
Several people are afraid of being the center of attention when they are in a crowd. They would often shy away and choose to stay in the corner of the room to avoid catching any attention. A psychologist would call this condition Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia.
Social anxiety is feelings of fear, apprehension, and discomfort in the context of social interaction or settings. People who are suffering from it feel excluded from groups or that they do not belong. The ostracism causes emotional distress, embarrassment, and overthinking.
Emerging research on magic mushroom therapy reports positive effects on social anxiety, helping patients feel better and less sensitive about social cues that make them anxious.Â
How to treat social anxiety?
There are several ways on how social anxiety may be cured or mitigated. One is through counseling or Psychotherapy, where a doctor can help one gain more confidence and teach them how to eliminate any negative thoughts that can affect their interaction with other people.Â
Another is through the intake of magic mushrooms. Magic mushrooms are also known as Psilocybin mushrooms or shrooms. The naturally occurring Psilocybin found in magic mushrooms has therapeutic benefits that can potentially shape a person’s social interactions.
Research findings found a positive link between mental illness and hallucinogens. The substance was able to rework communication channels in the brain to make people feel accepted and not attacked in social settings.Â
When taken, the body breaks down these shrooms, and the chemical compound called Psilocybin turns into Psilocin. The Psilocin goes to the brain and interacts with the brain serotonin that helps transmit messages between the body’s nerve cells.
The interaction of the Psilocin and serotonin can alter the emotion of the person who ingested the shroom. It enables the person to relax or feel happy, and these emotions can negate the frequent feeling of distress a person with social phobia struggles to face.Â
There are symptoms of social anxiety that magic mushrooms can conquer and moderate.
1. Intense fear
People with the disorder often feel an intense fear when they are in a situation where they believe that they will receive judgment, embarrassment, or humiliation. The Psilocin coming from the mushroom activates and pushes the body’s happiness button, and while under the effect of this element, people’s brains do not entertain any negative thoughts that can ruin the current cloud nine the body and mind feel.Â
2. Avoidance of Anxiety
This situation happens when the person feels anxiety but, for some reason, does not face it head-on. Instead of coping, the person does not want to risk any trouble so, and he evades it instead. Magic mushrooms can help with this dilemma because they can push the person when this situation challenges him.
It helps accept emotions that can get in the way of facing a specific challenge. Its effect will not let one recognize doubt and hesitations, but it will sharpen the feeling of bravery that one needs to challenge their predicaments.Â
3. Excessive Anxiety
This anxiety problem is excessively out of proportion because the panic or worry that the person feels about a situation is impossible to happen, or it is a bit exaggerated. Ingesting mushrooms can help a person with this disorder slow down for a while.
This effect enables the person to see and realize that his conclusions or expectations of the outcome are far away from what really would happen. The Psilocin element helps amplify the thoughts, and this makes self-conscious thinking impossible, and this will give no time to feel the embarrassment or the feeling of being judged.Â
4. Fear
This emotion can cause a large amount of anxiety because one feels it without any reasonable grounds and without knowing where it is coming from. The correct dosage of mushroom drug intake can chemically activate emotional regions in the brain, and that can include the courage needed to face the fear the brain is falsely introducing as emotion.Â
A Social Tool
Magic mushrooms are classified as Psychedelics, which have long been used in traditional and spiritual practices. They were commonly used by people for self-reflection, helping them attain personal growth the way meditation does.
These experiences were mostly anecdotal until scientists found new evidence of these phenomena. Psychedelics help reduce activity in a specific area of the brain called the amygdala, an important center for emotions, particularly fear.
This region works closely with the neurotransmitter serotonin, the one responsible for mood setting. If the flow of information is better controlled in this area, a person will be less fearful as they socialize with other people. They become more loose, open, and less offended with their triggers.Â
The consumption of magic mushrooms is one of the most effective ways of getting over a social anxiety disorder because the results of studies that researchers have conducted show the promising effect that can produce desirable results for people who have this social phobia.
The person can start living without the fear and anxiety that people around him cause, and he can also begin to recognize and assess people’s nature. The assumptions will not happen immediately, and he can bravely face the situation without feeling any hesitation. The treatment lets the person gradually adjust and change until social fear is no longer a problem.
The Effects of Mushroom Therapy on Social Anxiety
Several studies share similar Psilocybin treatment results in patients who are suffering from different forms of social anxiety. One group reported that patients had reduced feelings of social exclusion. The result was supported by their brain scan reports confirming neurological effects in areas responsible for social pain processing.
Another group of adults went under oral treatments, increasing their positive attitudes, behavior, mood, and other social effects. These people rated their mushroom therapy experience as meaningful experiences. Lastly, another study shares cancer patients who took a single dose showing significant improvements in their anxiety and stress levels. The results lasted for as long as five years since the dose was given.Â
The new findings can help scientists understand what happens in an anxious brain when people feel rejected socially. Insights can help develop and formulate a treatment using Psilocybin to help reduce negative feelings in people who feel more deeply when they experience rejection than a healthy person.
These negative feelings can worsen a person’s condition and lead to more severe psychiatric disorders. Since social ties are essential for mental health, finding a treatment that works can help millions of people suffering from social anxiety.Â
Magic mushroom studies and research will help many people become involved and get less affected by negativity. Shrooms for social anxiety are promising treatment, as well as for other mental health problems.