Can You Overdose on Psilocybin?

Lauren Smith
Dr. Tomas Salinas
Written by Lauren Smith on 14 September 2022
Medically reviewed by Dr. Tomas Salinas on 02 December 2024

Psilocybin mushrooms have very low toxicity, making physical harm and death through overdose extremely unlikely. Mushrooms are also not associated with lasting mental health damage.

However, taking too much can increase the likelihood of a bad trip, which can be psychologically challenging while it lasts and, in a tiny minority of cases, lead to self-harm. It may also lead to some unpleasant side effects such as nausea, muscle weakness, and panic.

Key takeaways:
  • Psilocybin has low toxicity, and the psilocybin concentration in mushrooms is low, making a fatal overdose extremely unlikely.
  • When too much mushroom is taken, it may lead to a bad trip, which can make you experience frightening hallucinations and paranoia. Side effects may also be experienced such as nausea and vomiting.
  • However, people with underlying health conditions and who take psilocybin mushrooms alongside other substances may be more susceptible to adverse effects.
Blue-gloved hand holding jar with dried mushrooms, tweezers holding another.

Can you overdose on shrooms?

Users sometimes report psilocybin overdoses, but they usually mean very intense trips— events in which they didn’t just feel the synesthesia of lower doses but experienced full-fledged, and sometimes terrifying, hallucinations, and ego death. Severe physiological consequences are rare.

When too many shrooms are taken, some unpleasant side effects may be experienced such as:

  • Vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea
  • Mobility issues such as muscle weakness or lack of coordination
  • Paranoia, panic, or agitation

Related blog: Psilocybin Can Alleviate Severe Depression For Up to 12 Weeks

Can you die from taking too many shrooms?

Psilocybin has low toxicity, and the psilocybin concentration in mushrooms is low—usually, 10-12mg per 1g of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms—making death by overdose extremely unlikely.

In scientific literature, just two deaths have been attributed to psilocybin overdoses alone with no concomitant use of other drugs. However, scientists have cast doubt on both reports and suggest that other factors may have contributed to these deaths.

The lethal dose of psilocybin in humans isn’t known. The median lethal dose in rats is 280mg per kilogram of body mass—this is one and one and a half times the lethal dose of caffeine.

For a 60 kg (130 lb) human to reach that concentration, they’d have to consume 16.78 kg (or 37 lb) of fresh mushrooms or 1.68 kg (3.7 lb) of dried mushrooms. Given the vomiting and nausea psilocybin mushrooms induce, that’s likely a physiologically impossible feat.

However, people with underlying health conditions and who take psilocybin mushrooms alongside other substances may be more susceptible to adverse effects.

Since the backlash against the hippie movement in the 1960s, psychedelic mushrooms have been portrayed in the media as extremely dangerous, leaving users at risk of self-harm, psychosis, and death.

  • In reality, the 2016 Global Drug survey found that psilocybin mushrooms are the safest recreational drug. Of 12,000 people who reported using magic mushrooms, just 0.2% sought emergency medical attention, at least five times less than the rate for cocaine, LSD, and MDMA.
  • Among people who did seek medical attention after using magic mushrooms, the most commonly occurring symptoms were anxiety and panic (68%), paranoia and suspiciousness (68%), and seeing and hearing things (42%)—all symptoms of a bad trip or the expected psychedelic effects of psilocybin. No emergency room visits led to death or lasting harm, and all but one patient recovered within 24 hours.
  • And despite urban legends and a few sensationally reported cases, psychedelic-induced suicide is also very uncommon.

Psilocybin toxicity

The toxicity of psilocybin is very low, with the lethal dose estimated at 1000 times the psychoactive dose. In contrast, the lethal dose of intravenous heroin is just five times the effective dose.

In humans, even high doses capable of inducing psychosis (30mg per 70kg of body weight) only slightly and transiently affect heart rate and blood pressure.

However, whether psilocybin mushrooms can cause physiological damage to the human body is a contentious topic among scientists. One review highlighted a few cases of cardiovascular and cerebral damage attributed to psilocybin. However, other scientists noted that those cases all involved the consumption of fungi, and users could have accidentally ingested more toxic mushrooms. Other surveys of the medical literature insist that as a class, hallucinogens have not been shown to cause organ damage or neuropsychological harm.

When psilocybin is administered itself, as it is in therapeutic use, negative effects are very minimal. In the largest controlled study of psilocybin safety, conducted by King’s College London, subjects experienced no serious adverse effects.

Read here to learn more about the effects of shrooms and how long they stay in your system.

Additional health concerns

The following sections discuss in nuance some of the health concerns surrounding the use of psychedelic mushrooms.

Self-harm and suicide

Most reported deaths associated with psilocybin mushrooms involve people in the grips of bad trips harming themselves. While these cases draw sensationalized headlines, experts believe they are exceedingly rare. A classic case is the mushroom user who jumps out a window because they believe they can fly. 

One report looks at the Netherlands, where thousands of doses of magic mushrooms are legally sold each year. However, according to data from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Dutch health authorities, serious injuries are very rare.

Lasting psychological effects

Psychedelics are also anecdotally associated with psychotic breaks and lasting psychological damage—the urban legend of the tripper locked away because he believed he was a glass of orange juice. However, population-level studies suggest that lifetime psychedelic use isn’t associated with serious mental health problems. In fact, the reverse may be true.

In one survey of nearly 200,000 people, those who in the past had used classic psychedelics, including mushrooms, were:

  • 19% less likely to have been in psychological distress in the previous month than people who hadn’t used psychedelics
  • 14% less likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year
  • 36% less likely to have attempted suicide over the same period

This reflects the benefit that people with depression felt for up to a year after two doses of psilocybin, and it also emphasizes the promising research into other psychedelics as a treatment for a range of mental health conditions.

