[HN Gopher] Shrooms: What You Need to Know
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Shrooms: What You Need to Know
        
       Author : yamrzou
       Score  : 202 points
       Date   : 2021-12-25 12:55 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (tripsafe.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (tripsafe.org)
        
       | mam4 wrote:
       | Tripsafe, Erowid, psychonaut and r/drugs are among the best
       | ressources the web has been able to produce: thousands of actual
       | trip reports, and empirically tested Risk Reductions procedures
       | withtout stigma or judgement.
       | 
       | Dont do drugs as a illegal thing that give you the thrill of
       | being a bad boy. Take a scientifi approach of risk evaluation,
       | read testimonies and reports and ensure your own safety, as you
       | would do for something like diving and skydiving.
       | 
       | Also never do drugs "because it makes you feel better when you
       | are sad".
       | 
       | Dont hesitate to ask more question
        
         | temp0826 wrote:
         | >> Also never do drugs "because it makes you feel better when
         | you are sad".
         | 
         | Unless in a proper session/ceremony with professionals/shamans
        
         | __MatrixMan__ wrote:
         | Agreed. I wonder about the bad things that didn't happen to me
         | because I read about them on erowid instead, and recall fondly
         | the ones that did happen to me because I read about them on
         | erowid first.
         | 
         | Friendly reminder that they're community/donation supported.
        
         | mistermann wrote:
         | > Also never do drugs "because it makes you feel better when
         | you are sad".
         | 
         | It's not risk free, but I disagree with this as absolute
         | advice, a trip can fill up one's spiritual gas tank to keep on
         | moving forward, they can demonstrate that one's depression is
         | largely illusory.
        
           | mam4 wrote:
           | Sure. But for a "one time" or "very small number of times".
           | 
           | I was mostly referring to falling into an habit to numb the
           | pain
        
             | mistermann wrote:
             | > But for a "one time" or "very small number of times".
             | 
             | Is this based on personal experience, clinical studies,
             | something else?
        
       | upstarter wrote:
       | If you ever had this feeling telling you "This can't be it, there
       | _must_ be more to this story... ", then you should at least
       | consider this avenue.
        
         | shaky wrote:
         | I love this. This was me in 2017 and following the white rabbit
         | led to a most spectacular year. It really is a birth right, and
         | people chosing 'no' are really missing out on a fundamental
         | aspect of being alive.
         | 
         | On another note, I always love psych threads on HN. High
         | quality posts all around.
        
           | lawlorino wrote:
           | I feel a bit sad hearing this, I'm a pretty anxious person so
           | I'll probably never experiment. While I love reading about
           | people's experiences I often hear warnings that people like
           | me should stay far far away.
        
       | hirundo wrote:
       | I grew some last Spring but have been too chicken since to try
       | them. They're dried, but I don't know if they're dried enough.
       | Does anyone know if there's any additional risk if they've gotten
       | at all rotten?
        
         | theli0nheart wrote:
         | You would probably know if they were rotten--smell and/or looks
         | would be really off. As for whether they're dry, they're dry
         | enough if they break apart easily--they should crack, not bend.
         | 
         | There's also no such thing as a minimum dose. People have found
         | benefits with very small amounts (1/20g) if you're just curious
         | --it literally cannot hurt.
        
         | __MatrixMan__ wrote:
         | Bacterial infection in shrooms typically smells like feet.
         | Naturally they smell a bit like farts when you're eating then
         | (but are mostly odorless when dried proper). I'd avoid them if
         | the former and tolerate them if the latter.
         | 
         | They bruise blue (and it's hard to pick them without bruising
         | the stems) which can look nearly black when dried. This can
         | make them look moldy when they aren't. If they're actually
         | moldy I'd toss them.
         | 
         | When I used to grow I settled on letting them sit on a grate
         | with a fan blowing at them for a few days (the air is dry here,
         | ymmv), then I'd store them with desiccant packets. They should
         | be crispy like potato chips, no mushyness.
         | 
         | As for trepidation, that's understandable. I'd start with a
         | super light dose (.5 g) at first just to see what you're
         | dealing with. I'm glad I've had potent trips in the past (I
         | usually find 3.5 g is enough, but it'll vary by batch and by
         | human), but these days I usually dose lightly.
        
         | monetus wrote:
         | If there is a contamination then the risk is up to what
         | contaminated them, but if they are just dried then the
         | psilocin(1) breaks down eventually leaving you with just the
         | psilocybin.
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocin
        
       | shroomer wrote:
       | I did 2g of dried shrooms about a week ago, having almost no
       | prior experience.
       | 
       | It was fun - I was seeing funny things, my friends looked funny,
       | I laughed a lot, was a lot more talkative and social.
       | 
       | My only issue was a tension headache which started about when the
       | first effects came on and was even worse the day after, lashing
       | until about 24 hours after the mushrooms were taken. My friends
       | did not get the headache.
       | 
       | Otherwise, while I found the experience fun, and I'd do it again
       | if it wasn't for the headache, I really can't fathom how people
       | describe it as one of the most profound experiences of their
       | lives.
        
         | suikadayo wrote:
         | Everyone is suggesting taking more but you can have a decently
         | profound experience with just 2g.
         | 
         | Try it with an eye mask and just music next time, and no other
         | distractions, maybe with a trip sitter nearby.
        
           | crawfordcomeaux wrote:
           | I agree with this. Even the music may serve as too much of a
           | distraction, as well.
        
             | dwmbt wrote:
             | when i first started experimenting with psychedelics on my
             | own, i would set up stations in my room. i had a sketchpad
             | on my desk and an assortment of pens and pencils, next to
             | that i had a journal where i would routinely jot down my
             | fleeting thoughts/feelings. across the room, i had my
             | window open, so that i could look at the stars outside and
             | feel like i wasn't trapped in a shoebox. on my bed, i had
             | my phone and a nice pair of headphones. i also had my
             | computer here, so that i could watch tv. sometimes, when my
             | dog would let me, i would also curl up next to him on the
             | floor. over time, i tried to introduce new stations, like
             | programming and reading, but they never really stuck.
             | 
             | all of these activities kept me busy, but none of them were
             | quite as fulfilling as just closing my eyes and letting my
             | mind do the work (even with music as a guide). eventually,
             | i just started doing the opposite -> the stations remained,
             | but only as tools to help me beat my anxiety and/or
             | boredom. if i ever feel that i am approaching a period of
             | overwhelming feelings, i distract myself with the
             | activities i mentioned.
        
         | benevol wrote:
         | > I really can't fathom how people describe it as one of the
         | most profound experiences of their lives.
         | 
         | For this to be possible, you need to be alone (= undistracted)
         | and (ideally) be surrounded by beautiful and calm nature, in a
         | completely secure setting.
         | 
         | Then, your inner state must be ready for this.
         | 
         | Also, if your current level of consciousness is not ready for
         | it, it won't happen at this point in time.
        
         | inDigiNeous wrote:
         | Each and every psychedelic experience can be totally different,
         | not directly even related to the amount you take. Set and
         | setting, and your mindset and preparation, the intention that
         | you take while you do it matter a lot.
         | 
         | Eating 2g of dried mushrooms can be a life changing experience,
         | or just a fun evening wondering on about the world. It can even
         | not work at all, or give you just a slight feeling of being in
         | an altered state.
         | 
         | Personally, after experiencing mushrooms and other psychedelics
         | over a 10 year period of time, these days even a small under 1g
         | dose can bring a very strong experience.
         | 
         | Depends a lot also what you have eaten before the experience,
         | how you have prepared for it etc etc .. maybe the headache is
         | something that the mushrooms just brought to the surface in
         | that moment, might not happen on your second time.
        
