Imagine dissolving your sense of self for a brief time and feeling boundless, yet truly connected …  divinely at one with the universe. That is essentially what ego death is for many people.

It is a mystical experience that often happens after taking larger amounts of psychedelics such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD or DMT. As the name suggests, your sense of self temporarily dissolves, which can lead to a pure and positive or, in some cases – an emotional, yet transformational experience.

Ego death is also referred to as ego dissolution, ego disintegration, or simply, ego loss. It can be achieved through taking a large enough dose of a psychedelic, or more rarely – through advanced meditation practices.

Ego death temporarily disrupts the ‘psyche’, making people feel like their self (or who they believe themselves to be) is detached, allowing them to view the world around them from an unbiased and purely open lens. People who have attained ego death during a psychedelic trip often report intense feelings of unity, joy, awe, well-being, understanding, one-ness, love and feelings of rebirth – just to name a few.

For those who are new to magic mushrooms, it is important to be aware of ego death so you can better prepare for, or at least better understand your psychedelic journey.

With so many studies on psychedelics emerging in the past several years, we now understand a bit more about their effects on brain functions and chemical interactions. For example, we know that psilocybin promotes communication pathways across various regions in the brain and increases connectivity.

With ego death in particular, it is believed that the network areas of the brain that look after the ‘ego’ (such as self-consciousness or self-obsession) become more restrained or suppressed under the influence of psychedelics.

One recent study from the Netherlands found reduced levels of glutamate in the brain that led to a positive ‘ego dissolution’.  When this is combined with the increase in sensory pathways opening up at the same time, a person’s total self-image, self-identity or ‘me focus’ is dissolved and new thinking patterns can be established.

Some individuals have a negative or challenging trip when taking psychedelics, and this includes an ego death experience. This is more likely to happen if the set and setting are unsatisfactory, but also if there is an interaction with other drugs, medications or alcohol. For some, the ego death experience is so overwhelming that it becomes chaotic, confusing or emotionally painful.

When bad trips happen however, it can be an opportunity to open doors and offer positive, therapeutic insights for people to better understand their emotions, fears and/or challenges. For those with concerns about a bad trip or mental health issues, it may be a good idea to investigate psychedelic-assisted therapy.

In studying ego death and psychedelics, researchers are uncovering the potential for new, therapeutic mental health discoveries and treatments. Scientists are hoping to learn more about the impacts for people with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety or addiction as well as OCD, PTSD and end-of-life anxiety.

These discoveries could open doors for future legalization or decriminalization of psychedelics like psilocybin. This will mean more mainstream acceptance of these substances as an effective alternative to pharmaceutical medicines.

In the meantime, it is important to be careful when taking psychedelics and purchase from dependable sites or sources that offer high-quality, lab-tested, Canadian products.

If you have any questions about ego death or psilocybin products, talk to the trusted team at Blue Magic Mushrooms – we are here to help you elevate yourself!