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EMERSON COLLEGEHONORS PROGRAM

Medical Magic Mushrooms: Understanding the Healing Effects of Psilocybin Mushrooms through Users Personal Experiences

An Honors Thesis

submitted by

Rachel Agnir

to the Honors Program of Emerson College

in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of

Political Communication: Leadership, Politics, and Social Advocacy

in

Communication Studies

Emerson CollegeBoston, MassachusettsSpring, 2015

Abstract

Humans have used Magic Mushrooms to expand their consciousness for thousands of years. Excesses in drug use of the 1960s, subsequent Drug War propaganda of the past 40 years, and conflicting reports of the drugs effects leave the public unclear about the realities of a Magic Mushroom experience. To better understand the drug and its effects, people turn to the internet to seek users personal experiences. By analyzing online forum discussions pertaining to psilocybin mushrooms through the lens of Social Construction Theory, we were able to build a picture of the realities of psilocybin use. Results show that psilocybin mushrooms can be used safely and can provide therapeutic benefits when used in a controlled environment, when the user goes into the experience with the proper mental preparation and mindset. Better understanding of the effects of psilocybin mushrooms will help to improve public opinion, making further research more widely accepted.

Table of Contents

Introduction.4Literature Review6Changing Attitudes toward Psilocybin Mushrooms in the U.S. .8Online Forum Communication.12Social Construction Theory..14Methodology ....18Analysis.20Dosage...20Bad Trips ...25Treating Mental Illness .31Maximizing Benefits ...42Conclusions ..47Implications ..50

Works Cited....51

Introduction

There exists a curious organism that grows out of the ground and can be found in nearly every corner of the world, from Alaska to Chile, and from California to Japan (Guzmn, Allen & Gartz 2000). This organism is a fungus, a type of mushroom that gains nutrients from decaying organic matter and grows long, underground connecting networks of mycelium, much like other mushrooms. While these mushrooms are similar in growth and appearance to hundreds of others, a particular type of mushroom has been a celebrated and revered by humans since prehistoric times. These mushrooms appear in cave paintings in Northern Africa and stone carvings from Europe, Asia, and Central America (McKenna 1992). Ancient shamans, the earliest practitioners of spirituality and medicine, viewed these mushroom as sacred, and used them to communicate with the spirit world and to seek divine answers to difficult questions. These fascinating mushrooms are still known and used today, and are commonly referred to as Magic Mushrooms.Magic Mushrooms, and all psychedelic drugs, are a politically and emotionally charged subject. Today, they are strongly associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, with stoners and burnouts, and hippies who have permanently damaged their brains through their use. They are viewed as extremely dangerous by the generation of adults who were raised seeing the anti-drug propaganda of the 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, many who experienced Magic Mushrooms in their youth will tell you that their experiences were profound, not simply bright colors and hallucinations, but something much more meaningful. What is the truth? Are Magic Mushrooms safe and harmless, and potentially beneficial through the profound experiences they may provide? Or are they dangerous, giving people hallucinations that may put them in danger, and potentially leading people to psychosis and a permanent break from reality? Today, clinical research is being conducted into the therapeutic, medicinal uses of Magic Mushrooms, and results are largely positive. However, such a strong stigma surrounds these substances that government approval and funding for research are extremely difficult to obtain. For research to move forward, a clearer understanding of the effects of Magic Mushrooms must be available in order to erase stigma and change public opinion. In this paper, I will first conduct a literature review detailing the public opinion and changing attitudes Americans have held toward psilocybin mushrooms in the past sixty years, the use of online forum communication in affecting peoples consumption decisions, and the communication theory of Social Construction for building knowledge and gaining understanding of reality. Next will be a section on methodology, how I found an online forum discussing the realities of psilocybin mushroom use, and how I analyzed these online conversations. In the analysis section, I will qualitatively analyze the messages of an online forum through the lens of Social Construction Theory, to show how these forum users come to understand the realities of consuming psilocybin mushrooms through social interaction. Finally, I will summarize my findings in a concluding section and discuss the implications of my findings on the future of psychedelic medicine.