However, psychedelics can worsen symptoms in people with pre-existing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and may accelerate the onset in young people predisposed to them.

Other toxic mushrooms

Psilocybin mushrooms may look similar to mushrooms that are poisonous to humans, prompting inexperienced foragers to mistakenly consume them and suffer serious consequences.

Adulterated substances

There’s speculation that some of the adverse experiences people have reported could actually be attributed to other drugs lacing the mushrooms or substituted for them.

Reports suggest that some “magic mushrooms” consumers, especially those trying to purchase psilocybin edibles on the black market, end up receiving store-bought mushrooms sprinkled with PCP or other riskier drugs.

Interactions

The few deaths caused by psilocybin use, either through overdose or self-harm, involve other substances: typically, alcohol. Read here to find out more about taking magic mushrooms with other substances.

What to do if you have a bad shrooms trip

Bad trips can be terrifying. Although they always subside, psilocybin’s distortion of time can make them feel interminable.

If you do experience a bad trip, you should:

  • Get to a safe, non-stimulating, and comfortable environment, away from hazards such as heights and bodies of water and anything that might contribute to sensory overload, such as crowds, bright lights, and noise.
  • Remain under the watch of a sober person. If you took mushrooms without a trip sitter, reach out to a trusted friend or family member.
  • Don’t try to control the experience—surrender to it.
  • Try to relax and meditate.
  • Play calming music.
  • Don’t self-medicate by taking another substance. Most adverse events with psilocybin involve an additional drug, most commonly alcohol.
  • Don’t be afraid to seek medical attention if you’re having serious mental health symptoms such as psychosis.

Helping someone else having a bad trip

If you’re helping someone who is having a bad experience with shrooms, you should:

  • Get them to a safe, quiet environment.
  • Ask for permission before touching them.
  • Offer them blankets and water.
  • If they start acting irrationally or posing a threat to themselves or anyone else, you should seek appropriate help, including emergency medical treatment.
Was this page helpful?

Your feedback allows us to continually improve our information

Resources:

  1. Solon, O. (2017, May 24). Study finds mushrooms are the safest recreational drug. The Guardian.
  2. Kopra, E. I., Ferris, J. A., Winstock, A. R., Young, A. H., & Rucker, J. J. (2022, April 7). Adverse experiences resulting in emergency medical treatment seeking following the use of magic mushrooms. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 36(8), 965–973.
  3. Gable, R. (2006). The Toxicity of Recreational Drugs. American Scientist, 94(3), 206.
  4. Hasler, F., Grimberg, U., Benz, M. A., Huber, T., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2004, March 1). Acute psychological and physiological effects of psilocybin in healthy humans: a double-blind, placebo-controlled dose?effect study. Psychopharmacology, 172(2), 145–156.
  5. Stebelska, K. (2013, August). Fungal Hallucinogens Psilocin, Ibotenic Acid, and Muscimol. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, 35(4), 420–442.
  6. Tyls, F., Palenicek, T., & Horacek, J. (2016, April). Neurobiology of the Effects of Psilocybin in Relation to Its Potential Therapeutic Targets. In Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse (Vol. 2, pp. 782–793). Elsevier Science.
  7. Johnson, M., Richards, W., & Griffiths, R. (2008, May 30). Human hallucinogen research: guidelines for safety. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22(6), 603–620.
  8. Gregory, A. (2019, December 18). Magic mushroom compound psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study. The Independent.
  9. Gartz, J., Samorini, G., & Festi, F. (1996, December). On the presumed French case of fatality caused by ingestion of Liberty Caps. Eleusis, 6.
  10. Amsterdam, J. V., Opperhuizen, A., & Brink, W. V. D. (2011, April). Harm potential of magic mushroom use: A review. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 59(3), 423–429.
  11. Huber, B. (n.d.). What do we know about the risks of psychedelics? Michael Pollan.
  12. Johansen, P. R., & Krebs, T. S. (2015, March). Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 270–279.
  13. Hendricks, P. S., Thorne, C. B., Clark, C. B., Coombs, D. W., & Johnson, M. W. (2015, January 13). Classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 280–288.
  14. Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depression Effective for up to a Year for Most Patients, Study Shows. (2022, February 15). John Hopkins Medicine Newsroom.
  15. Dawson, B. (2022, April 11). Can You Overdose on Shrooms? Mel Magazine. Mitrokostas, S. (2019, January 24). 10 potential risks of taking “magic” mushrooms. Insider.

Activity History - Last updated: 02 December 2024, Published date:


Reviewer

Tomas Salinas is a primary care physician with over three years of experience managing chronic diseases and mental health disorders. As an advocate for telehealth, Tomas has embraced digital healthcare to improve access and patient outcomes. Currently, Tomas is developing his medical writing skills, with a focus on raising awareness about the importance of chronic and mental health disease management. Tomas aims to contribute to the medical community through health communication and advocacy.

Activity History - Medically Reviewed on 02 December 2024 and last checked on 02 December 2024

Medically reviewed by
Dr. Tomas Salinas

Dr. Tomas Salinas

GP

Reviewer

Recovered Branding BG
Ready to talk about treatment? Call today. (855) 648-7288
Helpline Information

Calls to numbers marked with (I) symbols will be answered or returned by one of the treatment providers listed in our Terms and Conditions, each of which is a paid advertiser.

In calling the helpline you agree to our Terms and Conditions. We do not receive any fee or commission dependent upon which treatment or provider a caller chooses.

There is no obligation to enter treatment.

For any specific questions please email us at info@recovered.org

More on magic mushrooms

Psilocybin Edibles

8 minutes read