Effects of Psilocybin

Psilocybin is consumed in various dose ranges which yield different effects on the body and mind.

In this section, we’ll explore the expected effects of a client with a specific dose range. Later in the course, we’ll look at the recommended dose amount and the method of administration to trigger the desired effects.

Subjective Effects

The following effects are experienced under the effect of the medicine:

• Visual hallucinations

• Mental imagery with dreamlike qualities

• Regulate mood

• Affect primary process thinking

• Cause changes in personal relevance attribution

• Reduce activity in cortical areas related to self and social processing

• Altered perception of time

• Increased creative thinking process

• Loosening of organization in brain activity

• Mystical-type experiences

• Ego dissolution

• Visionary restructuralization

• Oceanic boundlessness (Lowe et al., 2021; Rucker et al., 2022; Kometer et al., 2013; Kometer et al., 2012; Baumeister et al., 2014; Carhart-Harris, Erritzoe, et al., 2012)

Mystical-Type Experiences

Of the effects associated with the altered state of consciousness seen with psilocybin, mystical-type experiences are one that have been especially focused on in research and user reports since their first documentation by Western science during the now famous "Good Friday" Experiment (Pahnke, 1963). These experiences are sometimes said to be among the most personally meaningful experiences of a person's life, as well as deeply spiritually significant (Griffiths et al., 2008; Griffiths et al., 2006). Mystical-type experiences are said to include:

• a sense of oneness or unity

• a sense of sacredness

• a transcendence of space and time

• deeply felt positive mood

• a sense of deep truth or ultimate meaning (i.e., a “noetic” quality of experience)

They are also often difficult to describe, usually going beyond the limited scope of what we are able to communicate with language, often referred to as “ineffability” (Fatur, 2021; Pahnke, 1969). These experiences have been shown to increase prosocial behaviours and attitudes, while creating sustained positive changes to the mood of the user (Griffiths et al., 2008; Griffiths et al., 2006; McCulloch et al., 2022). Some positive effects associated with mystical-type experiences brought about by psilocybin have been shown to last for at least a year after the experience itself, such as a lasting increase in the personality trait Openness which has largely been considered durable and relatively fixed (MacLean et al., 2011).

The Arc of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy

In the timeline below, we can see at what point during a Medicine Session the clients experience the effects.

Please ensure that you read through all events before proceeding by using the arrows to navigate through the timeline. If using a screen reader, the whole text will be read automatically.

In the following image, you can see how clients experience the peak effect of psilocybin and at what point during the session depending on a high or low dose and the degree to which they were emotionally supported through the session.

Adapted from Griffiths et al., 2018 licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

References

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Baumeister, D., Barnes, G., Giaroli, G., & Tracy, D. (2014). Classical hallucinogens as antidepressants? A review of pharmacodynamics and putative clinical roles. Ther Adv Psychopharmacol, 4(4), 156- 169. https://doi.org/10.1177/2045125314527985

Bogenschutz, M. P., Forcehimes, A. A., Pommy, J. A., Wilcox, C. E., Barbosa, P. C., & Strassman, R. J. (2015). Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: a proof-of-concept study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 289-299. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881114565144

Carhart-Harris, R. L., Erritzoe, D., Williams, T., Stone, J. M., Reed, L. J., Colasanti, A., . . . Nutt, D. J. (2012). Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109(6), 2138-2143. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1119598109

Fatur, K. (2021). Peculiar plants and fantastic fungi: An ethnobotanical study of the use of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms in Slovenia. PLoS One, 16(1), e0245022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245022

Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Richards, W. A., … Klinedinst, M. A. (2018). Psilocybin-occasioned mystical-type experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 32(1), 49-69. doi:10.1177/0269881117731279

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