Literature ReviewMagic mushrooms are the only psychedelic drug known to man that are completely active in their natural state, requiring no preparation, boiling, burning, or scraping (McKenna 1992). Magic Mushrooms grow out of the ground in fields and forests across the world, fully functional and intensely psychoactive. The active chemicals in these mushrooms are psilocybin and its derivative, psilocin. These chemicals interact with serotonin receptor subtype 5-HT2A,C, and this alteration in serotonin neurotransmission causes an interconversion of senses, leading to novel connections and brain activity (Snyder 2006, Griffiths et al 2006, Hasler et al 2004). Scientists widely agree upon the fact that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin are remarkably non-toxic and have little to no potential to cause physiological addiction (Griffiths et al 2006, Hasler et al 2004, Krebs et al 2013). Numerous studies conducted in the United States and Europe have demonstrated that ingesting psilocybin mushrooms can cause a person to have a deeply spiritual or mystical experience, in which a person feels an inexplicable connection and interaction with higher divinities as well as their own inner selves (Pahnke 1962, Griffiths et al 2006, Griffiths et al 2011, Lerner & Lyvers 2006). Recent research has shown that psilocybin has the potential to treat and possibly cure a myriad of mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and end-of-life anxiety in people with terminal illnesses (Burne 2012, Shroder 2014, Grob et al 2011). Despite promising research and thousands of years of religious use, psilocybin is currently ranked as a Schedule 1 narcotic by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency. Schedule 1 drugs are described as having the highest potential for abuse, with absolutely no accepted medical use, and are considered to be unsafe to be used even in a controlled, clinical setting. Numerous research reports negate all three of these qualifiers, showing that psilocybin is non-addictive, has the potential to treat several illnesses, and can be used safely under the supervision of professional researchers (Griffiths et al 2006, Hasler et al 2004, Grob et al 2011). Attitudes toward psilocybin mushrooms in the United States have fluctuated between positive and negative since they were first reported on by mycologist R. Gordon Wasson, in a 1957 article appearing in Life Magazine, titled Seeking the Magic Mushroom. Descriptions of the mushrooms effects range from extremely positive to extremely negative. Many report feelings of elation and ecstasy, a deeper connection to nature and all living things, a deeper appreciation of life and increased empathy toward others, and feelings of well-being that lasts long after the drugs effects have worn off. At the same time, we hear reports of people experiencing bad trips, hours of terrifying visions, writhing in extreme anxiety, and experiencing a certainty that they are dying. Many people report their experiences while under the effects of psilocybin to be ineffable, or unable to be put into words, because the experiences are so foreign and profound. These conflicting reports of personal experiences, along with the difficulty that many have with putting their experiences into words, leads many to question the realities of a magic mushroom experience. Today, people gather in online communities to discuss their experiences and pose questions to others regarding their psychedelic experiences, or potential experimentation with psychedelic substances. Websites such as shroomery.com, erowid.com, and reset.me are hubs of information regarding a wide array of illicit substances, where members can contribute and converse through forums with anonymity and safety. People are drawn to these sites because they provide information from experienced users, people who have first hand knowledge of the effects of these substances. In these online discussions, people converse and share knowledge in order to solidify the realities of psychedelic drugs- where to find them, how to take them, and what they do.Changing Attitudes Toward Psilocybin MushroomsAmerican attitudes toward psilocybin mushrooms have fluctuated through the past sixty or so years, based largely on societal beliefs, and sometimes at the expense of scientific rationale. Psilocybin mushrooms were first brought to the attention of American society in 1957, in a photo essay published in Life Magazine titled Seeking the Magic Mushroom. The article was written by amateur mycologist R. Gordon Wasson. Wasson, an American banker, and his Russian wife, Valentina Pavlovna, were interested in the differing roles that mushrooms played in different cultures. Their research led them to reports written by Spanish Conquistadores, whose writings referenced indigenous cultures in Mexico using mushrooms in religious ceremonies. In a remote village in the Mazatec mountains of Mexico, Wasson became the first Westerner to participate in the sacred mushroom ceremony of the Mixeteco people. Wasson picked the psilocybin mushrooms himself, with the aid of the small towns sndico, or official. The ceremony was conducted by a female shaman, a curandera, named Maria Sabina, and her daughter. During the ceremony, the curandera distributed the fresh mushrooms to a group of about twenty individuals, who sat on mats around an alter. All present, including the curandera, ingested the mushrooms, and for some six hours experienced vivid visions and feelings of being transported to other places in time. All through the ceremony, the curandera and her daughter sang, hummed, and chanted to direct the energies of the people (Wasson 1957).Wassons experiences brought psychedelic mushrooms into the public eye, and people were very excited about the discovery. Hundreds of people flocked to the Huautla region of Mexico in hopes of experiencing the mushroom ceremony. These mushroom tourists caused great amounts of strife for the indigenous Mexican people, whose practices had been a secret for generations (Ceraso 2008). During this time, the United States government was very interested in studying the mind altering effects of other psychedelic drugs, particularly lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, which had been synthesized by Albert Hofmann at Sandoz Laboratory over a decade prior, in Switzerland. A species of magic mushroom, Psilocybe mexicana, was sent to Sandoz Laboratory in the late 1950s, where the active chemical psilocybin was first isolated and then synthesized (Ceraso 2008). Between 1953 and 1973, hundreds of studies into the effects of psychedelic drugs, including LSD and psilocybin, were funded by the U.S. government. Researchers studied the effects of psychedelic drugs in treating addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, end-of-life anxiety, and schizophrenia (Pollan 2015). Effects on creativity, and studies on mystical or religious experiences, were conducted as well (Pollan 2015, Bunch 2009, Griffiths et al 2006). Results of these studies were largely positive, though by todays standards often lacked rigid study design (Pollan 2015).During the 1960s, psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin were supported by scientists, artists, and young people who were interested in the drugs abilities to broaden ones senses and change the way they viewed the world. As the 1960s wore on, a counter-culture movement among the youth of the country grew, and citizens began questioning the government and the society in which we live. Social activists demanded civil rights for African Americans, anti-war protestors marched in opposition to the Vietnam War, and hippies practiced free love on the lawn of the White House. The counter-culture embraced cannabis and psychedelic drugs for their ability to broaden their perceptions and think about society and social norms from a new perspective. These drugs helped them to question the objective reality that they had known since birth, and people formed their own subjective reality of how the country and its people should operate. The counter-culture, and its desire to create change in society, put pressure on the government. Protests were televised and shown in every home, and popular musicians advocated the use of mind-altering substances and the questioning of the powers that be. Psychedelic use was widespread. It was during this time that newspapers began to report sensational stories about young people, high on LSD, who became convinced that they could fly, and fell or jumped to their deaths. President Richard Nixon proclaimed drugs to be the number one threat to America, and declared a War on Drugs that has lasted for over forty years. In 1971, Nixon passed the Controlled Substances Act, which classified all known narcotics into schedules according to how dangerous they were. Despite having demonstrated many medical benefits in the previous decades, all known psychedelics, as well as cannabis, were placed under the strictest restriction as Schedule 1 drugs. While this did little to curb the widespread recreational use of psychedelics, it effectively halted all scientific research into these chemicals. The sensationalized dangers of psychedelic drugs were reported in news broadcasts across the country, claiming that the use of psychedelic drugs caused psychosis, and led to insanity. Reports of people being stuck in permanent trips, who were unable to return to reality, terrified the public. Over time, a generation of Americans came to know psychedelic drugs as the most dangerous and terrifying of all drugs. Today, many people still hold this view.In the past decade, research into psychedelic substances and their potential to treat mental disorders has experienced a revival, which many are calling a renaissance (Sessa 2012). Within the scientific community, there has been renewed interest in studying the effects of psilocybin on end-of-life anxiety and addiction, as well as its ability to induce mystical experiences (Sessa 2012, Shroder 2014, Griffiths et al 2011). In the United States, the DEA is making small concessions to allow research into psychedelic substances, and studies are being conducted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. According to UK psychiatrist Ben Sessa, there is a strong commitment to get research into psychedelics right this time around, by undertaking meticulously planned randomised, controlled, double-blind studies, in contrast to the anecdotal studies of the 1960s (Sessa 2012). In todays research, there is a strong emphasis on set and setting which is the mental and emotional state of the person being administered the drug, as well as the safe, controlled, and therapeutic setting in which the drug is administered. The highly positive results of these studies have generated much media buzz, prompting the publication of articles in the New York Times, Forbes, the New Yorker, and the Huffington Post (Bone 2014, Kotler 2015, Pollan 2015, Gregoire 2015). This increase in reputable research and media attention from well established publications shows a recent shift in attitudes and beliefs surrounding psychedelic drugs.

Online Forum CommunicationBefore making decisions about what product to buy or what hotel to book, consumers seek out information in order to reduce the risk of making a poor choice. Rather than looking to sources that have some sort of stake in the consumers final choice, such as the company selling the product or its competitor, people find consumer-dominated reviews to be more trustworthy and compelling (Prendergast, Ko & Yuen 2010). As such, word of mouth communication from the perspective of experienced users has been found to strongly influence the beliefs and decisions made by potential users. Increasingly in the past two decades, people have begun to rely heavily on the internet for finding information that they are interested in. On the internet, one can find a wealth of knowledge regarding psychedelic substances. A report of hallucinogens on the internet, published by the American Journal of Psychiatry, found that with a simple internet search, one can find thousands of pages of information regarding psychedelic drugs, what they look like, how to grow or synthesize them, how to take them, and what their effects are. The authors of the report found that much of the information was unverifiable, as the underground knowledge of psychedelics far outpaced anything that could be found in medical texts (Halpern & Pope 1999). The internets collective knowledge of psychedelic drugs is largely a collection of consumers personal experiences. A study of the effects of online word of mouth communication on consumers purchase intentions, published in the International Journal of Advertising, found that interaction among consumers on online communities such as internet forums and bulletin boards, had the same ability to influence consumer intentions as face-to-face word of mouth communication (Prendergast et al 2010). In an online community forum, members can post a message, to which other members can reply, creating a united thread of messages under one topic. According to Prendergast et al, When the forums are consumption-related, the members may share enthusiasm and knowledge about a specific consumption experience or related group of activities (Prendergast et al 2010). Rather than being passive consumers of content, members can take an active role in creating content. Consumers can share their personal experiences, ask questions, and provide opinions to others. Research regarding online community forum discussion as part of a distance-learning program shows that the social environment created by forum discussion allows community members to better construct knowledge. Learning is a social process, and through interaction via online forum discussions, people can collaborate and converse in a back and forth manner, building understanding and reinforcing ideas and concepts, even at a distance (Mohammed 2014). There exist many hundreds of online forums, each pertaining to a specific interest, product, or activity, where consumers who are interested in that item can converse with like-minded individuals. As Halpern and Pope demonstrated, millions of people come together on the internet to discuss psychedelic drugs. People are looking for information before consuming psychedelic substances, in order to reduce the risks associated with buying and consuming illicit substances. In an online community forum dedicated to the discussion of psychedelics, novice consumers can pose questions to the community, and can gain insight from the experiences of others. Through discussion and social interaction, members of the community forum can build understanding and reinforce concepts regarding hallucinogenic substances. Consumers seek out information from people who have personal experience, rather than turning to the information provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration or other government funded agencies. This is similar to other consumer behavior, in which consumers look for recommendations about products from real people, rather than the corporations or businesses that may have a stake in their decisions. An online community forum dedicated to the discussion of psilocybin offers dozens of examples of such interactions. Novice consumers of the drug can read the personal experiences reported by others, and pose questions to other members of the community. Community members share their experiences and knowledge, and build off of one anothers posts in order to form answers to the questions. Reading through these forums, we can observe consumers constructing knowledge and understanding about the drug through their online socializations. Social Construction Theory, which will be expanded upon in the next section, states that reality is created through social interactions. Through this lens, we may come to understand the realities of psilocybin mushroom use, and see how these realities are constructed through the sharing of many users personal experiences. Social Construction Theory

