Mushroom Medicine

Psilocybin research increases as more decriminalization efforts are made across the U.S. The long-term impacts of the drug are still largely unknown, but psilocybin’s future as a treatment for a variety of disorders looks promising.

Story by Margaret Baumgartner

Illustration by Sofie Pichler

Some mushrooms may be the secret ingredient in recipes, but other mushrooms contain a secret ingredient of their own: psilocybin. This natural compound found in various types of mushrooms is known for its psychedelic effects. However, the hallucinogenic experience of taking mushrooms is not the only curious component of psilocybin.

Notably, psilocybin can increase the brain's neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to grow and organize its connections from one part to another. When fully developed, a human's neural pathways tend to be rather fixed, which can make treating certain disorders difficult. With psilocybin, a new method of treatment is beginning to emerge.

Research being conducted on the substance is focused on its potential to treat depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other conditions. 

While most studies only look at patients with one condition, Dr. Nathan Sackett, assistant professor at the University of Washington in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is trying to research how psilocybin may be able to treat patients with both alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

“It’s important to study patient populations that have historically been excluded from studies and that are generally considered high-risk,” Sackett said.

In Sackett's experience, people often suffer from more than one disorder. Most of the time, people who struggle with one issue have underlying difficulties in another area.

Research about psilocybin in general is lacking, but research on how it may treat people with more than one diagnosis falls short even more.

Sackett is working with the State of Washington to create a psilocybin treatment program. He hopes to treat these high-risk patients with psilocybin but also to treat them with psychotherapy sessions. 

This component of Sackett’s research is essential. He believes that psychotherapy is an essential aspect of moving toward a more complete understanding of psychedelics. The challenge with this is that psilocybin is federally illegal. However, some cities and states, including Seattle, have worked to pass bills to decriminalize the drug.

Why has it taken so long for research to begin? In the 21st century, why don’t we know much about psilocybin? After all, it’s a natural substance that grows from the ground, right?

The simple answer? The war on drugs. 

Aimed at reducing illegal drug trade globally, the war on drugs effectively brought research on psychedelics to a halt, which is why the research today seems like it lacks so much detail. Research on psilocybin originally started in the 1950s and continued through the early 70s, but everything was brought to a screeching halt when the Drug Enforcement Administration classified psilocybin as a Schedule I substance in 1970.

Despite being a naturally occurring substance across the U.S., psilocybin remains classified as a Schedule I substance today. This classification is the DEA’s highest. It determines that psilocybin has a high potential for abuse and is supposedly unsafe to use in any context, including as medicine. 

Schedule II substances are considered to have some potential for abuse but are sometimes allowed in medical settings. A well-known example of a drug of this class is fentanyl.

Community Organizer and Communications Researcher Gina Giorgio believes that eventually there will be a push to reschedule psilocybin and other Schedule I drugs. Giorgio is the Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s Psychedelic Career Mentorship Pipeline and is also the Founder of the North Carolina Psychedelic Policy Coalition. The Coalition is advocating for further research bills in North Carolina. 

“[The War on Drugs] hindered us being able to do research because we can’t get public funding for the studies,” Giorgio said. “Decades went by where there was kind of a halt on psychedelics in mainstream culture, psychedelics used in scientific contexts, and clinically.”

Propaganda stemming from the War on Drugs played a large role in shaping how the public and government feel about psychedelics in general. Public service announcements were a driving factor that painted many drugs in a fearful way, according to Giorgio. 

Now, efforts are shifting toward conducting more research on drugs such as psilocybin. But with decriminalization efforts being made for some Schedule I drugs, the policies surrounding them differ based on location. Different cities may have different standards on what is prosecutable and what is not. 

The War on Drugs brought research to a halt, but the wheels have begun to turn again. One way for psilocybin research to take place is with a license from the federal government. But this doesn’t come without its headaches.

“What we end up doing is applying for permission from the federal government to study these compounds and then they say, ‘Well, we don’t know if they’re safe because there’s no data.’ To which we say, ‘Well, there’s no data because they’ve been banned,’” Sackett said.

It’s a classic chicken-or-egg situation that tends to trap researchers in an endless loop of chasing their tails, according to Sackett. 

Previous research on psilocybin showed that the substance can help adults with alcohol use disorder, Sackett said. Sackett’s ultimate goal is to use his research to show that psilocybin is safe to use in the medical context, and he hopes to use the alcohol use disorder study, coupled with another study that showed how methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use caused a decrease in PTSD symptoms, as the base evidence for his research. 

Alan Rockefeller is a mycologist who studies and documents mushrooms, including but not limited to psilocybin. He can usually identify mushrooms with psychoactive properties simply by looking at them. For non-mycologists, an easy way to identify a mushroom containing psilocybin is to pinch the stem.

Pinching a fresh psilocybin-containing mushroom will turn it blue in the spot where it was pinched. This is a result of a chemical reaction in the mushroom’s cells. Enzymes – naturally produced proteins that are essential to all life – in the mushroom interact with oxygen once damaged, resulting in a blueish color. This blue is almost always permanent and will not fade.

Blueing is certainly not a foolproof way of identifying psilocybin-containing mushrooms, as they still have variability in how this coloring effect functions. Other mushrooms may display similar reactions, and some mushrooms with psychoactive properties only barely display this characteristic, according to Rockefeller. 

Rockefeller has had his own experience with psilocybin mushrooms outside of identification. Taking mushrooms has helped him to be productive for long periods after not being able to otherwise feel motivated.

“I'll take some psilocybin and feel the effects,” Rockefeller said. “Then the next morning I’ll wake up and just start doing my work and it’s like the depression has been lifted and I’ll be really productive for the next several weeks or months.”

For Rockefeller, the most profound thing about taking psilocybin is not the hallucinogenic effects, but rather the changes experienced in both the short and long term. 

The increased neuroplasticity of the brain on psilocybin allows it to functionally be re-wired. The psilocybin alters the brain’s natural pathways, allowing for different nodes that may not typically communicate to do so. Although this communication between unusual nodes does not last once the effects of the drug wear off, the brain has the potential to remember. 

Malcolm H., a student at Western Washington University, said that taking psilocybin mushrooms makes him feel completely refreshed, lifting his mood and helping him understand himself better.

Malcolm found that he was easily able to connect with his friends during a shared psychedelic experience. He was also able to open up more to his mother about what was going on in his life. 

“It can bring a lot of things to the surface that you didn’t know about or that you’ve been repressing,” Malcolm said. “It can teach you a lot about yourself.”

Another way that psilocybin affects the brain is by impacting its 5-HT2A receptors, also known as serotonin 2A receptors. These receptors are involved in the brain’s learning process as well as memory and are thought to be where psilocybin engages with the brain.

Psilocybin has the potential to change the brain’s ability to adapt and learn, according to Sackett.

With the drug still classified as a Schedule I substance by the federal government, research can be difficult. Despite this, there has been an increase in the use of psilocybin by adults, and it has been considered the most common plant-based hallucinogen in the US, according to a 2022 study by the National Library of Medicine. 

Sackett feels as though more research needs to be done to fully understand the impacts of psilocybin, especially in the long term, before it becomes more widely available for treating ailments.

“I have a responsibility as a researcher and as a physician that if we’re going to promote access to these compounds that we understand them better,” Sackett said.

The war on drugs may have halted the research on psilocybin and other Schedule I drugs. But as more cities make and enact plans for decriminalization, more research will be able to be conducted by people like Sackett and our understanding of psilocybin and how it has the potential to change and help us will continue to expand.