Jul 9, 2013 | By Tim Stoddart
Long Term Effects of Shrooms
Hallucinogens AddictionPsilocybin is naturally-occurring hallucinogen that’s found in some types of wild mushrooms. Those “magic mushrooms” or “shrooms” can give a user a transcendent experience that is difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t experienced it. While the short term effects of shrooms can be profound and obvious, less is known about the potential long term effects of shrooms.
Long Term Effects of Shrooms on the Brain
There haven’t been many recent studies on the effects of shrooms, mostly because they are considered illegal substances with no medical purpose. Because of this, it’s difficult to say what the long term effects of shrooms on the brain really are. The experience of tripping, especially a bad trip, can trigger feelings of depression, anxiety, or psychosis in extreme cases. It’s unknown whether the psilocybin causes those symptoms or whether mental illness was already present.
There have been a handful of studies, however, that suggest shrooms could cause positive long term effects on the brain. One study showed that psilocybin caused long term, and perhaps permanent, changes to a user’s personality by making them more open to new experiences and more empathetic. Another study showed that shrooms helped lessen the depression and anxiety of terminal cancer patients for at least several months after taking them. It’s important to note that these studies were performed in very controlled environments to minimize the risk of a bad trip as much as possible.
Another possibility is flashbacks. People who have used shrooms might experience flashbacks in which they feel the physical or mental effects of taking shrooms suddenly and without ingesting them. Oftentimes stress or other substances can initiate flashbacks. Very rarely, some people may develop Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) in which flashbacks are chronic. It’s unknown why some people have flashbacks or HPPD and others don’t.
Long Term Effects of Shrooms on the Body
The physical long term effects of shrooms are also elusive. It is known that the more psilocybin a person ingests, the more of a tolerance they build up to it. If a person takes enough shrooms in a short period of time, they will stop feeling any effects from them at all until they stop ingesting them for at least several days. Physical addiction does not occur, but psychological addiction is a possibility.
Another physical risk of taking mushrooms is poisoning if the wrong shrooms are taken. If a person ingests poisonous shrooms by accident they can have many bad side effects. A potential lasting side effect of taking toxic mushrooms is liver damage, which could be fatal.
Most of the long term physical effects of shrooms are related to decisions a person made while tripping. Because shrooms can lower inhibitions and increase feelings of euphoria, a person might take bigger risks, like attempting dangerous physical feats or having unprotected sex. Injuries, broken bones, and STDs could affect a person long after their trip is over.
Every individual can experience different short and long term effects of shrooms. There are many factors that can influence the effects a person feels, such as their weight, environment, expectations, brain chemistry, pre-existing conditions, or medications taken.
Sofia
9 years ago
So I took shrooms at the end of august 2015. It lasted about 5 hours and it was awful. I just had a bad trip, i was scared and my mind was racing. I threw p and then it ended about 20 minutes after. Now its September 30th 2015 and I get random body highs from it. It’s the same gut sinking feeling. I hate it, i get bad dreams from it and i get anxiety. I’m sure it will go away eventually but right now it sucks.
John
7 years ago
how are you feeling these days
Katy
7 years ago
I did shrooms in Amsterdam in 2003, I wouldn’t say I had a bad trip I just didn’t like it at all, it scared me, it’s now 2017 and I still have effects from it, I also get that same weird feeling in my head that I had that day, it also left me with permanent anxiety which before then I had never experience ever think I’ve just learn to deal with but I’ve honestly never been the same since, horrible things
John
7 years ago
You shouldn’t take these things if you aren’t able to clear your mind and go with the flow of the drug, your own damn fault.
JAZMYN
7 years ago
You are truly ignorant to mushrooms, life, God, purpose, nature, other realms… all things connected to mushrooms use. To me a trip is pure love, its like the universe is showing how it has loved me and our conncection is that much more deeply felt, the emptions of the trees around me as they dance in the sun and the dirt as it cleanses my skin. I pay for this experience tenfold however with brain function and memory and loss of joy for months and months afterward…. these are extremely dangerous and some people are just ignorantly unaware of all there is, in this world amd the next.