According to Grounded Theory Review, a peer reviewed journal, social constructionists view knowledge as constructed, rather than created (Andrews 2012). Social Construction Theory explains that our understandings of reality are based on social beliefs and interactions between members of a society. We construct our reality through interactions with others and through discovering the views of reality held by those with whom we interact. Beliefs that are socially constructed are based upon certain cultural norms and circumstances, and as such different cultures may hold different realities regarding the same object (Boghossian 2001). Social Construction theorists Berger and Luckmann draw a distinction between objective and subjective reality. Objective reality is the truth by which we live our day to day lives. Components of objective reality are facts that can be proven with science- that we must breathe oxygen to survive, that the Earth revolves around the sun, that gravity holds us to the planet. Included in our objective reality are the routines and habits that have been reinforced generation after generation, forming a general store of knowledge for human beings (Andrews 2012). This would include facts of life such as- we sleep at night and wake during the day, we work to support our selves and loved ones, and we uphold the rules and laws of society. According to Andrews, our objective reality is continuously reaffirmed as true through our interactions with others, from our birth.At the same time, people experience a subjective reality. Subjective reality, according to Andrews, is achieved through primary socialization. Individuals come to understand their sense of self and place in society through interactions with other individuals who are significant in their lives. Through the medium of language, objective reality is rendered meaningful to an individual person, thus creating their subjective reality. Subjective reality can be different from person to person and from culture to culture, depending on differing beliefs and values (Andrews 2012, Boghossian 2001).Looking at psilocybin mushrooms, we can see that there is an objective reality surrounding them. They are a physical organic entity that grows from the ground, and contains a chemical that causes changes in human brain functions when ingested. At the same time, psilocybin mushrooms are understood in differing subjective realities. For the shamans of indigenous tribes in Mexico, the mushroom is a divine gift from the creator of the universe, something that has a spirit and a mind, that can teach and help you (Wasson 1957, McKenna 1992). For the United States government, the mushroom is a dangerous substance, that causes people to think in radically different ways than normal, and interferes with the normal functions of society. Because these two cultures have different beliefs, they have completely different subjective realities regarding the same object. Philosophy professor Paul Boghossian writes about the controversy between the ideas of Social Construction, which suggest that reality is constructed by humans, and the natural sciences, which suggest that there is a reality of hard facts separate from human interpretation. Boghossian argues that while human reason generally defers to rationality and science when considering the truth, the social and the rational cannot be fully separated from one another, as rationality is in fact a social construction and reasoning is created through human thought and interaction. While reason and science are important for giving evidence to convince people of a reality, the social beliefs surrounding those people will always have a strong and profound effect on their reality (Boghossian 2001). On online forums dedicated to the discussion of psychedelic substances, members interact socially, ask questions, and share experiences and knowledge. According to Social Construction Theory, through these discussions, people are building their own subjective reality regarding these psychedelic substances. According to Andrews, the goal of Social Construction Theory is to understand the world of lived experience from the perspective of those who live in it (Andrews 2012). In order to understand the realities of psilocybin mushroom use, we must study the subjective reality as put forth by the lived experiences of psilocybin users.

MethodologyThe first step in undertaking this analysis is finding a good forum to study. There are many online community discussion forums dedicated to the subject of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs. The most well known and most frequented websites are erowid.com and shroomery.com. Both of these websites contain hundreds of pages of information on every type of drug, not just psychedelics, but also amphetamines, opiates, and research chemicals. The Shroomerys forum page contains hundreds of thousands of threads. As such, I found both of these sites to be difficult to maneuver, and ruled them out.The forum I chose is located on a relatively new website called Reset.Me. Reset.Me was founded in 2014 by Emmy award winning CNN correspondent Amber Lyon. After covering stories in war-torn Bahrain, Lyon developed post traumatic stress disorder, and found a cure for her mental distress in psychedelic therapy. Reset.Me is dedicated to collecting stories and information about the therapeutic and medical uses of psychedelic substances, as well as physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. The website is very organized and easy to navigate, and the forum discussion threads are clearly separated by topic. As such, I was able to collect data in the form of message threads that were specifically dedicated to the discussion of psilocybin.Under the topic Psilocybin Mushrooms were 103 message threads, each with anywhere from zero to 25 replies. Using a qualitative approach, the researcher read through each message thread in order to determine over-arching themes regarding psilocybin use that were brought up repeatedly in discussion. Then, utilizing purposive sampling, threads that addressed important, recurrent themes and also contained a back and forth discussion between at least three members were selected to be further analyzed. Through the lens of Social Construction Theory, the researcher can describe the subjective reality regarding these themes that has been socially constructed by members through discussion of their lived experiences.

Data AnalysisThemesReading through the Psilocybin Mushroom community forum on Reset.Me led to the emergence of several themes that are discussed many times. Community members often posed questions, looking for guidance and thoughts from other members who had more experience with psilocybin mushrooms. The first theme that emerged and will be discussed in this paper is dosage- how much to take and how often to take psilocybin mushrooms, in order to maximize therapeutic benefits. The second theme is Bad Trips- what they are, why they happen, and how they can be avoided. The third is treating anxiety and depression with psilocybin mushrooms- peoples lived experiences and how it works on the mind. The fourth and final theme is what can be done before, during, and after a psilocybin experience in order to maximize its therapeutic benefits.DosageThe question of dosage is one that is in the forefront of new consumers minds. How many mushrooms should I eat? How many grams of dry or fresh mushrooms is the proper dose to begin with? How often should I take them? These questions, and users responses based on personal experiences, can be found throughout hundreds of messages within the 103 threads. One post that covers all of these questions, through the discussion of six participants, is titled simply Psilocybin Dosage. The Original Poster (OP), poses the following questions to the community:Whats your intake level at, and how often do you flirt with magic mushrooms? Monthly event, biweekly? Usually fluctuate around 1G-2G on what I call Psychedelic Sunday with occasional 8ths all forming profound, functioning experiences.