         | arrakis2021 wrote:
         | You fell just short of the "profound experience line"
         | 
         | You need at least 3.5G to have that. While that may seem
         | intimidating it's not that much more than 2G, but enough to
         | make your inner consciousness turn up to 11
        
           | dave_sullivan wrote:
           | Agreed. Up the dose. Dunno about the headache, never had that
           | happen.
        
           | teaearlgraycold wrote:
           | Depends. I had a mildly profound experience with 2.5g. I was
           | alone in nature with my thoughts for 2 hours and came away
           | with some nice revelations.
        
         | crawfordcomeaux wrote:
         | I ate 8g of dried shrooms a few days ago. Once things really
         | got going, I spent the time mostly in the dark at home focusing
         | on whatever came to me. The intentions I set were for ego death
         | of some kind. Much of it was spent grieving childhood trauma
         | and the state of the world, most of which was done while
         | singing, snorting, making other mouth noises, laughing, crying,
         | or some combination of those. Yesterday, I realized I have
         | preverbal trauma and most people probably do, too. Sharing this
         | with the person I'm partnering with, who went on a mushroom
         | journey a few weeks ago to address their own preverbal trauma,
         | seemed to open the door for them to soften toward me. We've
         | been going through rough times, as she slipped into a PTSD
         | episode upon getting pregnant, it's still going on, and how she
         | acts when triggering into her trauma matches patterns of my own
         | trauma, so we've had a difficult time over the past 3.5 years.
         | I haven't been very compassionate/empathetic in how I receive
         | her and often feel confused about what to do or say. Today,
         | that wasn't the case. We both received each other graciously
         | (and let it go quickly when we didn't), freely offered and
         | accepted hugs, and created a lovely little Christmas scene for
         | the child, as well as started collaboratively designing content
         | for santaisdeadlonglivesanta.net.
         | 
         | These are profound and immediate changes in my life. I look
         | forward to what mushrooms have to further teach me.
         | 
         | Oh, I also had the realization that ego death doesn't need to
         | be this cataclysmic, big, scary, break from reality thing done
         | with eyes literally closed and that if I already carry a cosmic
         | identity, dissolving into the cosmos provides insight that can
         | come from reflecting on being the cosmos.
         | 
         | If you've read this far, do yourself a favor, look up CPTSD and
         | preverbal trauma, and check to see if there's something you
         | went through when little that's still alive and getting in your
         | way.
        
           | kcindric wrote:
           | What is your experience with handling trips with CPTSD? I'm
           | on the verge of exploring mushrooms and have pretty serious
           | CPTSD symptoms and burdens. I'm doing therapy and a lot of
           | self-therapy like somatic experiencing, dancing, IFS and just
           | doing whatever my body wants to do. I hope that mushrooms
           | would be a great addition to that 'do whatever I want'
           | therapy by intensifying my child brain, but also I'm fearful
           | that things could get bad in the moment or worse in the long
           | run.
        
           | fidesomnes wrote:
        
         | lambdaba wrote:
         | > tension headache
         | 
         | take magnesium, recommend especially if you're going to take in
         | any psychedelic
        
       | renewiltord wrote:
       | I know lots of people will warn you about this stuff but with the
       | caveat that every person is different: I have friends with high
       | anxiety and all these things. We trip together quite pleasantly
       | and enjoyably.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | stevehiehn wrote:
       | Hmm, I worry about the doses listed. 1.6g of potent caps will get
       | you right fucked. If you haven't done them before and are
       | planning on having a couple drinks and socializing etc I
       | recommend no more than 0.5g (for at least 1.5hrs) then re-access
       | from there.
        
         | Nbox9 wrote:
         | Different mushroom species have different quantities of active
         | ingredients. Describing the dry weight of a mushroom is really
         | only a secondary measurement of the active ingredients.
         | 
         | Elsewhere on the website they compare 2.4g of mushrooms to
         | about 100ug of LSD. So 1.7g of mushrooms would be equivalent of
         | about 45ug of LSD, and the micro dose range of LSD is 5-25ug.
         | Tripsafe is attempting to describe a light dose, which should
         | include only minor visuals. They are likely using P. Cubensis
         | to describe dosage, which is very common in North America, but
         | only half the potency of the most potent psychedelic mushrooms.
         | "Liberty cabs" or P. Semilanceata are more common in Europe,
         | and are often more potent than P. Cubensis.
         | 
         | There might also be a cultural difference on the expectations
         | for a psychedelic experiences and the activities one should do
         | during it.
         | 
         | [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Psilocybe_species
        
           | criticaltinker wrote:
           | Good point about the quantity of active ingredients varying
           | by species.
           | 
           | It's worth noting that GP may have been referring to the
           | physical _distribution_ of active ingredients within the
           | mushroom body. The "cap" of a mushroom almost always contains
           | significantly more active ingredients.
           | 
           | Thus, 1 gram of stems may yield a significantly different
           | dose than 1 gram of "caps".
        
         | antjanus wrote:
         | I've done 4-5g several times before, I guess it affects
         | everyone differently?
        
         | hbosch wrote:
         | Hm. When I first tried mushrooms, "splitting an eighth" was the
         | common dosage which is slightly more than 1.6g.
        
       | tyingq wrote:
       | Never did any type of psychedelics. You don't read much about
       | "death by misadventure" associated with them though. I'm curious
       | about this.
       | 
       | Alcohol, for example, is pretty famous for clouding judgement,
       | reducing inhibition, and so on. Such that otherwise rational
       | people drive intoxicated, get into fights, fall asleep in
       | inappropriate places, fall off of and into things, etc.
       | 
       | Psychedelics obviously cause you to hallucinate. So why don't I
       | hear about more accidents? Does they seem to leave your common
       | sense, judgement, etc, in place?
        
         | acchow wrote:
         | People drink alcohol and then try to do things like catch a
         | subway train to get home - possibly while still drinking more.
         | Psychedelic users don't really behave this way. If you're
         | planning to trip so hard that you can't actually see reality
         | anymore, people plan for this and do it in a safe space.
         | 
         | People also dose their trips - they know how much they'll be
         | taking that day. With alcohol, it seems people just keep
         | pouring more down their throats as they get drunker.
        
           | galaxyLogic wrote:
           | Alcohol is a depressant. It reduces your awareness. It even
           | reduces your awareness of how drunk you are. It gives you
           | pleasure and then you feel the need to drink more to stay in
           | that pleasurable state. The idea that your actions might have
           | consequences doesn't much enter your mind because alcohol
           | depresses your thinking. You think less and you observe less
           | when you are drunk. That is dangerous.
        
         | colechristensen wrote:
         | Bad things do happen but hallucinogens tend to make you just
         | not want to do misadventurous things. Like "I'd like to go walk
         | to the store on the corner and get a sandwich, but that seems
         | like it would be a little too intense right now" is a common
         | sort of thought. Yes driving would be quite dangerous but it's
         | usually also quite an undesirable experience and your reason
         | just isn't so inhibited like with alcohol or many other kinds
         | of drugs.
        
