Mushrooms For Anxiety In Social Settings
Written by Maci Mallaia
Do you feel awkward in social settings? Don't worry, magic mushrooms are here to help!
Whether awkwardness is a new addition to your party persona or you’ve always felt out of place in a crowd due to introversion, complex trauma, or a psychiatric disorder, you’ve probably experienced first-hand how being hyper-aware of how others perceive you can act as a self-fulfilling prophecy. An inherent desire for closeness, coupled with a malignant fear of rejection, can give rise to maladaptive behaviors that put people off [1] — triggering even more anxiety and peculiar actions ad infinitum.
Today we’re going to discuss how psilocybin mushrooms can support you in feeling more comfortable and present in social settings. A new study has even found that psilocybin mushroom capsules can even help reduce the sting of social rejection!Â
Contrary to vox populi, giving a sh*t about what others think is totally normal and not a problem in the grand scheme of things… That is if you’re cultivating the mycelium of confidence, emotional regulation, psychological resilience, and graceful peer communication within the manure of this insecurity. If you’re having a hard time getting enough fresh air in your social circle to develop this skill network, never fear…
Psilocybin studies suggest that mindful use of magic mushrooms can support us with growing this skill network. Let Canada’s revolushroom commence!
Social ‘pain’: A psilocybin social anxiety study
Psst! Interest and excitement around the therapeutic use of psychedelics for anxiety and depression have spread like dandelions, but this seed for a potential psilocybin therapy application hasn’t caught the wind just yet.
(It could be transformative for us social caterpillars, so wrap yourself in a blanket cocoon with fung-tastic chocolate and get ready to grow wings.)
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A study conducted at the University of Zurich dosed 21 healthy subjects with either psilocybin or a placebo and asked them to play a game. Little did they know, it was designed to induce ‘social pain’ by making it seem as though they were being progressively more left out by other players!
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Each participant’s brain was scanned using MRI and MRS technology to collect data about regions associated with social exclusion processing. Rule 1 was, of course, to hold as still as possible. At game over, a survey was taken to ensure psilocybin effects hadn’t hindered anyone’s capacity to heed the rest of the rules or comprehend that they had been ousted.
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The results showed decreased neural responses in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and middle frontal gyrus of subjects who had taken a psilocybin dose. In other words, the sting of rejection hurt ‘mush’ less.
Self-reports not only confirmed this finding but demonstrated that the sense of unity that is so often recorded in psilocybin trials can still crop up in times of ostracization. Mushrooms for anxiety? More like shrooms for staying level-headed amidst a mad society! They published an official article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. [2]
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Although more studies are needed to investigate the complex interplay between mushrooms and anxiety about mingling, this small but mighty psilocybin study supplied insight into both its transdiagnostic efficacy and the importance of 5-HT2A/1A receptors in our social functioning. [3]
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This could lend a hand in developing novel treatments — psychedelic or otherwise — for diagnoses involving both chronic and transient anxiety around attachment… and could help you develop more social resilience.Â
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To find out if low-dose psilocybin is the social cushioning you need to restructure your relational paradigm, you can search for psychedelic therapy centers or take matters into your own hands by microdosing mushrooms and recording your progress in a Stamets protocol journal.Â
Two ways to support the social benefits of psilocybin
Like the psychoactive mushrooms that bloom in our forests, there is a lot more to making friends than meets the eye. Luckily, studies have lent us a few more tips to help us inoculate into the substrate of our communities.
1. Wave that Lion’s Mane!Â
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Navigating social situations with steezy elegance requires the ability to evolve and adapt. The adaptogenic mushroom ‘Lion’s Mane’ has been shown to promote neurogenesis in the hippocampus [4] and improve cognition [5], so taking it in conjunction with psilocybin capsules may help you think on your feet and master the ways of the socialite with speed! Â
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Bad hair day? Our mindfully curated selection of Psilocybe cubensis capsules contains Lion’s Mane mushroom for anxiety relief and really clever comebacks. (Psst… These may also help out with your mane.)
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2. Some are born great. Some meditate.
Two hypnotic headspaces are better than one! When it comes to magic mushrooms and anxiety during a social event or shared activity, studies suggest that adding meditation to the mix may have a synergistic effect.
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A scientific overview of 30+ studies on the neural effects of meditation and/or psilocybin therapy suggests that combining the two could help alter socially disruptive cognitive processes — such as biased attention toward threats — by balancing the connectivity and activity of cortical midline structures, increasing frontoparietal control of the reactivity of the amygdala, and modulating connectivity in the salience network. [6]
Ready to try microdosing?
When you’re ready to start munching or microdosing for anxiety around social rejection, you can find valuable resources to prepare for your first psilocybin trip or buy shrooms online at Moment Mushroom Dispensary.