The first commenter (C1) gives his opinion based on personal experience:The matter of dosage is very idiosyncratic and unique to each individual. Some have a high sensitivity to the compounds within the mushroom, some less so. In my early years, I followed Terence McKennas dictum of taking heroic dosages, 5g dried or 50g fresh Amazonian cubensis. As the years went by, I found that even 2-3g dry could elicit even more profound openingsBut I am very sensitive to their effects as I have aged. Unlike Terence, I recommmend starting low and then working up as you are less likely to experience panic once more familiar with the effect of the mushroom.In his youth, C1 regularly took a dose of 5 grams dried psilocybin mushrooms. Now that he is older, his tolerance has decreased, and he prefers to take between 2 and 3 grams. The second commenter (C2) writes:I lean towards 5+ grams. I really like to go deep into a trip and Ive had smaller dosages but it never felt satisfying. Ill admit though, I go deeper than most when I go and Ive had friends be uncomfortable with my consumption.For C2, upwards of 5 grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms is a standard dose. He admits that this is a larger dose than others would take, according to his experiences with friends who have also consumed psilocybin mushrooms. The third commenter (C3) joins the discussion:Im in general agreement with [C1] and the Griffiths group on the dosing issueThe perspective dawns that this isnt a one-time thing where you want to level your ego, but a sustained relationship a person who starts with 1 gram, increases the dose to 3 grams and then ends a series with a 5 gram dose will tend to have a far deeper and more impactful overall experience than a person who takes a 7 gram standalone dose. I have also noticed that my general sensitivity over the years has drastically increased these days I go substantially deeper on 3grams.Similar to C1, C3 at one time took a standard dose of 5 grams. As he has aged, he has realized that such a large dose is not as beneficial as taking smaller doses over subsequent experiences. Today, his usual dose is 3 grams dried psilocybin mushrooms. For a novice consumer, C3 suggests begging with a small dose of 1 gram, and increasing the dose with each experience. The fourth commenter (C4) adds her experiences and writes:Approximately every seven daysaround about 2 grams or so I dont have any extreme psychedelic experience, but my brain feels healthier, my body feels healthier, Im motivated to clean or garden or cook or chat with people. Things that were habitual like playing a favorite MMO or watching horror/action/violence oriented movies become distasteful. The effects last for days.The usual dose for C4 is 2 grams dried psilocybin mushrooms. C4 is the first to address the frequency of her consumption, which is once a week. C4 also mentions the positive effects on her mood and behavior that she experiences from weekly doses of psilocybin. Finally, commenter number five (C5) shares his knowledge of dosage and potency:My area of expertise is in the Psilocybe Cubensis species, so Ill elaborate on them in terms of dosages.There are over 40+ strains of P.C. mushrooms and they all vary significantly in potency.I recommend to start off with 1 gram of dried mushrooms. And after an hour has elapsed work your way up to .5 grams per every hour.While C5 does not mention the dosage that he takes, he does address the problem of varying potency within psilocybin mushrooms. He suggests that a novice consumer begin with a small dose of 1 gram dried psilocybin mushrooms, and then ingest another .5 grams every hour, until the desired potency is reached.Further analysis of this discussion can help us to understand what are considered the best practices regarding dosage with psilocybin mushrooms, as constructed through the social interaction and shared personal experiences of experienced users. C1 and C5 touch on why dosage can be such a difficult question to answer. For one, every individual is effected differently. Some people are more sensitive to psilocybin than others, and C1 and C3 report that they are more sensitive to the chemical in the mushroom now that they are older. Another difficulty is the fact that differing strains of psilocybin mushrooms, such as Psilocybe Caerulescens, Psilocybe Cubensis, and Psilocybe Mexicana, have differing potencies. As C5 points out, concentration of psilocybin varies between fresh and dry mushrooms. C1 suggests that 5 grams dried would be equivalent to 50 grams fresh. According to Social Construction Theorys dual realities, there is no objective reality to the proper dose of psilocybin. Rather, proper dosage is subjective, and differs from person to person.This conversation touches on the idea of the heroic dose, or 5 grams of dried mushrooms. The heroic dose was suggested in the 1980s as the optimal dosage by psilocybin mushroom pioneer Terrance McKenna, a leading voice of expertise in the field. 5 grams is considered a very large dose, which will plunge you deep into a strong experience. A 5 gram experience is likely to be emotionally challenging with substantial changes in cognition. C3 describes this as an experience meant to blow you away and level your ego. As such, C3 and C1 do not advocate for following this old standard, because it can be too intense of an experience for a novice consumer. However, C2 writes that he prefers taking a large dose, 5 grams or more, because he prefers to go deep into the trip and smaller doses do not give him the experience he is looking for. He points out that he does go deeper than most, which has made his friends uncomfortable in the past. C2s experience reinforces the idea that appropriate dosage is subjective, and different for everyone, so it is important to determine the proper dosage for your own body.C1, C3, and C5 suggest that the best method for determining the proper dose is to start small, and work your way up through successive experiences. The best practice would be to start with 1 gram of dried psilocybin mushrooms, followed by a waiting period, and then a larger dose of 2 to 3 grams, another waiting period, and then 4 to 5 grams. C3 suggests following the model of the 2011 Griffiths study from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, which demonstrated that fear and anxiety associated with higher doses of psilocybin were markedly reduced if the consumer was given increasing doses at one month intervals. By combining the experiences of the commenters with the findings of clinical research, a novice consumer can construct a safe method for determining a proper dosage.Although the OP poses these questions, he does have some experience himself. He ingests one to two grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms, once a week. Occasionally, he takes 8ths, which means an eighth of an ounce dried psilocybin mushrooms, or about 3.5 grams. C4 ingests 2 grams dried, once a week. C4 does not experience psychoactive effects at this dose, but has found it to positively effect his life to take a moderate dose once a week. Positive effects that he reports include a healthier mind and body, increased motivation, and reduced stress and negativity. OP and C4s experiences would suggest that taking a moderate dose of psilocybin mushrooms on a weekly basis is not dangerous and can be largely beneficial to ones overall wellbeing.