David
7 years ago
You’re an idiot.
alex
9 years ago
I have been consuming mushrooms for over 2 years now, and I really haven’t had any sort of really bad of a trip, sometimes when a low level of a bad trip was beginning to happen (very rare) it started getting better and eventually became a really good trip, when for example I used relaxing music and eating sweet caramel candies sometimes smoking marijuana before consuming mushrooms helps you to not have a bad trip since it makes your mood better. Mushroom’s bad trip also can depend on the situation that you are in at the moment, if you had any bad accidents or something that makes you upset, or someone that you have lost lately.. you are better off not taking shrooms at that time! because it really will increase the chance of a bad trip, I have taken shrooms for kind of a long time and I never had any dependency on it I can go for months even years not taking it. Also I never had any flash backs. Sometimes I have thought about the trips I have had and sometimes saw pictures of my previous trip in my head but I never had any flash backs which I would actually trip.. I think shrooms are a lot better than lsd since they are not a chemical and they don’t even have any bad side effects as its said on reliable web sources such as Wikipedia or just Google.. and you can give it a try for once it really wont hurt u at all at least for sure not for the first time of use.
Chris
7 years ago
Technically speaking they are a chemical. Psilocybin is a chemical compound that’s broken down into psilocin. The difference is it’s naturally occurring instead of created in a lab…
RayQuan
7 years ago
True… man made Acid < GOD made psilocyben cubenis
Nelson
7 years ago
God made shit nigga. There is no God, and nature can also be poisonous for us, just like the poison of a snake. It should not be taken. No matter how great it makes you feel in the moment. In the long term, you’ll suffer the consequences and wish had never taken it.
Sara
7 years ago
I ve been quite drug liberal and experimenting myself. But, I friend of mine got a very bad shroom trip the one and only time he tried. He still suffers from HPHD, anxiety, awful memory and depression. 9 years later. He also suffers from outer body experiences, not recognizing himself anymore. Another friend killed his mom during a trip. A mother he loved deeply and had no anger against. I would not recommend anyone to gamble with their brains with drugs, especially not such an unpredictable one as mushrooms.
Shane
7 years ago
You cant blame everything on mushrooms yo i mean cmon yall are sayin one trip ruined your life or impacted you so badly like sayin i smoked 1 cigarette and boom ball cancer those pesky smokes got me.
Tim Stoddart
7 years ago
lol this gave me a good laugh. You are correct on that my friend. It’s the long term culmination of effects. Pesky smokes.
JAZMYN
7 years ago
You are ignorant to any experience but your own then, it does things to people, I saw God everywhwere and I will never be able to explain what I’ve gone through on mushrooms and I already know that everything is this universe is connected and God judged me for eating mushrooms. He/she/it is in every person, every molecule, every nature or man-made object, hence man being derived from nature and ‘it’ made that clear to me
Cinder Cinnamon
6 years ago
My gender neutral friend killed both their moms today.
david beasley
7 years ago
I microdosed with mushrooms for 2 weeks recently. I used 1/2 to 1 gram in a cup of tea. I didn’t trip but I did get laser focus, insight, happy energy and I slept well every night. They are a powerful tool to combat depression.
Trippy Z Clown
7 years ago
I’ve done shrooms many times. Only had 1 bad trip because I ate way too many. I would say the key is that the fewer responsibilities you have the better the trip. The reason being is that you don’t have any thoughts that can creep into the trip and flip it to a bad one. If you don’t have to worry about kids, bills, etc, then the only thing you have to remeber is that you will be fine and it will eventually wear off.
