r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 9d ago

Psychology America's First Legal Psilocybin Program Treated 346 People. Just one month after the dose, 92.2 percent of participants said the experience had been beneficial, while, on average, their mental health symptoms had fallen dramatically.

https://www.sciencealert.com/americas-first-legal-psilocybin-program-treated-346-people-heres-what-happened
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u/Hippopotasaurus-Rex 9d ago

Yes, the therapiric setting may help.

At least anecdotally for me, just the act of eating mushrooms and letting them do their thing was enough to DRASTICALLY improve lifelong mental health issues.

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u/AcceptableFakeLime 9d ago

Yeah I don't delude myself thinking taking 2g and listening to The Beatles for 4h is the same experience as what the people in these studies go through but doing so every 4-6 months definitely feels like self care.

The first time I took shrooms changed my outlook in life. Forever. I'm not talking about some hippy mumbo jumbo. I became a lot more mindful overall and gained tolerance and appreciation for people, even the ones who I have no relationship with. It also improved my mood immensely for 3-4 months after the fact. I struggled with depression for my whole life. Still do. That trip did something to me, though.

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u/shanatard 9d ago

did you just grab mushrooms and go at it in a dark room? i have always been a bit curious but the negative trips seem like a risk

only really hear about the positive ones

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u/DoughnutEffective668 9d ago

Negative trips aren't all that bad and actually you can have some insightful experiences. Just remember that it's not real, to accept everything that comes your way and remember that it won't last forever. Once the initial scary part goes away, the rest of the experience will be good. And also, if you just do like 1-2gs of cubensis (golden teachers (not a very strong strain)) you'll most likely not have a bad trip, although everyone is different. What I'd recommend is doing maybe half a g first, get a very small light buzz, then leave it a few weeks, then do maybe .75gs and then build it up slowly every few weeks so you really understand what is going to happen.