Bad TripsA common theme that occurred multiple times throughout the forum is the idea of a bad trip, or an experience with psilocybin mushrooms that was difficult, terrifying, or uncomfortable to the point that the consumer feared for their life or their safety. Questions that arise are: Why did this happen to me? What does it mean? and Has this happened to anyone else? One thread that exemplifies this theme is titled Really, Really Bad Trip. Could Use Some Insight.The first message of the post is a description of a consumers first trip, in which he ingested 4 grams of psilocybin mushrooms alone in his home, and faced hours of visions, thoughts, and feelings which terrified him. After an initial fifteen minutes of euphoria, the Original Posters (OP) experience quickly took a turn for the worse: It really started to hit hard. The first things I started feeling at this point were almost depressing. I felt like I had become that stereotypical druggie you hear about when youre young. I felt like I was at the lowest of the low, scum of the Earth. I ended up calling my best friend and having him come over. Just before he got there, I started feeling like none of this is real (this life) and that he wasnt going to show up. I turned on the TV and started watching Orange is the New Black just to try to get my mind off of what was going onHe finally showed up, sat down and started talking to me. I was becoming too far gone to have a conversation or even try to explain where I was. My thoughts of nothing being real and everything being a fabric of my conscious started to grow when the people talking on the TV started saying exactly the same things my friend was saying I started to completely lose grasp of the real world. I felt like I had realized what death was and everything was a simple fabrication of an eternal consciousness. The scariest thing about the whole trip was how familiar this place was to me. I felt like I had been there a 1000 times before I literally thought my death at this point was inevitableIt peaked in this eternal consciousness state for about 3 hours and the whole time I felt like I was literally going to die I will never touch mushrooms or any other hallucinogens again in my life for fear of returning to this place I was in. Has anyone experienced something similar? Can anyone experienced give some insights into what Im going through?The OPs first psilocybin trip was difficult for him. He lost his sense of reality, including experiencing audio hallucinations and a feeling that time had stopped. He and felt anxious and panicked. He lost his sense of self in the feeling of a larger consciousness, and felt that he was dying, which terrified him. He then asks for people who are more experienced with psilocybin mushrooms to give their knowledge and help him to understand what he experienced. The first commenter (C1) replies by first sharing his own experience of a bad trip, in which he experienced a similar strange feeling of cyclical death. Not only did he feel as though he was dying and leaving his body, it felt intensely familiar, as if he had experienced death thousands of times. C1 goes on to give OP the following insights:Psychedelics are very powerful tools and have the tendency to tear down any belief structures you have whether it be your religious structure or cultural structure. What they have done for me is shown me that we dont really know anything Once I accepted this, my experience with psychedelics became much more amazing. Bad trips come from a bad set (set being your mindset, what you are trying to get out of the experience) and setting (setting being the environment your taking them in). What leads me to a bad trip every time is not surrendering to it Meditation has become my greatest tool for surrendering Some of my most beautiful trips came after a very bad one. It just takes time to workout what went on in the trip and what it really meant.C1 tells the OP that for him, first accepting that he did not know anything about reality helped him to embrace the sometimes confusing experience of psilocybin mushrooms. He writes of the importance of set and setting, as well as having the proper tools and strength to surrender to the experience. He finishes by telling OP that good trips often come after bad trips, with time.The second commenter (C2), shares his knowledge of the traditional, shamanistic practices of the indigenous Mexican mushroom ceremony. He points out that traditionally, a person consuming psilocybin mushrooms would be in the company of an experienced curandera, a female shaman, who had knowledge of leading people through spiritual journeys, and would use singing and chanting to guide their state of consciousness and keep them grounded. C2 shares the following insights:To navigate the deeper visionary states that the mushroom can open requires some mental discipline What youre describing is an experience in which you were unprepared and hence were swallowed by your fears Going into an experience unprepared can all too easily result in being taken into the negative mind states of fear and hopelessness, even panic even the scaring away experience has its value in that one becomes a tad more circumspect about approaching it too lightly. I would also add that the experience unfolds far longer than just the few hours following ingestion. The healing effects continue to unfold over months and years.C2 warns the OP about approaching psilocybin mushrooms too lightly. If you go into the experience mentally unprepared, you are likely to have a strong fear reaction. But, in time, the healing effects of the experience my unfold for the OP. The third commenter (C3), reiterates and expands on insights given by C1: I think there were some useful realisations in there that you might take wisdom from in time. I feel, as mentioned above, that lack of surrender played a big part in your experience, especially the part where you said you switched the TV on. I have always felt an instinctive need to keep a big distance before/during a psychedelic experience.C3 again writes of the importance of surrendering to the psilocybin experience, rather than fighting its effects. For him, attempting to distract yourself with technology is a particularly bad idea. A fourth commenter (C4) gave the following insights and explanation into what the OP experienced: I believe what you were experiencing was the death of your ego and identity. In order to allow the spirit to work it takes a deep level of faith to let go of everything you know. This is all internal work, when you turned on the T.V and had your friend come over you were fighting against the current. Your mind was trying to attach itself to reality in order to maintain its identity. Everything you experienced was spot on, except you were never in any physical harm, your identity was dying. Dissolving the ego is part of the ceremony, it is a common theme among exploring the mushroom. Do not fear going back. Next time, try 3 grams, and calm yourself, lay down, get comfortable, without any outside stimulation. Close your eyes and let go.C4 explains that what the OP experienced was actually quite common for a psilocybin trip. What he experienced was ego-death, or the dissolution of boundaries between oneself and everything else. Had the OP conducted the proper mental and emotional preparation before taking the dive into a psilocybin experience, he may have had a very positive experience. C4 suggests that next time, OP takes a smaller dose, in a comfortable setting, with a calm mind.According to Social Construction Theory, the Original Poster has had an objective experience. The objective reality of his experience is that he ingested psilocybin mushrooms, and subsequently spent several hours feeling anxious, afraid, and disturbed. In order to give meaning to his objective experience, the OP seeks communication and interaction with others. He asks for the insights that they have acquired through their own lived experiences. As each commenter gives his or her thoughts and shares experiences, a subjective reality is constructed regarding the OPs experience of a bad trip.Through this discussion, we come to understand what a bad trip is, why it happens, and how to improve your chances of having a more pleasant experience. Psilocybin, which many users refer to as the spirit of the mushroom, is a very strong chemical that should not be taken lightly. It is very important to be mentally prepared before undertaking a psychedelic journey. C1 explains the importance of set and setting to the OP. Set is the state of mind that you go into the experience with, your expectations of what will happen, and your intentions of what you wish to gain from the experience. It is important to go into a psychedelic experience knowing that it may be difficult. You may face thoughts or memories that you find disturbing or uncomfortable, and you have to be ready and accept that you may see reality in a way that you never saw it before. As C1 wrote, psilocybin has the tendency to tear down any belief structures you have whether it be your religious structure or cultural structure. Ingesting psilocybin causes the user to think in new ways, and old patterns of thought may break down. For people who are not expecting their understandings of reality to be questioned, this experience can be terrifying. As C1 points out, familiarizing oneself with meditation is a good way to strengthen your mental state and have a good set.Setting is the environment and surroundings in which the user trips. In order to have a good trip, the user should be in an environment that is safe and comfortable, as well as conducive to higher consciousness. As C3 and C4 point out, turning on the television created an environment that ran counter to the spiritual experience. By attempting to ground himself in a reality that he understood, the OP ended up fighting against the current. Struggling against the dissolution of your reality causes extreme stress and fear. This is understandable, if you were not expecting to lose your sense of self in the experience, you may be fearful and fight the death of your ego and identity. But it is this struggle, caused by a lack of mental preparation, that induces a bad trip. C3 writes that after reading the OPs report, he believes there were still useful realizations to be gained from the experience. C4 writes that everything the OP experienced was spot on and in line with what others experience on psilocybin. The loss of sense of self as separate from the rest of the world is a common occurrence reported among psilocybin trips, and is often referred to as ego-death. The feeling that nothing is real is also commonly reported, that our environment is simply a construct of society, and as such is not real. A feeling of oneness with a higher, eternal consciousness is also reported as a mystical experience observed on mushrooms. All of the aspects of the OPs experience were not so very different from the positive experiences had by others on psilocybin. What caused his experience to be so negative was simply that he was not prepared, mentally and emotionally, for a very serious event. All four commenters gave similar advice in the end of their posts, telling the OP to take some time and think about his experiences, and consider trying the mushrooms again one day, with the proper mental preparations and expectations, and to surrender to the experience.

Treating Anxiety, Depression, and other Mental DistressUnlike other online forums such as shroomery.org, Reset.Me was created to be a community focused specifically on the use of psychedelics as a therapeutic treatment for mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. As such, many members were drawn to the Reset.Me community forum discussion to better understand how psilocybin mushrooms can be used to help them overcome mental distress. Questions that arise are, Under what circumstances should I take them? How do they work to treat anxiety and depression? and, What have other people experienced using psilocybin to treat mental distress? This topic is incredibly important when looking at the future use of psilocybin in medicine. By looking at users personal experiences, we can understand the subjective realities held by people who have treated their mental illnesses with psilocybin mushrooms. The forum thread that I will analyze to address this theme is titled The catch 22 of mushrooms and depression. The Original Poster (OP) writes:I have never done any psychedelics (only weed, which I love) but Im very anxious to try psilocybin mushrooms. I have a light depression, and I feel that I need a new perspective on lifesomething needs to be changed, and that change has to come from inside of me. Ive heard a lot of warnings that you shouldnt take mushrooms if youre feeling depressed, but at the same time Amber Lyon, and a lot of other people, claim that psilocybin is great for treating depression and anxiety. Now, how am I gonna be able to treat my depression with psychedelics if Im not supposed to take them while depressed?Here, the OP addresses the contradictory advice given regarding psilocybin and mental distress. Recent studies and personal experiences suggest that psilocybin mushrooms can effectively treat mental illness, including anxiety, depression, and stress. However, in order to have a therapeutic experience, it is important to be in a good state of mind when you take psilocybin, as a negative state of mind can lead to a fearful trip. So, how does someone with depression, for example, ever treat their depression with psilocybin, if they are not supposed to take psilocybin while depressed? The first commenter (C1) replies:I think its a risk you have to sum up on your own. Do the risks outweigh the benefits? I personally think depression is a bit of a scam. I dont mean we do not get it, I just mean that its more to do with seeing the world as it really is, and not so much about a chemical imbalance Society conditions us to be negative, some things (weed, mushrooms, or some events) can deprogram your mind, and let you be human again (as opposed to being pseudo).If you are stuck in a rut, then I would say you need something major to get you out.C1 suggests that it is up to the individual to decide if using psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic use is a good idea for them. He believes that depression, rather than being an internal mental problem, is actually a manifestation of societys negativity. Because psilocybin can deprogram your mind, and dissolve ingrained patterns of thinking, it can give people the jolt they need to get out of a negative thought pattern. The second commenter (C2), adds his experience and advice:The advice under the Safety section on this website itself says: If youre in a bad mindset- depressed, in a bad mood, or not feeling well- then do not trip. This is sound, timeless advice and as a proponent for Set and Setting, I cant really argue with it. Howeverwe need to assess the extent of our problems, and decide whether we are willing to face a difficult psychedelic experience in order to address an underlying issue During psychedelic experiences I have felt an overwhelming amplification of anxiety, depression, self-doubt etc etc, however I have always felt that there was a point to it. For instance, the psychedelic experience allows you to drill down and interrogate the thought pattern, belief system, environment, behavior and so on that is contributing to the ailment you are trying to address. For me, its like the medicine is saying Look at this! You dont like this? Then why do you think like that? Heres how you fix that problem.This is how you heal. I think for the most part bad tripscan be avoided, but in some cases they may in fact be the experiences that you learn the most from because they are confrontational, and transformativeyou are unlikely to find the perfect time to have your experience, so I would suggest make sure everything else is as optimal as possible. Prepare yourself, be open to the experience (whatever it may be) and go with it.C3 writes that the advice to not trip while depressed is congruent with the idea set and setting, which insists that the consumer must be in a calm, positive frame of mind in order to avoid a bad trip. However, a bad trip could be exactly what is needed to cause a person in mental distress to restructure their understanding of reality to the point that they can address their deepest personal issues. C3 suggests that, if you really want to confront your demons and better your life, it is worth it to risk having a difficult experience. Even if the OP isn't capable of having the opportune mindset, he should be sure to take all of the necessary preparations that he is able to.Commenter number 3 (C3) first asks many clarifying questions about the severity of the OPs depression, and then tells at what degree of mental distress he would consider psilocybin use to no longer be appropriate. If the depression is associated with psychotic symptoms, he would not suggest trying psilocybin. He writes:Once you have established a base-line sense of the severity of your depression (and ruled out psychotic symptoms), you then need to very honestly consider the risks of using a powerful psychedelic, so that you can make an informed decision per their useLet me make clear up front that I do not feel that sacred plants or psychedelics are strictly about treating symptoms per se. These are transformative agents that can radically re-orient our perception of Reality at the rootsTo view these sacred plants as simply sophisticated anti-depressant or anxiolytic medications is excessively simplistic and somewhat naive. So I want to make clear: when you are working with these plant teachers, you are working with something VERY powerful. It requires a certain attitude of vigilance and respectthe recent research at Hopkins has shown that starting with a lower dose and gradually building can attenuate or prevent anxiety-reactions. I think it is a good idea to start low, gauge your response, and then gradually increase your dose across several serial exposures. For C3, psilocybin mushrooms are not really a medicine to be used to treat symptoms. Rather, they are something that you must work with over time to reorient your perceptions. By making us look deep down into the roots of reality and our understandings of life and society, the mushroom can treat the underlying causes of mental distress. In order to mitigate added anxiety due to the depression, C3 suggests a staggered dosing technique, beginning with a low dose. The fourth commenter (C4) gives a brief description of using psilocybin to address his negative feelings:I was in a similar situation last year, I had questions but no real idea of what these questions were and it got me down Since last December I have had 5 sessions with Psilocybin, all of them have been extremely positive & life changing. Set & setting are very important, stay positive, meditate & relax.C4 found psilocybin to be extremely beneficial in giving him a more positive outlook on life, and suggests that the OP try psilocybin with a good set and setting. The fifth commenter (C5), in a similar vein to C3s second point, writes his understanding of how and why the mushroom works to assuage mental distress:Do not think of the mushroom as a drug you are taking to relieve your depression. The medical model is really quite limited in truly grasping what is happening with the mushroom. In a sick society, such as ours, where government surveillance by a hidden authoritarian system is considered necessary to control its citizens, not feeling some depression would be more suggestive of the problem than to actually feel depressed. It may not be that the depression is the problem, but the beginnings of the solutionPsilocybin opens up awareness to a full view of the soul dimension, something our one dimensional materialist culture is mostly blind to and, largely, even denies its existenceIt is the loss of soul that characterizes life in our Western civilization and which is the true cause of many of our so-called ailments, including anxiety and depression once you see from the soul level, you realize that not living from the depths of who we really are is the chief malaise of contemporary Western civilization. The medical model attempting to explain anxiety and depression as brain-based imbalances is an attempt of a science blind to the soul dimension to explain what is essentially is incapable of understanding. The soul is the source of our anxiety and depression and is a natural response to what is essentially an unlivable way of being in the world that is unconsciously imposed upon.According to C5, mental ailments and distress are caused by the society that we live in, which is largely materialistic, authoritarian, and one-dimensional. Over time, these societal norms have been reaffirmed over and over, until they become understood as the true way that the world is, or as Objective Reality. According to C5, psilocybin mushrooms can break through this illusion, bringing the user back in touch with a deeper truth, or the soul dimension. By coming back in contact with the soul, users can alleviate their anxiety and depression because they will know a truer reality.The sixth commenter (C6) writes his own understanding of how psilocybin mushrooms affect mental distress:Mushrooms are an emotion amplification machineThe thing that i have found about mushrooms is. They will make you confront your darkness, your problems, your ego, your sadness.This is about coming to terms with who you areNot everyone is strong enough to pull themselves out of the darkness they May or May not experience from psychedelics. But ive always found that darkness, is you. Its beneficial to work through and to find the light in the end. There are too many people in this world who suffer from Neurosis. Mushrooms is one of those things that i have found can really bring those out.According to C6, psilocybin amplifies your emotions, and can force you confront a lot of negativity, especially regarding yourself. Not everyone is strong enough to confront the personal problems and negative memories that psilocybin draws forward and shows to you. If you can work through them though, it can be very beneficial in coming to understand yourself. While it may be a difficult experience, it can be beneficial in addressing reasons behind your depression and anxiety. Commenter seven (C7) gives the OP advice on dosage, as well as other holistic methods for relieving depression:Take a minimal dose, do not go searching for a freak out trip experience, simply dose enough to adjust your amygdala and maybe relieve your depression for a few days Invest in some eggs, turkey, spinach and other high tryptophan foods to naturally start relieving the depression symptoms. Get exercise, stay on schedules for eating and sleeping. Drink plenty of water.According to C7, when treating mental distress with psilocybin, it is important to begin with a low dose, in order to avoid a bad trip which could exacerbate negative feelings afterward. C7 also suggests the OP use psilocybin in tandem with other natural methods of relieving anxiety and depression, including diet and exercise. An eighth commenter (C8) talks about two of his past experiences with psilocybin mushrooms. The first was positive, due to extensive preparation, while the second was negative, due to poor set and setting. He goes on to talk about the importance of integrating insights from the trip in the days, weeks, and months following an experience:What ever you do and what ever happens, you have to understand and prepare yourself for integrating the experience afterwards Depending on what you experience you will come out with more questions that need to be answered. Spend some time interpreting your experience. If you saw yourself as a kid what did your see yourself doing? What does it mean? But remember, what you see is entirely YOUR interpretation of the situation.According to C8, most of the therapeutic work of the mushroom comes from you, not from the experience itself. It is important to integrate what the mushroom has taught you, in order to obtain healing. Simply ingesting psilocybin mushrooms will not do much to treat mental illness. All it can do is open up thoughts and insights that, in your normal state of mind, you would not think of. Once the experience is over, healing your trauma depends on the time and effort you put into putting your realizations into daily practice. Finally, a ninth commenter (C9) gives his advice on dosage and personal experience treating his own mental distress:I think a really important point here is dosage. You dont need to trip balls your first time. 2 grams (dried) will be enough to shake things up a little bit. If you are comfortable with that, then reflect and consider doing it again. Up the dose when you are sure that its something that will help younever has something changed me so positively before. The how is hard to describe, and words are taken so literally and without the emotion intended in settings like this, that its too hard to truly communicate it. I would use words like: love, oneness, understanding, experiencing everything that lives.According to C9, dosage is especially important when using psilocybin mushrooms to treat depression and anxiety. Too high of a dose will not be therapeutic, so C9 suggests a moderate dose of 2 grams. He goes on to write that psilocybin mushrooms have changed his life and made him a much more positive person, suggesting that they do have a positive effect on mood disorders and mental illness.By reading through this social interaction, we may come to understand the subjective realities which are built around the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms in treating anxiety, depression, and mental distress. To begin, we must look at the OPs post. The OP is confused by two conflicting truths that are given by Reset.Me, and many psilocybin consumers. The first is the fact that many people have been healed of their mental distress, including anxiety and depression, through the therapeutic use of psilocybin. The second deals with the importance of having a good mindset before your experience. As such, it is suggested that taking psilocybin mushrooms while depressed can lead to a negative experience, and is not advised. This paradox again highlights the uncertainties regarding the realities of the psilocybin experience. Does it heal depression, or make it worse? According to the commenters, it can do both.C2 and C6 describe psilocybin mushrooms as amplifying your emotions. C2 writes, During psychedelic experiences I have felt an overwhelming amplification of anxiety, depression, self-doubt and C6 writes, The thing that i have found about mushrooms is. They will make you confront your darkness, your problems, your ego, your sadness. If you have negative thoughts and anxieties, those feelings may be amplified during the trip and enlarge to take over your entire consciousness. This can be a very dark and challenging experience, especially for someone who is already feeling emotionally distressed before the experience. According to the experienced users, however, it is precisely this difficulty and amplification of anxieties and fears that can make the experience therapeutic and beneficial in treating mental distress. The mushroom opens the door to the subconscious, and can show you the thoughts and feelings that you have been suppressing in your day to day life. Psilocybin mushrooms can break down your thought patterns and entire system of beliefs. This can be scary, but also allows you to look at common thoughts and occurrences from a brand new, and possibly more clear, perspective. The mushroom can force you to face your demons, but if you are prepared for this and face them with the intention of healing, then you can overcome them. By observing this social interaction between experienced users, we can construct an understanding of the subjective reality regarding the treatment of mental distress using psilocybin. C1, C2, C4, C7, C8, and C9 all suggest that treating depression with psilocybin mushrooms is in fact a good idea. C4 writes that all of his experiences with psilocybin in treating his depression have been extremely positive & life changing, while C9 writes that never has something changed me so positively before. Most commenters give advice on how to maximize the chances of a positive experience. C3, C7, and C9 all suggest starting with a lower dose to avoid having too intense of an experience too quickly, which can do more harm than good. C2, C3, C4, and C8 stress the importance of going into the experience prepared, doing research before undertaking a psilocybin experience, having a proper mindset, and a safe and comfortable setting. C8 addresses what should be done in the time following the trip in order to maximize its positive effects. It is not the psilocybin experience itself that can heal you, but rather what meaning you take away from what it shows you, and how you integrate those lessons into your life from that point forward. C1, C3, and C5 hold their own subjective reality regarding anxiety and depression, and the effects that psilocybin mushrooms have on them. C1 writes, I personally think depression is a bit of a scam. I dont mean we do not get it, I just mean that its more to do with seeing the world as it really is, and not so much about a chemical imbalance. For C1, the mental illness called depression is not an objective reality, but a construct. C5 writes, In a sick society, such as oursnot feeling some depression would be more suggestive of the problem than to actually feel depressed. C1 and C5 call into question the objective reality of mental distress being an internal problem, caused by chemical imbalances. Rather, they see these afflictions as mere symptoms of a deeper problem, one that is rooted society, and not the individual. C3 and C5 write that the medical model does not accurately show how psilocybin can help alleviate mental distress. C5 writes that you cannot think of it as psilocybin being a medicine that you take, and taking it will cure your anxiety and depression. C3 says To view these sacred plants as simply sophisticated anti-depressant or anxiolytic medications is excessively simplistic and somewhat naive. For C3 and C5, the reality of the mushroom is that it is sacred, and has a spirit and a mind of its own. Throughout other message threads, we find that these two particular community members have decades of experience with psilocybin mushrooms, and have been steeped in the ancient shamanistic practices of indigenous Mexican populations. As such, their subjective reality regarding the mushroom is much more profound and reverent than many other users. According to these users more spiritual understanding of psilocybin mushrooms, the mushroom is working on a much deeper level than simply alleviating anxiety and depression, because these are simply the uppermost surface symptoms. C3 writes that these sacred mushrooms are extremely powerful transformative agents that can radically re-orient our perception of Reality at the roots. When thinking about the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin, we must understand that they call into question our objective reality, all the way down to its foundation. According to C5, what many would consider the objective reality of our day to day lives, i.e) our functioning within society, is not reality at all. Rather, there is a deeper reality of existing as a living, conscious being. C5 calls this the soul dimension, which was described as the soul landscape by Terrance McKenna, and is prominent in the subjective realities of many psychedelic users who use these substances in tandem with meditation. Society, jobs, cars, national boarders, and everything else that human kind has created, is simply a faade over reality, and is a creation of the over-active human ego. Society is something that has been constructed by humans, but humans are a construction of the universe. As such, humans belong to a reality that goes far deeper, and existed long before society. Over time, and as society has been built up, living from the soul dimension has been forgotten. According to C5, it is this disconnect from our true reality that causes mental and spiritual distress. Ingesting psilocybin mushrooms brings us back into contact with the soul dimension. By integrating the teachings of the mushroom spirit into our lives, we can come to understand reality differently. By reorienting our understanding of reality and our priorities, we can heal mental and emotional distress by addressing its root cause.