kathy a overcast
7 years ago
My 42 year old son, has done mushrooms and other hallucinogenics pretty regularly for about 6 or 7 years, he went on this kick of trying to discovery himself. We have no idea what caused this problem, but one night he did some concoction of Morning glory seeds, (and i can find nothing that can indicate this substance could possibly be responsible for what happen next) but after doing these seeds, he had a bad reaction(he says it was almost immediate) his brain “burned”(his description) he feel on the floor because he lost all control of his legs and arms. anyway, by the next day(and this was in Oct 2016) he has completely wiped out his ability to form new memory. He can’t remember what he says 5 minutes after saying it,, when he goes to sleep at night and wakes back up, he can not remember going to sleep and can not remember absolutely ANYTHING from his previous day. He will continue to ask the same questions over and over, because he doesn’t know he already ask the question. seriously, he can’t remember anything from 5 minutes previouse. he has been like this since Oct. with no signs of improvement, at all. he is still undergoing many neurological tests, to try and figure out what has happnened to his memory. he remembers his past, but can’t form any new memory at all, and even in remembering his past, he does seem to have a problem with the conception of time, because things that happened to him 10 years ago, he says he feels like it was yesterday, and things that recently(2 or 3 months ago, or before the accident) he feels like they were years ago. I don’t know that mushrooms and hallucinogenics are what caused this, because so far, no one has been able to figure out what is wrong, but he is all messed up and showing no signs of improvement. he can not work as he has forgotten how to do the job he use to do. If anyone has ever heard of this kind of reaction to doing hallucinogenics regularly over a period of years please let me know. I’m scared to death, becaue he keeps talking about wanting to do more mushrooms because he think it will fix his memory..and I can think of no other reason for this memory problem he has except that it must have been caused by mushrooms, and I surly don’t think mushrooms will fix it!!!!!!
Cookie
7 years ago
I used to do mushrooms about a year ago. The key is to take each trip some time apart from another. I wouldn’t go on a trip every week as your mind needs time to piece itself back together. The best way I can describe what a trip does to you mentally, is it’s like taking a hammer to a glass and watching the glass shatter into a million pieces, your brain literally goes to this other side where you within 5 to 8 hours explore every piece of yourself, your life what has happened and what you could be. After, your brain is so wired it needs time to put those pieces back. Even if you were to try and trip that very next day, it’s impossible as you won’t get high again. You have literally exhausted your brains capabilities. Tripping is seeing your mind work at it’s full potential. A year after not tripping I do find myself having a mental addiction and wanting to go back. I find myself having those flashbacks and I also have noticed that I myself have changed some good some bad. Because I am always wanting to go back to that experience my moods have become depressed agitated easily etc. Yet I have this deep wisdom that has evolved and has improved my art as well. I’m able to see things play out and make wiser choices for myself. At the same time I’ve grown bored of just normal life. As far as memory, that has decreased in the same way. I can’t remember certain things I did minutes even secs ago almost a brain fog effect, yet I can see into things and remember so much more of the past like it happened yesterday. Its almost like the brain is stuck in a triplike effect without the full on euphoria etc. It may be that his brain needs to be unlocked by shrooms again. Not to encourage at all…but kind of like a chiropractor, once you start going you can’t stop going… Everything feels great works great but as soon as you stop all the crap comes right back. It sucks to say but the tripping world is way better then reality sometimes it’s your mind fully unlocked all traumas gone, once you come back to reality it’s hard for you to just be normal after having an experience like that. It’s a spiritual journey one that is different every time. It’s not what other drugs do as there is no physical addiction but it is a definite mental addiction, once your mind goes there it keeps wanting more stimulation. It’s your mind on steroids basically take it away and it will never be the same again.
chester
7 years ago
Hi Kathy,
I also noticed a change in my memory performance after having a bad trip.
It happened in february 2016. I was taking prescription drugs (aerinaze*) and I took shrooms by myself at home alone. When
the effects started everything felt ok (like the other 6 times i had done shrooms before this).
Then after like 45 minutes into the trip i started to panic for no reason. I tried to calm
myself down but it didnt help. Starting to freak out more i decided to vomit the shrooms
out of my body. After vomiting i felt better for a while and went to take a shower because i
thought that would calm me down. The opposite happened and i freaked out so hard that i
didnt know if i should laugh or cry. It went from one side to the other, i went from full euphoria to
feeling like i was going to have a depression. I also got like a severe headache in the shower. Like someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the brain or something.
I got out of the shower and sent a message to my best friend and called my girlfriend to
come and stop me from losing my mind. That’s what it felt like, like losing control or going insane.
Eventually my girlfriend came to my house after the trip had worn off.
The day after my trip i noticed that i had these random random episodes of panic.
