No judgment.
I'd really like to hear about your experience though.
Oh good, because I love to talk about it! Since this is your thread, I won't feel guilty for taking it a bit off topic
.
This was quite a few years ago. There are a lot of varieties of mushrooms, which are not equal to each other. My variety was psilocybe tampanensis, nicknamed the philosopher's stone, which is a strain that does not have any visual or hallucinogenic effects, but does increase introspection. I took them in a controlled, comfortable environment, with someone else (my sister) as a guide. Because I ate them, and they taste like rotten walnuts, I did experience nausea at first, but that went away pretty quickly.
Mostly while I was on my trip I thought about a recent relationship that had ended, and how that failure affected the way that I related to other people, as well as how I thought about myself. It helped me work through some of my insecurities and recognize that often, when people treat me poorly, it is because of their own insecurities.
Physically, I sat on the couch or stood at the window or on the porch almost the duration of the trip, which was about four hours.
Mentally, I spent almost the whole time remembering why I love the people I love, and how I sometimes forget that I love them when I interact with them. The whole time I kept thinking about how all people, including me, need love. It helped me work through some of the bitterness I felt towards my ex and other people in my life. That was most of my experience; there were other experiences and emotions, but they are a bit heavy for here. Mostly it was just a tour of the inside of my mind and the things I don't usually consciously think about.
It was powerful emotionally. There was no paranoia, and for me, mostly happy thoughts, some bittersweet. There was an out of body feeling, but in a positive way. Coming down, it was smooth. I felt it less and less until I was totally sober, and just thinking, wow. There were no bad feelings afterwards. My sister and I went and made dinner and that was it. Because I scheduled the afternoon for the trip, it didn't even affect my sleep that night. I can't say that the trip totally cured me of any of my bad habits or thoughts, but it was still one of the better experiences of my life. I haven't done mushrooms since then, and maybe never will again, but I hate the thought that other people will miss out on this type of experience because of fear mongering and misunderstanding. I think in this case, dumb kids abuse things that should be beautiful, but can be dangerous, and that's how they get bad reputations. I have heard that people with a risk of schizophrenia should not try psychedelics, and that seems true.
I also would not recommend mushrooms for anyone that feels uncomfortable using them. I get the feeling that the anxiety people feel when taking them would have a very negative affect on the quality of the trip. That's the bulk of my thoughts on them; I'm not an expert.
PS Some of my relatives are on antidepressants and other prescription meds that make them a lot more out of it than I was even at the peak of my trip, for what it's worth.
and then cried.