         | klyrs wrote:
         | My dad had some pretty wild stories about near-death
         | misadventures. He stopped after he came home tripping and my
         | mom made him change a diaper...
         | 
         | I learned from these stories: don't drive on hallucinogens, and
         | don't trip when you've got real-life responsibilities.
        
           | stavros wrote:
           | Driving on hallucinogens? Whenever I've taken LSD it was
           | quite clear that I couldn't and shouldn't drive. It's not
           | like alcohol, where you think you can drive. With LSD you
           | very clearly have the presence of mind to know you can't.
        
             | klyrs wrote:
             | Well... the set of things we find self-evident today are
             | not the same as those from the 70s... but once, he _did_
             | realize that he shouldn 't be driving. So he pulled over,
             | and climbed down a 50' cliff down to the beach to walk
             | home. Which, I kinda find incredible: last time I was
             | tripping near a cliff, I noticed that the height appeared
             | to be getting short enough to jump down, so I advised my
             | sitter that we should change locations.
             | 
             | Oh, and it bears mentioning that folks who do drugs
             | recreationally tend to mix hallucinogens with other
             | substances. LSD on its own is comparably clear-headed, but
             | I've known people to mix it with weed, cocaine, mdma,
             | etc... and who knows what's going to sound like a good
             | idea.
        
         | defaultname wrote:
         | "You don't read much about "death by misadventure" associated
         | with them though"
         | 
         | When stories do come out, they tend to be over the top. For
         | instance-
         | 
         | https://globalnews.ca/news/4735129/thomas-chan-guilty-mansla...
         | 
         | People with certain conditions should stay away from
         | psychedelics.
         | 
         | Having said that, as others said a normal experience does not
         | include hallucinations of the cliche "see weird crazy things
         | that aren't there" variety. Instead you get more of an
         | experience from patterns, music seems richer, colours deeper,
         | etc.
         | 
         | Our brain dulls reality for us as a evolutionary benefit to
         | allow us to focus our brainpower only on changes/unique things
         | (e.g. the predator sneaking up in our periphery). Shrooms roll
         | that back a bit so suddenly the pattern on a blanket, the
         | branches on a tree, or the backing track in a piece of music,
         | or even the varying white points of lights, comes front and
         | center. In many ways it's like experiencing things with fresh
         | eyes and ears, and that really is the delight of the
         | experience, de-jading our senses.
         | 
         | This can be a disadvantage if you're doing something safety
         | critical and suddenly you're amazed how you never noticed the
         | features of some thing, distracting your attention. No one
         | should ever drive or do dangerous things under the influence.
         | The evolutionary benefit allows us to focus attention in a way
         | that keeps us and those around us safe.
         | 
         | But from a judgment perspective, I am a fairly average chess
         | player (I mean among active players), and under the influence
         | of shrooms I play at the same level as not. I manage time as
         | well, etc. I have programmed some critical code that I later
         | marvel over on shrooms. This is wholly different from under the
         | influence of alcohol, for instance, where my ability drops
         | precipitously.
        
         | c54 wrote:
         | The hallucination affected by psychedelics such as mushrooms
         | isn't what you might expect. It's not a fully synthetic kind of
         | "i now see an object that is not actually there". There won't
         | be a floating pink elephant in the middle of the room.
         | 
         | Instead the effect at most normal doses (3.5g) is more that the
         | walls and floors seem to take on a slightly ephemeral breathing
         | characteristic. You may see patterns in things of varying
         | complexity and intensity. The patterns may seem to shift and
         | meld into eachother in a kind of loop... Psychonaut wiki[0] has
         | several approximations of varying quality, a lot of the gifs in
         | particular (the cat lying on the couch and the wolf drinking)
         | resonate with me.
         | 
         | Sensory input can also include audio hallucinations, as well as
         | perceptions that are simply normally filtered out of our
         | experience by our brains--a sense of the organs inside your
         | body, or the teeth in your mouth, or whatever.
         | 
         | A lot of the effects are mental, prompting often amusing and
         | revelatory departures from your normal thought patterns.
         | Everything old is new again. You may find yourself deeply
         | examining the complexity of your hands, or the bizarre fact
         | that we're not always "like this", or in deep awe of the
         | staggering complexity of civilization or the chemical machines
         | that are our bodies. That kind of thing.
         | 
         | The realization that we collectively have no idea what we're
         | doing here, that a whole lot of what we believe to be real and
         | permanent is imaginary and temporary, and that there are no
         | rules to life, no winners, that we should take care of nature
         | and each other, and that you should follow your muse to do what
         | you find interesting and beautiful.
         | 
         | Media portrayal of this varies but some shows do hit it quite
         | on the head, actually Mad Men has an interesting trip episode
         | that understates the visual component and emphasizes the
         | mental[1]. Broad city's was particularly colorful and fun
         | (S4e4, full ep. isn't on youtube).
         | 
         | Some media can give you a bit of a taste of the experience,
         | others grossly exaggerate it or flat out misrepresent it. You
         | know how it goes.
         | 
         | [0] https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Visual_effects_-
         | _Psychedelic... [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpWlKCfSPcU
        
           | Bradlinc wrote:
           | I was disappointed the first time I took mushrooms because I
           | didn't see pink elephants. I thought I hadn't taken a high
           | enough dosage. In its place I took a deep trip that allowed
           | me to reflect on where I was in my life, which was more
           | profound then seeing pink elephants. Oddly it too me a couple
           | of weeks to realize that was the point.
        
           | robbedpeter wrote:
           | One trick to understanding what psychedelics are doing is to
           | recognize that what's happening in those visual effects is
           | also happening to all your other senses and cognitive
           | processes. Having your sense of depth go into a reflective
           | fractal spiral is a fascinating experience. People often hear
           | sound go into a robotic type modulation. The circuits that
           | trigger when you feel the meaningfulness of things go into
           | overdrive.
           | 
           | Smaller thought loops can take you over the exact same
           | sequence of input/ output over the course of several minutes
           | of nothing jars you or if it.
        
           | 5e92cb50239222b wrote:
           | Note that you very much can get "floating pink elephants",
           | but not from psychedelics -- you need to get into deliriants
           | for that: Datura plant in small doses, red mushrooms,
           | diphenhydramine or amantadine in large doses, and some other
           | stuff (like these tablets from military first-aid kits:
           | https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Aprofene).
           | 
           | These things were somewhat popular in my language segment of
           | the internet about ten years ago. A lot of people were
           | experimenting with the stuff. Usually one trip was more than
           | enough to never want to repeat that again.
           | 
           | Try reading some trip reports on erowid if you're curious.
           | 
           | https://www.erowid.org/general/big_chart.shtml
        
             | Jim_Heckler wrote:
             | Deliriants are fascinating, and the experience sounds
             | absolutely nightmarish. The most interesting thing to me is
             | how the most common feature of every trip of some of the
             | drugs (I think Datura and dph) is repeatedly thinking
             | you're smoking a cigarette, accidentally dropping it then
             | realizing there was no cigarette. And it happens to people
             | who've never smoked.
        
           | Overtonwindow wrote:
           | It takes 6 mg to make me trip. Even then it's very mild
           | visual oddities.
        
