Whether you're going to take a drug for the first time or just curious about the workings of one. It's normal to take a minute and ask ourselves if this drug is an addictive drug and if it can be dangerous for our health. Do some research before usage Days ago we compared the 'danger' of magic mushrooms with the danger of a legal and extended psychoactive substance: alcohol. Today we are going to talk about the addictive power of magic mushrooms, if it exists. Are magic mushrooms addictive?

What makes a drug addictive?

Not every drug is addictive. It depends on the way it interacts with our brain. And not every person become addicted to a drug. It depends on the configuration of his brain.

There are some features of the personality that can make you more addictive than other people. The potential of a person to become addicted is a game in which play genes, education and other ambient factors that can be hardly controlled. This configures different dimensions of the personality, like Impulsiveness or responsibility, that finally makes you more inclined or less inclined to an addiction.

And what about the drugs themselves? What makes them more or less addictive. Neuroscientists have pointed to an specific region of our brain in which the addiction happens: the reward system of our brain, a complex circuit that works with a famous substance known as dopamine.

In short, when a situation or an event that you have experimented has a good result for you (making you happy, like having sex), the dopamine presence in this circuit increases in order to make you more inclined to repeat the behavior that have led you to this good result. It is followed by a happy sensation that makes you even more inclined to repeat the behavior. Dopamine is like a "glue" for the brain circuits that have taken part in this good behavior. Your brain rewards you like you reward your dog when it brings you the stick that you have thrown.

The drugs that artificially increase the dopamine levels within this reward system are the drugs with more addictive power. Cocaine, nicotine, alcohol and opiates are drugs that increase the dopamine levels. Because off this action it's leads to the mood enhancement and ecstasy.

Are magic mushrooms addictive?

Magic mushrooms are hallucinogenic drugs. But are magic mushrooms addictive drugs? Hallucinogens are a group of substances that works principally increasing the serotonin levels of the brain but not the dopamine levels in the same way that other drugs. This chemical change of your brain means the strange visual experiences and sensory experiences but not the famous 'rush' that dopamine-related drugs chase.

Hallucinogenics can be psychedelic drugs or psychotomimetic drugs. 'Psychedelic' is the term used to name the change of mind state. 'Psychotomimetic' is the term used to name the drugs that superficially mimic the state of psicosis (change of perception and such).

Magic mushrooms contains psilocybine. This substance mimics the serotonin in your brain and their actions. Other psychedelic drugs like LSD or DMT work in the same way. These hallucinogenics will make you experience rare visions and sensations, will make you laugh and think in different way, but hardly will become you an addicted if you take it with responsibility (PLEASE, READ THE WARNING IN THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST). Other hallucinogenics and synthetic drugs like MDMA or Foxy are hallucinogenics and stimulants, so these ones have more and strong addictive power.

The major problem with the magic mushrooms and other hallucinogenics drugs are their high tolerance. Tolerance means how your body gets used to the substance, and your body gets used to the magic mushrooms very fast. This means that if you experienced some effects with a dose of 2gr of magic mushrooms, maybe you'll need 3 gr the next time to experience the same effects. If you increase the dose to a toxic level it can harm you.

This is why you must not take magic mushrooms every day. But it's easy because magic mushrooms will not become you an addict ;-) Just enjoy them from time to time and following the responsible-use tips, and you'll be a perfect healthy person!

Source: Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology

*WARNING: Magic mushrooms have not a high natural potential to make you an addict BUT you can become an addict. It depends on the way you're. If you have experimented some addiction to other drugs and substances or have a personality prone to addiction, DO NOT TAKE MAGIC MUSHROOMS*