Self-reported negative outcomes of psilocybin users: A quantitative textual analysis

Abstract

Psilocybin, a substance mainly found in mushrooms of the genus psilocybe, has been historically used for ritualistic, recreational and, more recently, medicinal purposes. The scientific literature suggests low toxicity, low risk of addiction, overdose, or other causes of injury commonly caused by substances of abuse, with growing interest in the use of this substance for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression. However, the presence of negative outcomes linked to psilocybin use is not clear yet. The objective of this study is to investigate the negative effects of psilocybin consumption, according to the users' own perception through self-reports extracted from an online platform. 346 reports were analyzed with the assistance of the IRAMUTEQ textual analysis software, adopting the procedures of Descending Hierarchical Classification, Correspondence Factor Analysis and Specificities Analysis. The text segments were grouped in 4 main clusters, describing thinking distortions, emergencies, perceptual alterations and the administration of the substance. Bad trips were more frequent in female users, being associated with thinking distortions. The use of multiple doses of psilocybin in the same session or its combination with other substances was linked to the occurrence of long-term negative outcomes, while the use of mushrooms in single high doses was linked to medical emergencies. These results can be useful for a better understanding of the effects of psilocybin use, guiding harm-reduction initiatives.

Predicting Reactions to Psychedelic Drugs: A Systematic Review of States and Traits Related to Acute Drug Effects

“…The review included 10 articles using psilocybin, ,,− 2 using LSD, , 1 using ayahuasca, and 1 examining psychedelic use in general . Sample sizes ranged from 10–1993 ( M = 108.75, SD = 91.95), and 6 out of 14 articles included control conditions.…”

“…Bienemann et al . performed a quantitative text analysis of negative psilocybin reports posted to the website Erowid.…”

Processo de mentoring

“…A análise quantitativa textual tem sido utilizada por vários autores e em grande parte dos estudos é realizada por meio do software Iramuteq 16,[34][35][36][37] . Esse software foi criado por Pierre Ratinaud e estava disponível apenas na língua francesa; no entanto, atualmente possui dicionários completos em vários idiomas 14 .…”

“…Uma análise quantitativa textual foi realizada utilizando o software Iramuteq 0.7 alpha 2 (Toulouse, França). Esta abordagem classifica a classe gramatical das palavras, quantifica a ocorrência das palavras nos discursos, calcula a coocorrência entre termos mais frequentes e identifica comunidades de palavras, conforme preconizado por Ratinaud et al 16 .…”

Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

“…A state of relaxation before psychedelic drug administration is one of the main predictors of positive self-dissolution (Dittrich, 1998), underscoring the importance of methods and environments that promote a relaxed mindset before and during psychedelic treatment. Despite the common use of mindfulness, breathwork or visualization techniques during PP (Watts and Luoma, 2020), stress and anxiety before or during dosing remain one of the most commonly reported undesired effects associated with psychedelic use in recreational and therapeutic settings (Griffiths et al, 2006;Studerus et al, 2011;Bienemann et al, 2020). This points to the need for more reliable relaxation methods for PP.…”