           | OGWhales wrote:
           | This sub reddit has a lot of examples of people trying to
           | recreate what they saw while tripping. There are some pretty
           | good examples: https://www.reddit.com/r/replications
           | 
           | Also, I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that some
           | of the hallucinations you see on psychedelics are
           | signals/noise your brain normally filters out, but stops
           | getting filtered during the trip. I believe the context was
           | for so called "sacred geometry". For example, if you look up
           | the "flower of life", this is a pattern people regularly see
           | while tripping and it's one I saw myself the first time I
           | took shrooms.
        
             | c54 wrote:
             | Yeah! There's evidence for a reduction of the brain's
             | normal input-filtering processes that I alluded to in the
             | parent post. As Huxley says, 'the doors of perception are
             | opened'
             | 
             | These two articles discuss in more detail some of the
             | biological/neurological correlates for the types of
             | patterns seen during psychedelic experiences. Some of the
             | pictures of retinal structure etc are pretty eye opening
             | (hah):
             | 
             | https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-math-theory-for-why-
             | people-...
             | 
             | https://plus.maths.org/content/uncoiling-spiral-maths-and-
             | ha...
        
         | beej71 wrote:
         | From what I hear, the idea of doing anything complex like
         | driving a car is extremely unappealing under the effects of
         | mushrooms.
        
           | convolvatron wrote:
           | I've wrecked a car on mushrooms...not-really-driving like a
           | maniac with a bunch of friends hanging out the windows was
           | arguably the most fun I ever had.
        
           | damontal wrote:
           | It's hard to concentrate on traffic when the clouds appear to
           | be in flames.
        
         | CPLX wrote:
         | 1) They're not addictive in the classic sense where people are
         | habituated and have to take them every day.
         | 
         | 2) As far as I know there's no straightforward way to test for
         | them and I'd have to assume people who are high on psychedelics
         | that get into an accident aren't excited to volunteer the
         | information.
        
         | toomanydoubts wrote:
         | Once, I ate 9 grams of dried shrooms, which is something like
         | 3-4x the average dosage and almost double of what's called an
         | heroic dose. I went into the most intense trip I ever had.
         | During the trip, I called a friend because I was kinda scared,
         | he said that if I hadn't told him about the shrooms, he
         | would've thought I was completely sober.
         | 
         | Now, give me a couple of beers and I'll be slurring in no time.
        
         | BrianOnHN wrote:
         | It can be quite tough to get out of your seat on sufficient
         | mushrooms, which limits many possibilities of misadventures.
        
         | celticninja wrote:
         | Most people when tripping wil be fully aware that they are
         | tripping, and therefore usually more careful than if you were
         | drunk.
         | 
         | Of course I'm reminded of Bill Hicks who cautioned, "when on
         | drugs, if you think you can fly, take off from the ground"
        
         | betwixthewires wrote:
         | I remember trying to imagine what it would be like before ever
         | having taken any. Even the word "hallucinate" is misleading
         | here. It's much more involved than that. It's also specific to
         | the compounds and how they act on your body. They're not all
         | the same, although similar molecules are similar. Specifically
         | from tryptamines (ayahuasca/DMT, psilocybin, LSD, morning
         | glory, etc) you don't hear about crazy accidents because they
         | don't "do that" to you, they're not like that. You'd have to
         | experience them to really understand, but I wouldn't say they
         | leave your judgment in tact in the way you'd expect, but they
         | do leave it in tact in the sense that matters, you're probably
         | not going to find yourself running naked down the street from
         | taking mushrooms or thinking you can fly and jumping off a
         | building.
        
         | jinjin2 wrote:
         | Last year there was a pretty public case of a guy dying during
         | a ceremony where they used psychedelic toad venom.
         | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52920291.amp
        
           | tyingq wrote:
           | Ah, that's a bad decision while sober, before taking
           | anything, though. Different category.
        
       | keb_ wrote:
       | This is a great resource to anyone interested in psychedelics in
       | general. I've only done psychedelics twice in my lifetime, both
       | with the same friend, and both times _NOT_ in ideal scenarios
       | (because we were both tripping without a sober person trip-
       | sitting us). I would like to warn anyone interested that
       | *tripping is risky if you suffer from high anxiety or OCD*.
       | 
       | My first trip was an incredible experience, I couldn't wait for
       | my next chance to trip. Unfortunately, my second trip went south
       | very fast; I became very anxious and I started having fears that
       | I would unreasonably kill myself or murder my friend. What I
       | didn't know at the time was that I suffered from "Harm OCD" and
       | that the psychedelics were magnifying my OCD tenfold, and thus
       | triggered a horrendous panic attack that wouldn't end until the
       | effects of the drugs wore off.
        
         | mettamage wrote:
         | Sounds familiar, what is harm OCD?
        
           | kinjba11 wrote:
           | > Harm OCD is a subset of classic obsessive compulsive
           | disorder (OCD). The condition is characterized by having
           | aggressive, intrusive thoughts of doing violence to someone,
           | as well as the responses the person uses to cope with these
           | thoughts... OCD makes the individual feel that they can't
           | trust their own mind. Wherein someone without OCD could have
           | a violent thought and recognize that it is simply a thought,
           | a person with OCD who has the Harm OCD subset worries that
           | just having the thought is somehow meaningful.
           | 
           | https://centerforanxietydisorders.com/what-is-harm-ocd/
        
         | t8e56vd4ih wrote:
         | I've tripped dozens of times on lsd, shrooms, dmt and a few
         | RCs. I'm also suffering from such fears during the comeup.
         | after it it's usually smooth sailing. but during my 50 to 100
         | trips i never actually did anything harmful in any way. so
         | that's that. but it's really annoying.
        
           | pksebben wrote:
           | gotta build a relationship with it. once the two of you have
           | had a heart to heart and accepted each other, you can start
           | smoothing things out.
           | 
           | talking about the fear, natch.
        
       | PragmaticPulp wrote:
       | Keep in mind that "harm reduction" material shouldn't be
       | interpreted as a guide to avoiding all potential negative
       | consequences.
       | 
       | When it comes to psychedelics, the pendulum of popular opinion
       | has swung from an extreme of "extremely bad for you" to "actually
       | good for you" but neither extreme is good, IMO.
       | 
       | It's worth reading some of the material about how psychedelic
       | users are weirdly prone to picking up strange beliefs. Not
       | _everyone_ of course, but even a large number of psychedelic
       | researchers who were supposedly doing it the "right way" were
       | still walking away with bizarre and irrational beliefs:
       | https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/28/why-were-early-psyched...
       | 
       | These belief-shifting outcomes aren't mentioned in harm reduction
       | guides. In many cases, they're actually celebrated by users with
       | an implicit assumption that all belief changes from psychedelics
       | must be inherently good. I think it's important to understand
       | that thoughts and feelings imparted by psychedelics aren't _real_
       | and may likely be entirely meaningless.
       | 
       | It's also important to know that the thoughts and feelings and
       | experiences induced by psychedelics aren't necessarily entirely
       | positive. The negative anecdotes tend to get lost among the
       | hyperbole about psychedelics producing magical experiences, but
       | it's not hard to find stories about difficult trips or trips that
       | induced long-lasting negative mental states on Internet forums.
       | They tend to be downvote, ignored, or explained away by blaming
       | the victim for doing it wrong. However, it is a very real and not
       | uncommon possibility, which is why harm reduction guides
       | emphasize the need for sitters to monitor the user and why every
       | psychedelic research study had included 10X as much therapy
       | sessions as psychedelic sessions.
        
