Mushrooms vs Psilocybin for mood
Short answer: For mood, more users report improvement with Psilocybin — 90% of 110 reports, versus 67% of 3 for Mushrooms.
Mushrooms has 49 meta-analyses and 49 randomized trials on PubMed; Psilocybin has 189 and 138.
Based on 22 reports about Mushrooms and 319 about Psilocybin. Not medical advice.
| Mushrooms Substance | Psilocybin Substance | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 58%helped5 reports · few reports | 75%helped140 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mixed | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 49 / 49 | 189 / 138 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | 67% (3) | 90% (110) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | — | 87% (45) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | — | 93% (29) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 93% (15) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | — | 100% (13) |
| Common side effects | psychosis, social withdrawal, fatigue | mania, hppd, psychosis risk, paranoia |
| Typical dose reported | 2 g | 0.2-0.5 g / occasional |
Implications for practice Psychedelic-assisted therapy with classical psychedelics (psilocybin, LSD) may be effective for treating anxiety, depression, and possibly existential distress, in people facing a life-threatening disease. Psychedelic-assisted therapy seemed to be well tolerated, with no treatment-emergent serious adverse events reported in the studies included in this review. However, the certainty of evidence is low to very low, which means that we cannot be sure about these results, and they might be changed by future research. At the time of this review (2024), psychedelic drugs a
Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2024 ↗“Then I tried mushrooms a few times and that helped me feel a connection to the earth and soil, but more importantly helped me better assign positive emotions to memories”
A review of open-label trials showed robust decreases in depressive symptoms following psilocybin administration. These findings provide preliminary evidence for antidepressant efficacy with psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, however, further studies are needed to evaluate safety and efficacy and to optimize treatment protocols.
Psychiatry Res, 2023 ↗“Mushrooms make me a better husband and a better human all around. Sometimes I don’t feel the urge to have sex while I’m on a dose, but I feel much more connected afterward. Low dose is definitely an aphrodisiac in my experience.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate