Adverse experiences resulting in emergency medical treatment seeking following the use of magic mushrooms

Regardless, even if a representative sample of psychedelic self-treaters was obtained, these individuals likely hold positive expectations about the treatment; while resuming or discontinuing psychedelic use based on experiences before the survey reporting period induces an effect comparable to attrition or survivorship bias. Nonetheless, if some experienced users had observed the majority of psychedelics’ benefits during use before the survey reporting period, some of these effects may be attenuated in our study (Haijen et al., 2018). As respondents were asked to report on their self-treatment experiences based on the substance they had found most useful (in case they had self-treated with several substances), this investigation was restricted to those respondents indicating either LSD or psilocybin mushrooms as the substance found most useful.

Findings

Those with no response to the question on whether negative outcomes were experienced, were excluded from these analyses. In turn, all cases indicating presence of negative outcomes were included in the analyses, regardless of any missing values on subsequent individual outcome items. The objective of this study was to analyze reports of experiences with psychedelics that led to negative outcomes, according to the perception of the users themselves.

Treatment outcomes: descriptives

This is valid source but there are others (like UNODC or EMCDDA reports) that can be combined with this one. This is even more important if we take in consideration the levels of uncertainty when it comes to prevalence of illicit drug use and to the low control of biases involved in the global drug report collection of data. Besides that, many studies on the effects of psilocybin are now being published, both in controlled and uncontrolled settings. Distressing sensory experiences were identified in a few participant accounts of undesired mental health impacts. These experiences included unpleasant or even scary sensory experiences that impacted participants during their psilocybin use, as well as for varying durations afterward. Data collection for Phase I of the broader study took place from October 2020 through January 2021 in the form of an international self-report survey, results of which are published elsewhere 43.

Data Availability Statement

For example, Cluster 3 (‘somatic alterations’), describing mainly negative physical experiences, has a stronger association with individuals of depression, while Cluster 5 (‘visual perceptual content’), with more neutral and positive content, is more prevalent in reports of individuals without depression. This is in line with previous studies indicating that belonging to a clinical group modulates the experience with ayahuasca, for example with the study by Fernandez et al.22 suggesting that reports by people with depression focused on topics with higher therapeutic value in comparison to healthy individuals. Unlike traditional pharmacological interventions, substances such as ayahuasca may be highly linked to characteristics of set (intrinsic subjective factors, such as expectation, preparation, personality, and intention) and setting (extrinsic factors, such as the surrounding environmental and social context of the experience15).

Data Sources

The textual data were obtained from reports manually extracted from the EROWID website, which is a database dedicated to reporting on psychoactive substances and documenting actual reports of users. Users visit sites exclusively devoted to the storage and dissemination of information about psychoactive substances, and these sites provide an opportunity for real-time evaluation of emerging drug trends. Two weeks post-dosing, Zakara continued to struggle, although she started making changes to her daily life. She joined a fitness club and reported that her suicidal thoughts were less constant. By 6 weeks post-dosing, Zakara was able to do all her usual work and activities (such as seeing friends and exercising) despite her low mood. She was looking to change to a more fulfilling job and felt that her concentration on things that she enjoyed was better than before dosing, suggesting some functional improvement despite MADRS scores remaining high.

Greater relaxation and sleep

The items were created by the GDS research team, based on discussions with a group of psychedelic researchers, clinicians involved in psychedelic treatment delivery and psychiatrists; and a review of the literature. No psychometric testing was used for the construction of the scale, that is validity of the items was not established. This self-reported negative outcomes of psilocybin users: a quantitative textual analysis pmc study brings important insights into self-treatment practices with psychedelics in a large international sample. Outcomes were generally favourable, but negative effects appeared more frequent than in clinical settings. Our findings can help inform safe practices of psychedelic use in the community, and inspire clinical research.

• The results confirm psilocybin mushrooms are a relatively safe drug, withserious incidents rare and short lasting.
• Descriptivestatistics and graphs were created to explore the experiences and symptomprofiles of EMT seekers.
• Distressed by personal circumstances, which included friends leaving the city and family being away, she contemplated taking an overdose, counted the medication she had at home, and started writing a suicide note but stopped of her own accord.
• Adverse experiences were short term with only onerespondent experiencing effects lasting over 24 h.
• As such, racism, drug sales/adverts, unsolicited medical advice, and hateful commentary are not tolerated.Please be civil, treat each other with respect, and read about the latest advances in pharmacology.

B Bienemann, NS Ruschel, ML Campos, MA Negreiros… – Plos one, 2020 – journals.plos.org

The important “double consciousness” or analytic eye described by Braun and Clark 54 calls upon the researcher to listen intently while critically reflecting on what is being expressed. Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom lasting 1–1.5 hour and were audio-video recorded. Participants were reminded of recording procedures and were given the opportunity to ask questions prior to commencing the recorded interview. An interview guide was used, consisting of specific questions centered on participant psychedelic experience(s) following psilocybin mushroom use.

• This case report was written on the basis of the authors’ involvement with COMP001, COMPASS Pathways’ phase 2b clinical trial of the investigational drug COMP360 (COMPASS Pathways’ proprietary synthetic psilocybin formulation) for treatment-resistant depression,11 and COMP004, a long-term follow-up study (Fig. 1).
• Psilocybin has been studied in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders.
• 22.5% of participants reported experiencing some negative consequences from their experience but these were rarely severe or long lasting.
• Due to the dearth of published information regarding the knowledge and acceptance of psilocybin as a viable treatment option for patients, further research in psychedelic-assisted treatments may be warranted.

Please double-check that the referenced text is neither unduly generic nor ‘generous’ with ethnobotanical data. Cluster 1 and 2 are close to each other, suggesting that subjective experiences of bad trips are directly linked to emergencies. Cluster 3 is made up of words such as eye, color, pattern, light, visual, vision, stare, referring to visual distortions and sensory-perceptual changes in general.