         | mam4 wrote:
         | I dont think anyone informed say psychedelic are "extremely bad
         | for you"
        
           | benevol wrote:
           | Well, these plants obliterate tons of (anti-depressant)
           | revenues for the pharma industry, which is why they deploy
           | their FUD and disinformation army. Hence the "extremely bad
           | for you" astroturfing.
        
             | mam4 wrote:
             | Fair enough
        
         | crawfordcomeaux wrote:
         | When reading advice before my last trip, it occurred to me
         | there's a lot of fear-mongering around psychedelics due to
         | judgment.
         | 
         | People judging experiences as positive/negative distracts from
         | what's going on. Simply labeling challenging-to-accept
         | experiences as "bad" and large doses as "heroic" is enough to
         | establish a distracting delusion. It was upon realizing this
         | that I decided I understood how to approach the mushrooms for
         | my last trip:
         | 
         | 4g of the mushrooms were measured out by someone. Another
         | unknown and (visibly less seeming) amount was gifted to me by
         | someone else. At first, I was torn on whether to take just the
         | amount measured out or to take more. Upon reading a bit of
         | advice to remind me about how to navigate mushroom journeys, I
         | remembered we can't KNOW anything (like how much mushrooms by
         | weight was in front of me) and also taking the unknown amount
         | was completely in line with my values of courage, embracing
         | uncertainty, and deep analysis.
         | 
         | Most of the harm reduction guidelines seem to be designed for
         | people who are living in a society that's automated judgment of
         | experience and haven't unlearned that, yet.
        
           | sedibles wrote:
           | Fair enough, but I would disagree on the point about taking
           | an unknown amount (unless I misunderstood?). In my view
           | correct dosing is one of the best ways to achieve a safe
           | experience. One of the biggest issues with such substances is
           | that most users will have no idea how strong the dose is, or
           | if it is even what it says it is.
           | 
           | Courage is one thing, but overdosing is not a pleasant
           | experience, even if it is usually not (physically) unsafe.
           | Cannabis edibles are famous for this since most people have
           | no idea how strong their brownies even after they make them.
           | It was one of the main reasons I made an online calculator as
           | a side project (http://www.scientificedibles.com) to help
           | people to estimate dosage, rather than "take one" and end up
           | on the floor.
        
             | crawfordcomeaux wrote:
             | I agree. It really depends on the substance, of course. 5g+
             | (for the species I was visiting with) is considered the
             | high end. I was also not necessarily seeking a pleasant
             | experience. I was seeking to uproot violent urge within me
             | that kept rising up from chronically not being heard (and
             | that includes not hearing myself).
             | 
             | A high dose of mushrooms is way way different than a high
             | dose of LSD or cannabis.
        
         | theli0nheart wrote:
         | > _Not everyone of course, but even a large number of
         | psychedelic researchers who were supposedly doing it the "right
         | way" were still walking away with bizarre and irrational
         | beliefs:https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/28/why-were-early-
         | psyched..._
         | 
         | That article gives examples of folks who _most definitely_ were
         | not using psychedelics safety. Timothy Leary is famous for his
         | controversial experiments.
         | 
         | Moreover, LSD and mushrooms are often conflated in discussions
         | like this, but it should be noted that the two drugs have
         | widely different outcomes and safe usage parameters.
        
           | tonypace wrote:
           | The link itself conflates them.
        
           | crawfordcomeaux wrote:
           | Also, there's this from the link:
           | 
           | "The third possibility is the one that really intrigues me. A
           | 2011 study found that a single dose of psilocybin could
           | permanently increase the personality dimension of Openness To
           | Experience. I'm emphasizing that because personality is
           | otherwise pretty stable after adulthood; nothing should be
           | able to do this."
           | 
           | The fact is everything IS able to do this and it's up to the
           | person to choose it. Most people don't.
           | 
           | The idea that personality is a stable feature after adulthood
           | is simply a cultural phenomena. As a person who has
           | accidentally/intentionally constructed different identities
           | with different voices in the head after out the mouth, it's
           | very clear to me people's identities are incredibly malleable
           | and most people are simply unaware/unpracticed in how to do
           | it.
        
         | coffeemig wrote:
         | Responses to your comment are contrary, but my anecdata: Just
         | after I moved away from a particular social scene, a bunch of
         | close friends in it got very into psychedelics. Weekly usage or
         | more frequent, all different kinds of che,ical ('pure' lsd,
         | street acid, shrooms, DMT, RCs, etc.)
         | 
         | Many of them did adopt some real wacky beliefs that they have
         | held onto many years past their use. 'Radicality' of belief
         | seemed proportional to volume of use. I'm talking Q-anon levels
         | of delusion and beyond. They all felt they were in touch with
         | greater truths and pitied me and my judgement; my self-
         | restriction of perception. They have a lot of flowery language
         | about how I can't know what I can't see that you have to be
         | some sort of logician to parse.
         | 
         | In one case, I have watched this 'enlightenment' morph over the
         | years from communicationg with beings from beyond the veil to
         | potentially violent political extremism. The guy has been sober
         | for years but low-key views all of his actions and work through
         | a lens of 'ultimate battle of cosmic good and evil'. Naturally
         | 'good' cosmically aligns with whatever his interests at that
         | time are.
         | 
         | If you're a young person reading this: taking psychedelics a
         | couple times is an interesting experience, perhaps worthwhile.
         | But I'm real damn certain that the 'enlightenment' is basically
         | being high. Drunk on a false sense of peace with the universe
         | which exists only as a malfunction in your brain's wiring.
         | Beware people who tout those effects. They are out of touch
         | with reality.
         | 
         | *I have read there is clinical potential to help PTSD
         | sufferers. I'm not denying this. But 99% of usage is not
         | happening is carefully, scientifically studied and controlled
         | situations. Keeping a trip journal is not scientific, even if
         | you have a chem phd.
        
           | mistermann wrote:
           | > They all felt they were in touch with greater truths and
           | pitied me and my judgement; my self-restriction of
           | perception. They have a lot of flowery language about how I
           | can't know what I can't see that you have to be some sort of
           | logician to parse.
           | 
           | This concept has been promoted by philosophers and mystics
           | for centuries and is completely consistent with mainstream
           | neuroscience and psychology. I'm not saying that your friends
           | genuinely transcended this barrier, but that they didn't and
           | thought they did is not a proof that such a realm does not
           | exist.
           | 
           | > They are out of touch with reality.
           | 
           | Surely. But, do you believe that you are _accurately_ in
           | touch with reality?
        
         | mattcwilson wrote:
         | > "thoughts and feelings imparted by psychedelics aren't
         | _real_..."
         | 
         | I mean, in what possible way are they "less real" than thoughts
         | and feelings imparted by any other cause? This is your body,
         | doing the thing in reaponse to a stimulus. This may be an
         | atypical stimulus generating very different than usual
         | responses, but they're certainly _real_
        
           | CPLX wrote:
           | Clearly it depends on your definition of real.
           | 
           | But it's not a complicated concept to get. Like a person who
           | is drunk might see double, when in fact there is one object.
           | A person who is on a lot of amphetamines might believe they
           | are being purposely followed when in fact there are no people
           | intentionally following them.
           | 
           | Those perceptions are not real, in any commonly understood
           | meaning of the word. It's easy to understand what the parent
           | comment meant in that context as well.
        
             | throw_nbvc1234 wrote:
             | If you get angry at someone and later realize it was just a
             | misunderstanding, is that "real" anger?
        
