Psychological effects of Amanita muscaria

Abstract

The article presents an integration and analysis of data collected by ethnographers, toxicologists, pharmacologists, travellers, psychiatrists, and chemisists on the psychological effects of Amanita muscaria and its constituent psychoactive substances - iboteic acid and muscimol. The article shows the changes brought about in psyche by Amanita muscaria and its psychoactive components in terms of activation, sleep, motility, perception, memory, speech, attention, thinking, self-consciousness, body sense, orientation in space and time, situation assessment, control over and regulation of behaviour as well as emotional, volitional, and motivation and semantic aspects. The presence or absence of an idea of deliberate Fly Agaric intoxication in a particular culture is discussed as one of possible causes of differing psychological effects of Amanita muscaria identified in different data sets.