Whilst driving, whilst in class, whilst having dinner… It was very unpleasant and kept
me from living my normal life like before all this happened.
And now to come back to your comment in which the memory loss is most important i see.
I recognize a lot of the things you say about your son.
Talking about something and forgetting what you were saying mid sentence.
Driving somewhere and forgetting where you were supposed to go or not knowing
the way anymore although you’ve done this way over a hundred times.
Not remembering what you’ve done the day before.
Learning capabilities have also weakened a lot with me. Which is probably a result of the
weak memory…
As you described what your son said about wanting to take shrooms again to fix his memory problem.
I had the same idea since i had this bad trip. I have no idea why as the shrooms caused this problem. But for some reason it seemed logical?!
My story aside i hope your son finds a cure for his effects.
(which has pseudoephedrine in it, i dont know if this might have been the cause of the bad trip or not…)
T-light
7 years ago
Yesterday I took shrooms for the first time in a long time like 20 years I was with a very good friend of mine in an awesome settings my state of being has been one of extreme depression even suicidal thoughts at times But it didn’t stop me from wanting to take the shrooms in fact I wanted to take them it was calling me to take them I can’t explain it those who know what I’m talking about know.
So I was wondering if this has happened anybody out there my temperature dropped and my hands went numb I had to get in the bathtub and that’s on the trip started it recalibrated my brain that’s the only way I can describe it my friend is the one who gave me them and I asked her how much did you give me she said about a gram maybe less I know it was in a microdose because I was in a state but it wasn’t enough to take me completely out of this 3D
So now it’s the next day my mind feels strange and I have slight anxiety I did feel that way when I was on the trip my body was cold my breathing was weird but I was OK I’m just wondering if anybody else can elaborate on the symptoms you guys have felt thanks
Quinten Cambridge
7 years ago
It looks like you have contracted derealization, look up the symptoms. I would advise you to not take shrooms anymore.
Taylor
7 years ago
So i was at senior week with a bunch of friends, we were smoking alot of weed but it was getting kind of old and i wanted to try something new. So two of the guys there had a little heavier drugs than marijuana, they had LSD, Ecstacy, and shrooms. I didn’t want to do anything man made because Ive heard negative things about them and the only thing bad I’ve heard about shrooms is having a bad trip. So the two guys went to go kayaking out to this island where I knew they were gonna do either shrooms or LSD. I asked them if I could join them and they let me. We got to the island and they let me take one, after 15 mins or so I wasn’t feeling really anything so i asked if i could have more, every 15- 30 mins or so I’d take another. I took about 5- 6 idk how many grams that is cuz I’m new with these things but my experience was awesome. The two guys were talking about theroies of how the world was created and consperisies. I was just standing there having my mind constantly blown it felt awesome my brain was working like it never worked before. I wasn’t really seeing things or hallucinating, yeah I saw a little red out in the water but that was the extent of hallucinating. I was just analyzing my life and the world, it was like life was a puzzle and I was piecing it together in my brain. Eveything I saw had a connection to something else. The environment of the island was also fantastic, we made a fire out of brush and driftwood, it was really foggy and mystic. Literally one of the best and most life-changing parts of my life. When we returned from the island there was a party going on at our beach house 75% of the people were drunk and high. They all told me “bro You tripping out right now” because I was just sitting back watching everyone. But I felt like the most sober one there, I was just analyzing everyone and their actions. I left the party and went on a walk with some sober people there and made so many awesome connections and it was the happiest I have been for awhile. This past week after I took shrooms I’ve had some lifestyle changes, I’m on my phone and computer alot less, I appriciate the world alot more, and I’m working more to improve my physical stature. It is honestly so hard to explain to people how awesome the experience is, they either think I’m crazy or a drug addict, and I just think to myself “if only you could understand”. I’m not trying to convince people to do this drug, yes ther is the possibility of having flashbacks and a bad trip but I believe you control those factors. If you are to do shrooms you should be in a positive environment with some very close friends and nothing stressful should be on your mind. I feel a slight mental addiction to them only because I felt like i was using my brain to it’s full capacity and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life.