               | mistermann wrote:
               | I think a lot of people miss this very important yet
               | ~subtle (easy to _completely_ miss) aspect of what can be
               | learned from psychedelics.
        
       | a_throwaway_3 wrote:
       | What you need to know is that it will make you dumb and stupid,
       | and you'll sit there giggling to yourself incapable of any
       | coherent thought, like a drooling idiot. At least that's what
       | it'll look like from the outside. From the inside, you'll feel
       | like you've opened a door to a magical land of true
       | understanding, like the veneer of convention has peeled off the
       | world and you can finally _see_ the underlying superstruture of
       | reality. So not only do you turn into a drooling idiot, you turn
       | into a delusional drooling idiot.
       | 
       | And then it takes over your life because it takes days to really
       | get down from those dizzying heights of sudden chemical
       | revelation, only you don't realise you're still high so you still
       | think you really made all those lofty realisations. Then you go
       | and have some more because you 're still incapable of rational
       | thought and who's going to stop you anyway? It can be years
       | before something breaks you out of this vivious cycle of making
       | yourself stupid and being too stupid to understand how stupid you
       | have become as a consequence.
       | 
       | So don't do it. Life's too short. Go read a book. Go learn a
       | craft. Go get a hobby. Learn woodcutting. Learn to bake. Learn to
       | cook. Have more sex. Maybe get a degree or two. But don't do shit
       | that burns your brain because you only get one brain. And it is
       | very easy to damage irreparably.
        
         | inDigiNeous wrote:
         | This comment is just plain wrong. It has been even studied and
         | proven scientifically that for example psilocin, one of the
         | main components of the psilocybe family of mushrooms promotes
         | neuroplasticity and neuritogenesis (Neuritogenesis is a key
         | process required during development of the mammalian brain).
         | [1]
         | 
         | So, the completely reverse of what you said is true, mushrooms
         | can actually promote repairing the brain and strengthen new,
         | more healthy connections within it.
         | 
         | * [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6082376/
        
           | mistermann wrote:
           | > This comment is just plain wrong.
           | 
           | Not _everywhere_ though.  "Is" is a very tricky word.
        
         | sib301 wrote:
         | This gave me a good laugh
        
         | mattcwilson wrote:
         | Is there anything about the studies on safety linked in the
         | article that you would specifically refute?
         | 
         | I think you are right that particular substances have
         | immediate, serious, irreversible harm to your brain.
         | 
         | Psilocybin is not one of those substances.
        
         | celticninja wrote:
         | Reefer madness but for shrooms, this would make good copypasta
         | elsewhere on the internet.
        
         | aqme28 wrote:
         | > Life's too short.
         | 
         | Life's too short not to at least try something new and unique
         | and harmless, no? It only costs you an afternoon.
        
         | SOLAR_FIELDS wrote:
         | Counterpoint: psychedelics helped me overcome a lifelong
         | problem with social anxiety and helped me to overcome fear of
         | dancing in public. Over a decade later I can still say that the
         | changes they made have had a profound and long-lasting positive
         | impact on my life.
        
           | BurningFrog wrote:
           | How specifically did it help with your social anxiety?
        
             | meowkit wrote:
             | Not the same person as the parent comment.
             | 
             | An LSD tripped helped with my social anxiety as a second
             | order effect of helping me become more empathetic.
             | 
             | Through a dozen different thought loops + the psychedelic
             | driven introspection of my first trip, I became much more
             | sensitive and appreciative of my fellow humans. I was able
             | to more properly emulate what someone might be
             | thinking/feeling, and that has continued to bear fruit for
             | me personally and professionally. Additionally, I became
             | more tolerant of others and their differences in all
             | dimensions. The idea of homosexuality in the past had left
             | me queasy and suspicious. In the days after my first LSD
             | experience, that difference no longer gave me any negative
             | feelings.
             | 
             | Any more specific than that and we would be getting into
             | neuro-chemistry. I am not well versed and you would have to
             | do your own research. I do recall that LSD boosts some
             | neurotransmitter/modulator sensitivity, and dis-inhibits
             | the Default Mode Network - allowing for a wider range of
             | introspective experiences which may explain my above
             | experience. I like this articles [0] comparison to
             | defragging a hard-drive. I often phrase psychedelics as a
             | chemical way to observe your mind being stuck in some high
             | dimensional local optima of state/opinion. Then you can
             | choose to pull yourself out of those optima and reform your
             | deeply held beliefs.
             | 
             | Another related term of interest might be ego-death/ego-
             | loss.
             | 
             | https://psychedelicstoday.com/2020/02/04/psychedelics-and-
             | th...
        
       | meepmorp wrote:
       | I feel like I'm alone in this, but I don't like mushrooms. I
       | usually have unpleasant body effects, and I don't like the trip
       | generally. I'm fairly confident in my ability to have dosed as
       | responsibly as possible with a biological product. Usually,
       | though, I just feel weird and uncomfortable for 10. LSD, by
       | comparison, is positively therapeutic for me.
        
         | colordrops wrote:
         | My experience is that LSD, when good, is great, but when bad,
         | can be disastrous. Mushrooms, while not as crisp and euphoric
         | as LSD, don't seem to ever leave me scarred, even with large
         | doses. I'll be laughing about a bad trip on mushrooms after I
         | come down, but will be left unable to function in society for 6
         | months after a bad trip on LSD.
        
           | acchow wrote:
           | Fully agree. Bad LSD trip changes your life dramatically. Bad
           | shroom trip (example took way too much and end up in a never
           | ending panic of "will this ever end?!") has no long term
           | negative effects.
           | 
           | I also feel instantly better, smarter, happier, etc for weeks
           | after shrooms. Don't feel that all on LSD.
        
             | ethanbond wrote:
             | This is conjecture/personal experience/anecdotal, just to
             | be clear for others who are evaluating these two
             | substances. It's worth prefacing with, "My experience
             | was..."
        
             | smoldesu wrote:
             | Had a truly terrible LSD trip a while ago, took a couple
             | weeks to shake off and I never really felt "the same"
             | afterwards. I'm not here to spread FUD, but goddamn is it a
             | powerful chemical. Some people (myself included)
             | underestimate the amount of mental rewiring it can do if
             | you're not careful.
        
             | throwaway_52828 wrote:
             | I got PTSD from shrooms. It took 6 months before I felt
             | mostly functional, and another year after that before I
             | felt "normal."
             | 
             | My impression is that all psychedelics have serious
             | negative effects for the unluckiest users.
        
