Why We Love Mushrooms
At Discovery Ink & Art, our fascination with mushrooms is evident across our diverse product range. From mushroom tees to mushroom stickers and mushroom tote bags, mushrooms feature prominently in our creations. You might be asking yourself, what makes mushrooms so special to us?
We're deeply invested in the potential of mushrooms to foster a healthier, more sustainable world. Our enthusiasm is particularly strong for psychedelic psilocybin mushrooms, which we believe can revolutionize our relationships with ourselves and others and significantly improve mental health. We encourage you to delve into the growing body of clinical research that supports the effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapy in mental health treatment. We've provided a diversity of academic research in the citations below.
But our interest doesn’t stop at psychedelic varieties. Mushrooms are being recognized more and more for their sustainability potential. They're being used as meat alternatives, with varieties like Chicken of the Woods offering high protein content, in innovative building materials ("mushroom architecture") (see Almpani-Lekka et al., 2021), and even in eco-friendly products like mushroom surfboards and mushroom leather. Additionally, their role as natural decomposers positions them as potential solutions for plastic degradation. Research is only beginning to uncover the extensive ways mushrooms can benefit environmental, human, and planetary health.
Did you know we partner with counsellors and coaches that offer psychedelic support and integration services? To learn more about these services or to get first access to these initiatives, along with exclusive offers on our diverse range of art and merchandise, consider joining the Discovery Ink & Art community
Clinical Research on Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy
Depression: (Carhart-Harris et al., 2021; Carhart-Harris et al., 2018; Carhart-Harris et al., 2016; Goodwin et al., 2022; Davis et al., 2021)
Anxiety: (Agin-Liebes, 2020; Reiche et al., 2018; Ross et al., 2016; Griffiths et al., 2016; Grob et al., 2011)
Migraines: (Schindler et al., 2021)
OCD: (Moreno et al., 2006)
Phantom limb pain: (Ramachandran et al., 2018)
Substance use disorder: (Johnson et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2017; Bogenschutz et al., 2022)
Citations:
Agin-Liebes, G. I., Malone, T., Yalch, M. M., Mennenga, S. E., Ponté, K. L., Guss, J., . . . Ross, S. (2020). Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for psychiatric and existential distress in patients with life-threatening cancer. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 34(2), 155-166.
Almpani-Lekka, D., Pfeiffer, S., Schmidts, C., & Seo, S. (2021). A review on architecture with fungal biomaterials: the desired and the feasible. Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40694-021-00124-5
Bogenschutz, M. P., Ross, S., Bhatt, S., Baron, T., Forcehimes, A. A., Laska, E., Mennenga, S. E., O'Donnell, K., Owens, L. T., Podrebarac, S., Rotrosen, J., Tonigan, J. S., & Worth, L. (2022). Percentage of Heavy Drinking Days Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy vs Placebo in the Treatment of Adult Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA psychiatry, 79(10), 953–962. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2096
Carhart-Harris, R., Giribaldi, B., Watts, R., Baker-Jones, M., Murphy-Beiner, A., Murphy, R., . . . Nutt, D. J. (2021). Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression. N Engl J Med, 384(15), 1402- 1411. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Bolstridge, M., Day, C. M. J., Rucker, J., Watts, R., Erritzoe, D. E., Kaelen, M., Giribaldi, B., Bloomfield, M., Pilling, S., Rickard, J. A., Forbes, B., Feilding, A., Taylor, D., Curran, H. V., & Nutt, D. J. (2018). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: six-month follow-up. Psychopharmacology, 235(2), 399–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4771-x
Carhart-Harris, R. L., Bolstridge, M., Rucker, J., Day, C. M., Erritzoe, D., Kaelen, M., . . . Nutt, D. J. (2016). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study. Lancet Psychiatry, 3(7), 619-627. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30065-7
Davis, A. K., Barrett, F. S., May, D. G., Cosimano, M. P., Sepeda, N. D., Johnson, M. W., Finan, P. H., & Griffiths, R. R. (2021). Effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy on major depressive disorder: A random clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(5), 481-489. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.3285
Goodwin, G. M., Aaronson, S. T., Alvarez, O., Arden, P. C., Baker, A., Bennett, J. C., Bird, C., Blom, R. E., Brennan, C., Brusch, D., Burke, L., Campbell-Coker, K., Carhart-Harris, R., Cattell, J., Daniel, A., DeBattista, C., Dunlop, B. W., Eisen, K., Feifel, D., Forbes, M., … Malievskaia, E. (2022). Single-Dose Psilocybin for a Treatment-Resistant Episode of Major Depression. The New England journal of medicine, 387(18), 1637–1648. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2206443
Griffiths, R. R., Johnson, M. W., Carducci, M. A., Umbricht, A., Richards, W. A., Richards, B. D., . . . Klinedinst, M. A. (2016). Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial. J Psychopharmacol, 30(12), 1181-1197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881116675513
Grob, C. S., Danforth, A. L., Chopra, G. S., Hagerty, M., McKay, C. R., Halberstadt, A. L., & Greer, G. R. (2011). Pilot study of psilocybin treatment for anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer. Archives of general psychiatry, 68(1), 71–78. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.116
Johnson, M. W., Garcia-Romeu, A., & Griffiths, R. R. (2017). Long-term follow-up of psilocybin-facilitated smoking cessation. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 43(1), 55–60. https://doi.org/10.3109/00952990.2016.1170135
Johnson, M. W., Garcia-Romeu, A., Cosimano, M. P., & Griffiths, R. R. (2014). Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 28(11), 983–992. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881114548296
Moreno, F. A., Wiegand, C. B., Taitano, E. K., & Delgado, P. L. (2006). Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of psilocybin in 9 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67(11), 1735-1740.
Ramachandran, V., Chunharas, C., Marcus, Z., Furnish, T., & Lin, A. (2018). Relief from intractable phantom pain by combining psilocybin and mirror visual-feedback (MVF) Neurocase, 249, 105–110.
Reiche, S., Hermle, L., Gutwinski, S., Jungaberle, H., Gasser, P., & Majic, T. (2018). Serotonergic hallucinogens in the treatment of anxiety and depression in patients suffering from a life-threatening disease: A systematic review. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry, 81, 1-10.
Ross, S., Bossis, A., Guss, J., Agin-Liebes, G., Malone, T., Cohen, B., Mennenga, S. E., Belser, A., Kalliontzi, K., Babb, J., Su, Z., Corby, P., & Schmidt, B. L. (2016). Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 30(12), 1165–1180. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881116675512
Schindler, E. A. D., Sewell, R. A., Gottschalk, C. H., Luddy, C., Flynn, L. T., Lindsey, H., . . . D'Souza, D. C. (2021). Exploratory Controlled Study of the Migraine-Suppressing Effects of Psilocybin. Neurotherapeutics, 18(1), 534-543.