Maximizing BenefitsThe final theme that I will address is the general question of best practices- What should I do in order to have the most therapeutic and beneficial experience possible? Some of these practices will have been addressed in previous sections, and include beginning with a low dose, and having the proper set and setting. One thread that fully addresses every aspect of this question is titled General Therapeutic Guide. The Original Poster (OP) writes:I ask those of you who have successfully used psilocybin to aid you in curing your anxiety, depression, PTSD, or various other mental health issues to explain to the rest of us exactly how you went about doing thisWhat is the general therapeutic approach? Must one close their eyes in lotus position? Lying down? I myself had a psilocybin experience three days ago I am not exactly very close to healed. I dont believe I did it right. This occurred to me when I saw that picture of Amber lying down with eyes-closed after taking psilocybin.How is it done properly? If you are privy to such information, explain below.The OP of this thread has had at least one psilocybin experience, but does not feel particularly healed. He asks members of the community to explain the proper ways to use psilocybin therapeutically. The first commenter (C1) discloses that he has ten years of experience working with psychedelics for his own personal healing and growth, and for the past five years, he has been helping others with psychedelic-assisted therapy. He gives a lengthy reply:I take a shamanistic/yogic/coaching approachI begin by opening a sacred space where I invite the specific energies and angels that I wish to have support from. I ask them to keep us safe and I set the intention for the trip. After having ingested the mushroom Ialways meditate with it. This was something that the mushroom told me to doWhen I meditate with the mushroom I simply ask it to work with my body, to heal me and also, when possible, to show me what it is doingWhen we distract ourselves by running around and fiddling with stuff, we dont get the full effect My experience is that it isnt actually the trip that is the tripThe trip is taking all the insights that the experience has opened up and applying it in your own life1. Become conscious.As long as you are unaware that you have a problem, you cannot work with it. The first step is becoming aware of what, how, why, whatever. When you become aware of a problem area explore it as fully as you can.2. Accepting it.Many who become aware that they have a problem will immediately try to hide from it or force it down into the sub-conscious again. If you do not accept the problem, you cannot work with it.3. Make changes.When I have become aware and accepted the way things are right now, life will show me ways to move forward. One needs to be open to all the different ways that life does so. It might be meditation practice, it might be helping out at an animal shelter, it might be to be more loving in your close relationships, it might be forgiving4. Be grateful.When one can look back on all the hurt and suffering with gratefulness, then one has learnt the lesson contained within the experience.C1s method for having a therapeutic experience includes meditating and being aware of mindfulness techniques during the experience. He suggests being calm, setting an intention, and not distracting yourself with other activities. C1 gives his four step method to having a therapeutic experience, which includes becoming aware of your problems, accepting them for what they are, implementing positive changes to address these problems, and being grateful for the experience. The second commenter (C2) gives his advice and seconds C1s assertion that work must be done after the trip is over:One therapeutic approach I promote is look at whats going on around you, and recognize how much you are truly needed to better society, and how your positive energy spreads (and needed greatly!) It doesnt happen in one night, but with constant adjustments to your routine, life will become a lot more easy to enjoy.C2 suggests that an important therapeutic practice to keep in mind is to simply be aware of what is around you and how your energy effects your surroundings. You can choose to think positively and spread positive energy. He also reiterates the fact that life will become better if, over time, you use what the mushroom taught you and incorporate it into your life. The OP responds to the commenters, writing:This is all very good advice. The mushroom did teach me a truth of which I am now perfectly cognizant, but have declined to put into practice, so I should work on that.This comment suggests that the OP is willing to make a real change to his life and routine, by putting into practice a truth that the mushroom taught him. He decides to put the advice of the other community members into action in his own life. Finally, a third commenter (C3) gives his list of best practices:I like to boil this down to the simplest, most effective discipline:(1) Eat the mushroom at home in a safe and quiet environment.(2) Place attention gently on the breath, notice the in-breath and the out breath. When the mind wanders, note, thinking, or feeling, and gently bring attention back to the breath. This practice, gently exercised, brings the mind into one-pointed concentration, where you are no longer disbursed and expending energy on anything else, simply being aware.(3) Trust what the mushroom shows you. Do not be swallowed by fear or carried away by ecstatic joy, remember, in all and everything, cultivating awareness is the key.(4) You will be awed by the teachings of the spirit in the mushroom. They will only be vouchsafed to a mind that is clear, steady, and open to receive them.Through the lens of Social Construction theory, which suggests that we construct our own reality through social interactions, we can see how this conversation helps the OP to understand the realities of using psilocybin in the most therapeutic way. After posing his questions, several members of the community describe the best therapeutic practices that they themselves use. During the discussion, the OP responds to the commenters and thanks them for their advice. He realizes that he had made a discovery during his psilocybin experience, but had done nothing to implement what he had learned in his daily life. After this conversation, the OP understands that this step is crucial to the healing process. Once the experienced users share their personal stories and experiences with him, the OP can construct a body of knowledge surrounding the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms. Both C1 and C3 stress the importance of trusting the spirit in the mushroom to guide you, if you intend to have a therapeutic experience. According to C1, many of his practices were told to him by the mushroom itself, while he was experiencing their effects. To begin his therapeutic ritual, C1 creates a sacred space, where he invites the energies and spirits to aid him and his patient on their journey. He sets an intention on how he wants the trip to go, and maintains a channel of communication with the mushroom itself, asking it to heal him, and to show him what it is doing. Maintaining a deep reverence for the powerful mushroom is important for having a beneficial experience, as is being in a safe, quiet environment. For the deepest, most therapeutic trip, one should meditate during the experience. Meditation helps to focus the mind inward, and removes outside distraction. C3 suggests focusing on your breath, a common meditation technique, in order to bring the mind into one-pointed concentrationsimply being aware. C1 also notes that When we distract ourselves by running around and fiddling with stuff, we dont get the full effect. Using meditation, you can remove yourself from distraction and instead turn your attention toward your inner self. By focusing your energy toward quieting your mind and introspection, you can get the fullest experience and learn the most from the mushroom.In order to get the most out of your psilocybin experience, you must put in work after the trip is done. The mushroom may show you a problem in your life, such as an error in your thinking and actions. Once you are shown this problem, you must look at it, and really consider all of its implications, even if it is painful. You must resist the urge to bury the realization in your sub-conscious. This can be difficult, because your mind will want to protect itself from the realization that something it has been doing is wrong. By going into the experience wanting to confront these issues, you can overcome this impulse. By trusting that the mushroom will help you, and being open to its teachings, you can gain valuable insight into your own mind, as well as the nature of reality. In the days, weeks, and months following your experience, you must put what you learned into practice. This step in C1s list is called Make changes. He writes that once you become aware of your problem, and accept it for what it is, life will show [you] ways to move forward. C2 writes that healing doesnt happen in one night, but with constant adjustments to your routine, life will become a lot more easy to enjoy. With the proper set and setting, a calm and open mind, meditation, and the dedication to continue to work on yourself after the experience, one can maximize the therapeutic benefits of a psilocybin experience.