             | metroholografix wrote:
             | I don't like it when folks generalize from a few subjective
             | experiences. Mushrooms and LSD are powerful catalysts and
             | one can never be sure of what one will experience.
             | 
             | Even McKenna had a bad trip on psilocybin that nearly broke
             | him:
             | 
             | "Terence's pivotal, existential crisis came abruptly, some
             | time in '88 or '89. Everything that happened after that
             | event was fallout. I don't know exactly when it happened,
             | and I don't know exactly what happened; I am piecing it
             | together from what Kat [his wife at the time] has told me,
             | and she has volunteered few details, and I am reluctant to
             | probe.
             | 
             | It happened when they were living for a time on the big
             | island, and it was a mushroom trip they shared that was
             | absolutely terrifying for Terence. It was terrifying
             | because, for some reason, the mushroom turned on him. The
             | gentle, wise, humorous mushroom spirit that he had come to
             | know and trust as an ally and teacher ripped back the
             | facade to reveal an abyss of utter existential despair.
             | Terence kept saying, so Kat told me, that it was "a lack of
             | all meaning, a lack of all meaning." And this induced panic
             | in Terence, and probably, I speculate, a feeling he was
             | going mad. He couldn't deal with it. Kat's efforts to
             | reassure him were fruitless. After that experience, he
             | never again took mushrooms, and he took other psychedelics,
             | such as DMT and ayahuasca, only on rare occasions and with
             | great reluctance.
             | 
             | Whatever the specific content of the psychedelic experience
             | might have been that triggered the cognitive collapse of
             | Terence's worldview and precipitated his existential
             | crisis, what was most remarkable was that he did not see it
             | coming. He did not see it coming."
             | 
             | -- From Dennis McKenna, The Brotherhood of the Screaming
             | Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna, now excised
        
           | api wrote:
           | Mushrooms are a journey in a car with suspension and
           | comfortable seating. LSD is the same journey in a car with no
           | shocks, metal benches, and no seatbelt. Sometimes the trips
           | are similar but if you hit a bumpy spot the results are quite
           | different.
           | 
           | In practice I have seen several people do a lot of LSD and
           | kind of "not come back all the way." Don't recall seeing the
           | same with other psychedelics.
           | 
           | I would caution people against acid, and especially against
           | using a lot of it or repeatedly. I think there's a reason it
           | has that nickname. It seems to be harsh and unforgiving.
           | 
           | There are positive reports from microdosing the stuff. I have
           | no experience here. This wasn't a thing when I was in college
           | and I have not been near anything like this for a long time.
        
             | tpm wrote:
             | For me it is the opposite, LSD is the safe one, shrooms
             | being more difficult - I suspect this is caused by LSD
             | additionaly being a dopamine receptor agonist, which is
             | better for my brain (I also like hippie/candyflips for the
             | same reason I suspect).
        
           | gavinray wrote:
           | Same experience. Have PTSD from this, was not inexperienced
           | either.
        
             | RikNieu wrote:
             | What kind of immediate and long-term side effects did you
             | have, if I may ask?
             | 
             | And what happened during the experience?
        
               | gavinray wrote:
               | I've written in-depth about that particular experience
               | before on here, if you're interested here are the post
               | links:
               | 
               | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22991744 (See chain
               | of replies too)
               | 
               | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22993060
               | 
               | Short-term side effects were acute + severe panic
               | attacks, triggered by flashbacks and feeling as though I
               | was physically back in the same situation/it was starting
               | to happen again.
               | 
               | Even though entirely illogical and not being in the same
               | place it happened, in my mind I felt dead certain that
               | the events that had happened were starting to replay
               | themselves and even physically I was reliving the
               | sensations.
               | 
               | This made me dysfunctional for a period of months, slowly
               | over time the severity + frequency of this tapered off.
               | It took about ~2 years for it to become what I'd call
               | "mostly subsided".
               | 
               | Even now though, if I am under a lot of stress or if I
               | don't sleep well and am slightly sleep deprived, I will
               | start to have flashbacks + panic attacks, but I know how
               | to handle them better now and can force logic through a
               | bit better.
               | 
               | My vision is permanently altered, though it's minor. If
               | you're not familiar with psychedelics, when you take a
               | low dose of them, it makes everything have a sort of
               | "oil-painting" type look to it, and textures are crisper.
               | 
               | The bark on a tree is a good example of something that
               | looks much more intense.
               | 
               | The intensity of this has also subsided a fair amount,
               | but even now I choose not to wear glasses most of the
               | time because if I put on my glasses, everything is too
               | "High definition" and visually intense. I prefer things
               | to just be blurry, to be honest.
        
               | mistermann wrote:
               | I think it's a shame that science does not study rare
               | phenomena like this when they arise, I think there is _a
               | lot_ that could be learned from them.
               | 
               | > and feeling as though I was physically back in the same
               | situation/it was starting to happen again.
               | 
               | > Even though entirely illogical and not being in the
               | same place it happened, in my mind I felt dead certain
               | that the events that had happened were starting to replay
               | themselves and even physically I was reliving the
               | sensations.
               | 
               | I once took some psychedelics and forgot I had taken them
               | (I was also drinking beer), and I had an experience quite
               | similar to this, but at the time had completely forgotten
               | that I was on psychedelics. I always leave myself a note
               | nowadays.
        
         | hosh wrote:
         | I think everyone is going to have different experiences. I saw
         | a wide variety experiences among people taking Ayahuasca, and
         | my own experiences were each different.
         | 
         | LSD wasn't uncomfortable for me, but I also knew at a deep
         | level that it wasn't something I needed to explore further. By
         | contrast, there were many times that Ayahuasca had been at
         | times uncomfortable and disturbing for me ... but I also knew I
         | needed it.
        
           | RikNieu wrote:
           | What do you mean by "needed it?" How did it affect your life
           | afterwards?
        
         | tokumei wrote:
         | Exact opposite for me. LSD is nice, but the visuals can be
         | overwhelming. The visuals on mushrooms, for me are more
         | "organic" I guess, and the mental state more natural. I haven't
         | done either in over a decade, but that's what I remember. I
         | used to do a heroic dose of mushrooms once a week - the
         | feelings of euphoria once you peek and the subtle visuals were
         | amazing.
         | 
         | It's also possible to go to sleep on mushrooms once you're at
         | the end of your trip, as the trip is really a lot shorter. I
         | remember lying awake in my bed on LSD with the room melting
         | around me, wondering if it would ever end, just wishing that I
         | could go to sleep.
         | 
         | Edit: As far as being alone with your experience - I had a lot
         | of friends that preferred LSD over mushrooms. It's really a
         | personal preference as to which one suits you best.
        
           | acchow wrote:
           | There are so many varieties of psychedelic shrooms. Some
           | don't have strong visuals, some can make you hallucinate far
           | beyond the capabilities of LSD.
        
             | betwixthewires wrote:
             | If you're talking about different mushrooms with different
             | compounds in them (like fly agaric) we are specifically
             | talking about psilocybin mushrooms here.
             | 
             | If you're talking about different species of psilocybin
             | containing mushrooms like wood loving ones and what not,
             | what are your experiences with them? I've only had cubensis
             | mushrooms, but I assumed the primary difference between
             | them would be potency considering they have the same active
             | compounds.
        
               | _proofs wrote:
               | wood-loving generally oxidize fast and have a more
               | psylocin heavy profile on consumption, so there's less
               | come-up, and my anecdotal experience of eating large
               | amounts of wood-eaters (blue footers, found around box
               | elder trees/floodplanes in Bethany, WV area) -- the
               | experience is like immediately intense and psychedelic
               | with no playful buffer since the conversion is shortened
               | -- and if you're not ready you will be properly fucking
               | spun.
               | 
               | other than that, i've had some insanely intense
               | experiences with them, both pleasant and unpleasant. but
               | i have not had much experience with other species.
               | 
               | related to the thread however, my experiences with good L
               | were way more pleasant, manageable, and desirable. but
               | perhaps that's a result a more responsible, less reckless
               | dosing (i had some experience by this time, dosing in
               | clubs and stuff) -- when i was eating mushrooms (spring
               | time, quite a few seasons not really outside of that
               | window) simply eating whatever i am finding on a hike
               | through the woods while having an afternoon coffee, while
               | not really knowing any better, sometimes meant i ingested
               | way more than necessary, shrug. YMMV.
        
