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Dysphoric Reaction to Psilocybe Cyanescens |
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Written by John W. Allen
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Tuesday, 21 December 1999 |
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Page 2 of 5
THE REPORT
On New Years eve, the author of this paper and two friends (1 female, age 34 and 1 male, age, 19) participated in a mushroom velada which resulted in a dysphoric reaction from the consumption of one dried cap of Psilocybe cyanescens (weighing approximately 1/2 gram, in which the female subject after having already consumed approximately 1 and 1/2 liters of champagne and 1 large 64 oz, bottle of malt liquor, began to experience some mild paranoia with intensive sobbing, a decrease in concentration with slow thinking and some feelings of unreality. As the intoxication intensified, there was a heavy feeling of extreme nausea with an inability to vomit, some minor physical discomfort, some sweating with facial flushing, a weakness of bodily movement which resulting in muscular discoordination, muscular aches, some shivering, anxiety, restlessness and a slow passage of time. These symptoms began to appear within 30 minutes of consumption of the fungi and persisted for more than three hours after ingestion (for a complete list of the clinical effect of psilocybian intoxication in humans, see Hollister et al., l960).
The above noted symptoms occurred after the author was invited to share some champagne with a female companion around 7:30 PM. on the evening of December 31, 1998. Between 8:00 PM. and 11:00 PM., the female friend had consumed approximately 1 and 1/2 bottles of champagne, while the author had consumed less than three small glasses. At about 11:15, we were joined by a 19-year-old native American (of Eskimo heritage) who came to visit us with two opened 64 oz. bottles of Old English 800 Malt Liquor. By 11:30 PM. most of the liquor had been consumed and although I was experiencing a slight dizziness from my consumption of the Champagne, both of my companions were intensely intoxicated.
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