Conclusions and ImplicationsMany people take to the internet to find information. People find the personal experiences of others to be the most persuasive in effecting their actions and beliefs. As such, many turn to online community discussion forums to gain knowledge and understanding of a product or object, because the forums allow them to ask questions of experienced users. By participating in the online social interactions, people can take part in constructing the collective knowledge and understanding held regarding a particular subject.In this study, I wanted to understand the realities surrounding the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms. By undertaking a qualitative analysis of an online community forum dedicated to the discussion of psilocybin mushrooms, I was able to discover overarching themes that community members were interested in discussing. Then, using Social Construction Theory, I was able to formulate answers to the questions posed by these themes as they were constructed through the social communication of the message threads. Many questions surround the medicinal and therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms. Through a qualitative analysis of all of the message threads on the psilocybin mushroom forum on the website Reset. Me, four major themes emerged as being important to consumers. The first is the question of dosage, or how much of the mushrooms should be taken. The second was Bad Trips, what caused them and how to avoid them. The third and largest theme was treating mental distress with psilocybin mushrooms, how and why it worked. The final theme was maximizing therapeutic benefits, rather than ingesting psilocybin mushrooms for recreation. Dosage is largely debated, as potency of the mushroom varies between strain and preparation. At the same time, psilocybin affects people differently. The prevailing wisdom, gained from the combined personal experiences of community members, is that it is best to begin with a small dose, about 1 gram dried, and then slowly increase the dose over successive experiences until you feel you have hit a dose that suits your needs.Bad Trips are a real occurrence. Some peoples experiences with psilocybin mushrooms are terrifying and difficult. However, bad trips can easily be avoided with proper mental preparation, as well as a good set and setting. Bad trips happen when a person consumes psilocybin mushrooms unaware of the fact that they cause a breakdown in normal thought patterns. For a person who is not expecting this, they can easily become frightened by abnormal thoughts and feelings. When they become frightened, they may fight the experience, and attempt to ground themselves in a reality that they understand. In order to avoid a bad trip, a user must go into the experience understanding that psilocybin mushrooms will show them a different way of viewing reality. Being prepared, and not fighting the experience, will give the user a much easier trip. Set refers to the mindset that you go into an experience with, and setting refers to the environment in which you have your experience. With a calm, open, and knowledgable mind, as well as a safe and comfortable environment, bad trips can be avoided.A question regarding the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms is how they can be used to alleviate mental distress, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other negative thought patterns. According to user experience, psilocybin mushrooms break down normal thought patterns, allowing the user to make new and novel observations regarding something familiar to them. The mushrooms can bring to light all of your demons, and show you the anxieties and fears that you have been suppressing. Through the conversation of users we learn that, if you go into this experience with the proper mindset and the desire to work through difficult emotions in order to heal, the mushroom can show you the deep, underlying reasons for your symptoms. If you are willing to trust what the mushroom shows you, and integrate its teachings into your life, you can be healed from anxiety and depression. Finally, the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms can be far greater when used in a specific way. Rather than walking around, talking to people, or watching television, you must focus your intent upon healing. In a safe, comfortable environment, with a mindset of openness to what the mushrooms might show you, a user can gain deeper insight by turning their attention inward, and quietly meditating. Being open, surrendering to the experience and accepting the teachings makes the process go smoothly. Then, in order to maximize the benefits of the experience, one must remember the teachings and integrate them into their day to day life. In this way, the benefits of the experience last far longer than the experience itself.The question posed by the general public regarding psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs is Are they dangerous? Or, are they beneficial? To understand what the reality is, we can look to the lived experiences of users. The consensus among the experienced users of psilocybin mushrooms on Reset.Me is that they can be both. They can be dangerous to ones emotional wellbeing if approached recklessly. If they are taken in the wrong state of mind, or in a setting that the user finds disturbing, the experience can quickly turn into something incredibly frightening. However, if they are taken with the proper mental preparations, in a positive and open state of mind, and a safe and comfortable setting, the benefits of psilocybin mushrooms are beyond compare.

ImplicationsAs we have seen in the past, societal beliefs regarding psilocybin mushrooms strongly affect an individuals subjective understanding of them. We know that knowledge of a subjective reality is created through interacting with others, and that people are most persuaded by the personal experiences of others. In order to sway public opinion toward a more positive understanding of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics, it will be important to bring to the public the personal experiences of users. Users personal, lived experiences demonstrate that psilocybin mushrooms can be largely beneficial to a persons wellbeing, under the proper circumstances. By making the realities of psilocybin use known on a wide scale, policy makers may be able to sway public opinion. Once more people are on board with therapeutic psychedelic use, and understand how they can be used beneficially rather than recreationally, public support for research will increase. In order to speed this process, advocates could produce online videos and television commercials in which a user shares their personal, lived experience. By getting real peoples stories out to the public, advocates may be able to change the perception that psychedelics are dangerous drugs of abuse.

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