         | aeturnum wrote:
         | Psychadelics famously impact people in vastly different ways.
         | Anyone who hasn't tried them before will probably have the best
         | time doing a standard dose (1 "tab" of lsd or ~1.5g of
         | mushrooms) around friends with nothing else scheduled during
         | the day.
         | 
         | That said, many people have nonlinear responses to these
         | substances. I know folks who hate lower doses of LSD because
         | they just get an anxiety-generating body high, but love the
         | experience above that. Generally, on a per-dose basis, LSD and
         | mushrooms are inexpensive and so experimentation is cheap (even
         | though it's also time consuming because of the ~8hr trip
         | duration). Though, again, if you take lower doses (below the
         | standard I mentioned above) most people will have no trouble
         | doing chores if you must get something done (as long as that
         | chore does *not* involve driving).
         | 
         | Edit: mushrooms are hard to dose consistently, the dose I
         | listed might be high or low but it will probably not melt your
         | face off or do nothing. More info here:
         | https://erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_basics.shtml
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | hidden_dude wrote:
       | (Using a throwaway account for obvious reasons)
       | 
       | I had a stroke a few months ago, resulting in some long-lasting
       | effects in my visual field. I have read reports that mushrooms
       | can help the brain develop new connections; and I'd like to see
       | if they can help improve my vision. But I have no idea where to
       | get shrooms, how much to dose, etc. Any tips?
        
         | ryanianian wrote:
         | Check the various reddits for places to start plus speak with
         | an informed and non-judgmental healthcare person.
        
         | mmmeff wrote:
         | Look into growing them from uncle Ben's rice. Doesn't get
         | easier. Spores can be legally bought online in most states and
         | no special equipment is necessary.
         | 
         | Just plan on doing a triple batch as without proper lab
         | equipment, the chance of contamination is higher.
        
           | hidden_dude wrote:
           | Any place to buy them? I am not too far from Santa Cruz, CA
           | and Oakland CA. I hear it's legal in Santa Cruz.
        
         | rt_hidden_dude wrote:
         | As said, grow your own. No need to deal with risky characters,
         | you'll know exactly what you have, requires very little space,
         | low risk as long as you can keep your lips zipped. It's about 6
         | weeks from inoculation of spores to first harvest, and the
         | total investment to get started can be about $100, most of that
         | for one-time expenses. Spores are legal to buy in most (47)
         | states, and can be ordered from the open internet. If you're in
         | one of the 3 non-legal states, or a non-legal country, there
         | are online spore print exchanges. After buying once, you can
         | propagate from your own spore prints, or from clones.
         | 
         | I would not rely on Reddit for your cultivation advice. Try
         | shroomery.org, an old school web 1.0 forum that's been around
         | since 1997. People who have participated there for years and
         | are recognized as experts are marked with a "Trusted
         | Cultivator" badge. Yes, it is actually possible to grow shrooms
         | on Uncle Ben's precooked microwavable rice packets, but it is
         | not a recommended practice due to high percent of batches lost
         | to mold/bacterial contamination before the spores can
         | germinate. It's just too wet of a substrate and doesn't have
         | adequate airflow for oxygen that the mycelium needs to grow. I
         | have tried it even though I usually use more advanced
         | techniques, and lost 4 of 8 bags to contamination, even though
         | I used above average sterile handling methods.
         | 
         | The PF Tek method is considered a reliable method for beginners
         | that minimizes the equipment you need to buy, and is recommend
         | in the shroomery.org's "getting started" sticky thread:
         | https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/2442017...
         | The thread also has links to spore vendors who have been vetted
         | as reliable.
         | 
         | There is a also a discussion forum on the site for those who
         | choose to use shrooms medicinally, including microdosing,
         | recommended micro/macro dosages and dosing practices, etc.
        
           | hidden_dude wrote:
           | > Spores are legal to buy in most (47) states
           | 
           | Sadly, I live in California. For some stupid reason, Cali
           | doesn't allow the sales of spores. And yet shrooms are legal
           | in places like Oakland and Santa Cruz. W. T. F.?? What is
           | wrong with the politicians?
           | 
           | Thank you for the link to Shroomery; I had not heard of this
           | site, but I will explore it in depth. I have a pressure
           | cooker and a garage, all I need are simple to follow
           | directions.
        
             | rt_hidden_dude wrote:
             | Go figure - but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes
             | sooner rather than later. Attitudes toward natural
             | psychedelics seem to be rapidly changing in both political
             | parties.
             | 
             | The Shroomery has a a spore exchange board, and plenty of
             | people would be happy to send to CA, but you have to be
             | registered for 30 days and make 50 posts to participate.
             | They try to discourage drive-bys in favor of building the
             | community.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | temp0826 wrote:
         | Arm chair neuropharmacologist here, thinking you should look
         | into microdosing along with lion's mane mushrooms.
        
           | hidden_dude wrote:
           | That's what I have read. The problem is acquiring quality
           | mushrooms.
        
         | beervirus wrote:
         | Ask your shadiest friend who his shadiest friend is.
        
           | hidden_dude wrote:
           | Problem with that is then I have no idea about the quality.
        
           | betwixthewires wrote:
           | This is absolutely terrible advice, you're likely to get
           | chocolate bars with something else in them at best.
        
       | threwaway7880 wrote:
       | I've done LSD a few times, maybe a handful, and mild doses of
       | shrooms maybe 3 times.
       | 
       | On higher doses of LSD (> 1 tab), I tend to get a recurring fear
       | and visual manifestation of bugs (spiders, specially). When I'm
       | outside on a walk while tripping I tend to be hyper-conscious of
       | bugs and the noises they're making. Any thoughts on why and how
       | to deal with this? It tends to have a very negative effect on my
       | trips but it doesn't always happen. Just stick to lower doses?
        
         | jungturk wrote:
         | A stock tactic for fears and anxieties during trips is to allow
         | yourself to experience them, to accept them, and to allow them
         | to pass.
         | 
         | Another is to put yourself is a goofy/stimulating/amusing
         | situation that distracts the mind from the negative loops it
         | might be manifesting.
         | 
         | But really, the "setting" part of "set and setting" might just
         | mean staying away from bugsy walks and going somewhere cozy and
         | comfortable instead.
         | 
         | https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Set_and_setting
        
         | criticaltinker wrote:
         | I highly recommend taking a look through the Yale Manual for
         | Psilocybin-assisted therapy [1], section 6.9 is particularly
         | relevant to your inquiry. Some excerpts:
         | 
         |  _> We encourage you to take an attitude of curiosity and
         | acceptance toward everything that happens during your session.
         | Whatever comes up has some kind of meaning or wisdom that you
         | can learn from, even if this meaning is not immediately
         | obvious. _
         | 
         | _> You may have bizarre sensations and experiences, and you may
         | experience frightening images or thoughts. These may alternate
         | rapidly. This is normal and does not mean anything is wrong._
         | 
         |  _> We encourage you to "go with" or surrender to difficult
         | experiences rather than fight them. Approach rather than flee;
         | accept rather than reason away, lean into whatever comes up,
         | including any impulse to run away._
         | 
         |  _> There are methods for grounding and calming yourself, if
         | you would like to use them._
         | 
         | [1] https://psyarxiv.com/u6v9y/
        
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