Why do people yawn on shrooms?

If you’ve ever done mushrooms, you might be familiar with the side effects, particularly yawning. When someone is coming up on a shroom trip, yawning is a common side effect that indicates the psychedelic effects will follow soon after. 

How does yawning happen in the first place?

The action of yawning originates in the brain stem, which is a part of the brain that regulates most of your automatic daily actions like blinking and breathing. Contagious yawning is a little different, and might come from the neocortex, limbic system, and hypothalamus. There are several chemicals in your brain that impact yawning, the most important of which is serotonin. 

Why does shrooming cause yawning?

There haven’t actually been any scientific studies done to support the connection between yawning and tripping on psychedelic mushrooms. There is, however, loads of anecdotal evidence to support this phenomenon. It is theorized that the yawning one experiences on a shroom trip is related to the ways in which psilocybin (or psilocin, when it is broken down by your body) affects your body’s serotonin production. 

Realistically, we would know significantly more about the connections between the brain and shrooms and all the side effects of psychedelic trips if the war on drugs hadn’t curbed scientific inquiry. It is something we’ve stated many times in our blog, but it bears repeating.

How do shrooms work with serotonin?

The main psychoactive ingredient in mushrooms, psilocybin, breaks down into psilocin when ingested. Psilocin makes its way into the brain and prevents the reuptake of the neurochemical serotonin, which increases your bodily sensations of pleasure and also elevates your mood.

What are some other signs that shrooms are kicking in?

There are a few signs that can help you recognize when shrooms are kicking in. One of those is yawning, although the evidence to support this is mostly anecdotal. Another sign is a euphoric feeling, as the mood boosting effects of shrooms often come on before the psychedelic ones. About 30 minutes (depending on how much you’ve eaten that day and your personal sensitivity to shrooms) after you ingest your psilocybin dose, you might start to feel these psychological effects. Laughter might come more easily, or you might find that your usual patterns of thinking are shifting. 

Physical side effects that might be noticeable before the visual distortions become apparent include a pleasurable body sensation and maybe noticing the temperature of your skin and the air around you a bit more. These physical sensations will vary from person to person, because no two mushroom trips are the same. Overall, though, people report generally pleasant sensations on the come up, except for the pesky nausea that sometimes accompanies psilocybin mushrooms. 

How long do shrooms take to fully kick in?

The answer to this question depends greatly on how much you took, how you ingested the mushrooms, how much you’ve already eaten today, and your individual receptivity to the drug itself. For example, if you took only one gram after having a lot to eat today and you’re not very sensitive, then it might feel like it takes forever to kick in, if it ever does. However, if you take a macro dose on an empty stomach, you’re more likely to feel the effects of the shrooms within 30 to 45 minutes. The peak of the trip should be reached in about 1 to 1.5 hours, and last for a couple hours after that. Time might feel different while you’re tripping though, so make sure you know the exact time you take your dose to prevent over-indulging in psilocybin.

How will I know I’m tripping?

You’ll know that you’re tripping when you start to have distinct visual distortions. One way to see if you’re truly having visuals is to wave your open hand gently back and forth where you can see it clearly. Usually when you’re tripping, it is immediately clear that that action is not the same visual you would normally see. 

Psychological side effects often include a feeling of unity, or even a loss of ego at higher doses. Your thought patterns will likely be incredibly different from your sober thought patterns. This is because there is an incredible amount of increased connectivity between different regions of the brain. Usual pathways are left behind as new pathways are formed between these regions. That’s why shrooms can be so helpful in treating depression, because you often find new insight into old problems with the increased neuroplasticity.