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Psilocybin mushrooms are ready for harvest in a humidified “fruiting chamber” in the basement of a house in Fairfield County, Connecticut, on July 28, 2023. John Moore/Getty Images
Motherhood is not for the faint of heart. You sit down after surviving the Hunger Games, signing up for swimming lessons while answering work calls, trying to sell cribs in the wilds of Facebook Marketplace while scrambling for dinner for your kids to eat. Let’s spend one second of “me time”. Scrolling through Instagram reveals that you shouldn’t praise your kids, that white noise at bedtime is ruining your kids’ brains, and that the red dye in the food they’re currently eating can cause ADHD. Just know that there is.
So complaints about these parent-related pressures are always on the agenda whenever mom friends get together. At a recent backyard soirée, I mentioned how my brain felt like it was floating in a fog, and I couldn’t seem to really concentrate. Almost all my mom friends answered in unison: Try microdosing with psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms.
After a few weeks, with a variety of friends who usually share easy weekday recipes and seasonal favorite wines, the group discussed how many microdose capsules to take, how often, which strains, and which cute packaging they prefer. I was comparing notes about The capsules cost one-tenth the price of a regular “mushroom trip,” and although the effects are “subperceptual,” microdosing can improve mood, concentration, empathy, and calm parenting.
Admittedly, I was intrigued. But I also wondered if microdosing was just the latest “all-day rosé” lucrative marketing ploy to appeal to burnt-out moms. A Band-Aid that takes the place of a village and brings us peace without making any real changes to the systems that are causing the stress in the first place?
And is that stress really there? The U.S. Surgeon General recently released health recommendations for modern parenting, finding that 48 percent of parents of children under 18 feel completely overwhelmed by stress, and 41 percent feel completely numb to stress. He even said that he feels that the situation has become more Is it any wonder we are looking for a lifeline?
However, it must be said that magic mushrooms are illegal and unregulated in Canada. But at least a dozen pharmacies are open outdoors in both Toronto and Vancouver. While the federal government’s website notes that mushrooms are illegal, it has researched psilocybin’s effectiveness in “treating a variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and problematic substance use.” It highlights the “promising results” of the research. Additionally, psychedelic researchers at the University of British Columbia say an ongoing global study of more than 22,000 microdosers has shown promising results in lower anxiety, less depression, and improved mood. However, it states that clinical trials are needed.
If you ask Dominick Morisano, a clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, published scientific research isn’t entirely convincing. “Yes, there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that it helps people feel better. “Today was microdosing day, so I got this all done and I feel a lot better.” may be heard. ”
She says it cannot be classified as safe because it is not regulated in any way. “People go to gray market mushroom stores and take them without instructions, hoping that what they are buying and what they are ingesting is actually what it says on the bottle. There are people.”
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Psilocybe cubensis, colloquially known as the psychedelic “magic” mushroom. On May 10, 2023, psilocybin-containing mushrooms will be tested for efficacy in accordance with Oregon state law at the Rose City Laboratory in Portland, Oregon. ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Professor Morisano, who specializes in psychedelic-assisted therapy in large doses in clinical and legal settings, says there is no conclusive evidence that microdosing has the desired effect. The science we have only points to a positive placebo effect, and “that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” she says. She says research has shown that just taking actions to improve your mental health can actually improve your mental health, and that’s what happens when a stressed mother reaches for a capsule. I explained that it seemed like there was.
And as Jen Abbatiello, a parenting coach in Hamilton, Ont., assures us, there are plenty of moms out there who are doing just that. She helps stressed parents “break the cycle” of yelling, threatening, and bribing, and teaches them to find calmer, easier parenting solutions. One of her suggestions is microdosing mushrooms. She uses psilocybin herself, and so do 40% of her clients.
“This is one of many tools in my tool belt,” she says, noting that mushrooms have been transformative for her. “When I became a mother, I felt like a failure,” she said, adding that although she was an overachiever, she couldn’t cope when her parenting wasn’t perfect. She says that parenting information on social media can be helpful, but “more awareness increases stress as expectations of what one’s parenting should look like increases.” She sums up how I feel every time I look at my phone.
“We get stuck in our heads and disconnected from our bodies. Microdosing can help us reconnect,” she says.
After a particularly difficult week, I stopped by a mom friend’s house after bed and had a glass of wine. She had been microdosing for several weeks and had not noticed any real effects. Instead of putting down the bottle, she fell down a rabbit hole online. Why didn’t it work? What did she do wrong?
And we both realized that this way of thinking is exactly what causes us stress. Whenever I feel like I’m missing a step, I always pick up my phone and learn how wrong I am as a parent and always think I’m wrong. How can my brain clear the fog when I’m doing enough for my kids?
I put down my phone, turned away from the capsule bottle, and decided to listen to what I know to be scientific fact. So parents who even ask themselves these questions are good. Better than good. Although it seems like I can’t do anything about the social stress and mental and physical strain that comes with this job, I try to listen to my inner parent. “Please take a deep breath.” I’m fine.
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