ArticlePloS one2020
Self-reported negative outcomes of psilocybin users: A quantitative textual analysis.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Substance Use and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis of Association Patterns and Moderating Factors.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Pooled it
- Naturally Derived Psilocybin for Therapeutic Use: A Six-Criterion Framework for Evidence, Safety, and Benefit-Risk Considerations in Policy and Clinical Development.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Article
- Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following psychedelic use: a naturalistic survey study.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Harm reduction practises for users of psychedelic drugs: a scoping review.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- From "bad trips" to "transformative and potentially therapeutic trips": harnessing the potential of psychedelics - narrative review.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2025Review
- Deconstructing Psychedelic Phenomenology: A Thematic Analysis of Discrete Phases of the Psychedelic Experience.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Opinion Mining of Erowid's Experience Reports on LSD and Psilocybin-Containing Mushrooms.Drug safety · 2025Article
- Characteristics and mental health of psychedelic mushroom and multi-psychedelic users relative to non-psychedelic users in American adults, 2020-2021.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Validation of the imperial psychedelic predictor scale.Psychological medicine · 2024Article
- Effects of psilocybin on uncertain punishment learning.Neurobiology of learning and memory · 2024Article
- Brain Networks, Neurotransmitters and Psychedelics: Towards a Neurochemistry of Self-Awareness.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2024Review
- National and regional trends in seizures of shrooms (psilocybin) in the United States, 2017-2022.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Review of Psilocybin Use for Depression among Cancer Patients after Approval in Oregon.Cancers · 2024Review
- Synthetic surprise as the foundation of the psychedelic experience.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
- Adaptation and latent structure of the Brazilian version of the Ego Dissolution Inventory (EDI-BR): an exploratory study.Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy · 2024Article
- Tracking demands for seeking psychological help before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a quanti-qualitative study.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2023Article
- Psilocybin's effects on cognition and creativity: A scoping review.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Investigation of self-treatment with lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin mushrooms: Findings from the Global Drug Survey 2020.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Psychedelics, entropic brain theory, and the taxonomy of conscious states: a summary of debates and perspectives.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.