Post #2-Mystical Shrooms are Life Changing

Ever had the urge to experiment with psychedelic drugs? No? what if they had the possibility of putting you in a better mood better than any other kind of anti-depressant? Throughout history psychedelic mushrooms have been a part of many cultures as a way of changing there mindset. For instance many Indian tribes in South America would take such mushrooms as a way to bond between families. They thought they could "elevate to a higher plane and have a better overall understanding of life."  Studies have shown that psychedelic mushrooms have a permanent personality change if taken. Scientists have found out that the active ingredient in the mushroom is an ingredient called psilocybin. The mushrooms have proven to change someones personality in such a way that show "increases in the key personality dimension of openness — being amenable to new ideas, experiences and perspectives — more than a year later." Katherine MacLean is the research lead in this study, who is a  postdoctoral student at Johns Hopkins University. 




The study was given to 52 patients, which had an average age of 46 years old. These subjects were given personality trait test prior to actually taking any psilocybin. They were then given two-to-five doses of the drug during numerous sessions. These tests were all done under highly controlled conditions at a hospital. They were then given another personality test in a year or so, the results were usually very different. The patients expressed more feelings of happiness, kindness, and calmness. There were even many reports by family members that were identical to some of the expressed personality tests.


The study suggests that as people age and grow older, they become less open to try new things, and didn't want to experience anything out of the ordinary. The drug supposedly makes the patients more open and susceptible to ideas which made them feel decades younger.


During the study, your either given a placebo or a high dosage of psilocybin, depending on which patient you were. One patient reports that they didn't feel the change the first time. They were given the placebo and had headphones on and listened to classical music. After about four hours goes by and nothing really happened. After another session, and receiving the drug, he describes the experience as, "There was this point where, basically, I forgot about anything Brian-like or who Brian was. I was really in touch with all experience: whatever happened was part of me. I was not observing — I was whatever was happening. The other thing that was so memorable was that everything was so beautiful and it made me cry because the beauty was so exquisite. And then I'd remember how painful and how messy it all was. I was laughing and crying for like three hours straight.

I was absolutely that certain that everything was just the same thing, just different flavors and tastes of one underlying reality and being so grateful to be alive and able to experience it." Brian reported being more tolerant and more compassionate, saying that perspective determines your experience, and how seeing more than one perspective can change your perception on reality. 

Not all the patients reacted so calmy their first time taking the drug. A patient by the name of Maria Estevez had what is called as a "bad trip". She was one of the first random subjects to receive a high dosage, which ended up being the worst thing that ever happened to her. She describes the experience as, "I was slammed,I was inundated, I felt like I was drowning. I was knocked around and tumbling beyond all sanity." But during one of her more successful sessions, she expressed a feeling of a "god-like" presence with her. She reports that after taking psilocybin, she is much more forgiving of family and friends. 

The research hasn't shown any permanent or long lasting negative effects to the drug treatment. However, there are cases where people can get negative effects such as fearfulness or anxiety problems. But these problems are short-term and go away quickly. The study is even moving towards testing this on high anxiety or depressed cancer patients to help improve their mood. 

http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/03/want-to-feel-younger-more-open-magic-mushrooms-trigger-lasting-personality-change/