Safety & harm reduction
Set & setting, dosing ranges, interactions, and when not to take psilocybin.
Psilocybin has a wide physiological safety margin, but the psychological experience can be intense and is strongly shaped by your state of mind and your surroundings.
Set and setting
Set is what you bring: mood, expectations, recent stress, sleep. Setting is where you are: familiar, comfortable, warm, with someone sober present the first few times. Most difficult experiences trace back to one of these being wrong rather than to the dose.
Dosing
Potency varies enormously between species, between strains, and between flushes of the same grow. A gram of one harvest is not a gram of another. Start well below what you think you need, wait a full 90 minutes before considering more, and never redose late.
When not to take it
- If you or a close relative has a history of psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
- If you are taking lithium or tramadol — both combinations carry a seizure risk
- If you are on SSRIs, MAOIs or other serotonergic medication, talk to a doctor first
- If you are pregnant, or in acute crisis
This is general harm-reduction information, not medical advice. If you are unsure about a medication interaction, ask a pharmacist or doctor — you can do so without disclosing intent by asking about serotonergic interactions generally.