and DMT, will react positively to non-psychedelic mushrooms so cannot be used to test for psilocybin.
There are anecdotal reports of plain mushrooms laced with another psychedelic (such as LSD) and then sold as magic mushrooms. Due to Ehrlich’s reagent indiscriminate reaction, you would not be able to use it to tell these mushrooms apart.
The only way to check for the presence of psilocybin is by looking for specific hallmarks of psychedelic mushrooms. However, there are many different species of edible and psychoactive mushrooms with different markers and poisonous look-alikes, which vary by country, region and season.
Learning mushroom identification isn’t simple, and should be done through serious education. Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World (by Paul Stamets) is a popular guide. For those new to mushroom picking, any foraging should really be done with an experienced mushroom picker (or society).