Cyril van Rooyen
6 years ago
Will agree to every word you say….? ? Love them
izzy
7 years ago
Hi so I took some about two weeks ago. It was not an excessive amount and I had not taken any other substance. I had a horrible trip and since then I have had anxiety and depression. Any input please?
James
6 years ago
A lot of these comments are bullshit. You can tell by the writing style that it is the same person writing them, he or she probably works for this bullshit website. Mushrooms make you smarter period end of story, just google articles from real scientific reputable sources they’re there if you look.
Mae Mae
6 years ago
So um I took an 8th of shrooms for my first time. Everything was going great but someone said something that slipped me in to a very bad trip. I tried everything to make me calm down. I mean everything. But then I thought if I closed my eyes it would help. I was sent in to a deep ego trip. I was tripping tf out. But now after I’ve already came down and is’s been weeks I can’t get my trip out of my head I get so lost in my mind thinking about it. But when I smoke weed it makes me feel like complete shit. I’ve been smoking for 8 years and this has never happened. I think about my bad trip Everytime I smoke and it’s bad like seriously bad. Some days I wake up and I have those flash backs all day so I don’t even get out of bed. My ambitions are completely destroyed. I lost my job because I couldn’t handle my job anymore because I was getting freaked out. What do I do? Someone please tell me what to do so I can get my life back. I have an amazing husband and beautiful son. I was just trying to have one fun night and I’ve completely fucked my life up. And I know it’s my fault and I shouldn’t have made those decisions but please someone tell me how to fix my brain.
Antonio
6 years ago
how long since you ate the mushrooms? normally it takes months to recover from an experience like that your brain is still overstimulated. That’s why it is recommended to trip only one or two times a year.
Shah Chania
6 years ago
Im going through the same shit. Enjoyed smoking weed before taking mushrooms, but now i feel low, depressed, anxious and think about all negative things when i . One good thing is that I still have my job but feel less ambitious about it. Ate Shrooms 2 days straight thinking about fun euphoric trip, but ended up in a bad trip. Now how should i bring my life on track in terms of taking interests in work..
Joseph Wagner
5 years ago
How are you doing nowadays?
Millie
6 years ago
Shrooms helped me quit drinking cold turkey + helped my anxiety/depression. Shrooms also helped a friend of mine kick a coke habit. I can’t explain other than in my mind I wanted to stop drinking but couldn’t fight the impulse. My first microdose (.25g) killed that impulse. Drinking doesn’t even appeal to me now.
I highly recommend microdosing 🙂
Joseph Wagner
5 years ago
This is a really scary discussion thread. One girl’s life was ruined and a lot of other people are still experiencing things. I’ve already tried an 8th of shrooms a couple of times, but, in all honesty, it was actually a really fun trip. From beginning to end.
Actually, THC has been a greater bane in my life since I started it a year ago. It was really fun for awhile, but I started to experience a lot of pretty bad side effects including and not limited to depression. I don’t like what that stuff does to me at all and once I really went overboard with it and got seriously screwed up for awhile. I drank 40 mgs of drinkable THC all at once and it drove me absolutely insane for a night as well as caused a lot of horrible after effects for days with crippling depression and tons of physical pain. NOT FUN.
The second time I tried shrooms it didn’t really do much, but it made me poo A LOT. I went 20 times in a single day after that, which, I doubt, is a good sign. I suppose my body viewed it as a poison that time.
We probably don’t really need these drugs as much as we think or the proponents of them say. Just be careful, and if you find yourself affected for the rest of your life by your decisions, don’t despair. You’re not alone. Life isn’t about achieving perfection from beginning to end and you still have value. Just as much as you did before.
Veronica Elizabeth
5 years ago
I had only one .3 dose of shrooms to help my deep depression… On the day of, my suicidal thoughts came back, and ever since I’ve been having scary vivid dreams every night. They almost feel like flashblacks but they aren’t real. During my depression of 2+ years I lost memory of my dreams every night, I couldn’t remember no matter how hard I try. Only recently during EDMR treatment I had 3 nightmares, night after night for 3 days. I’m experiencing this again… My trauma must be alot worse than I thought. SOMEONE please please help me.
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