Psilocybin and Color Blindness

We’re in a psychedelic revolution era, and this comes with different interesting perspectives and studies. The primary focus of research today is examining these substances’ potential effects on mental health. New reports also indicate it’s potential for color blindness.

This current psychedelic revolution has so many amazing perspectives and studies. There are many research works that different researchers are currently performing. The goal is basically to explore all the possible therapeutic gains of psychedelic substances.

Today, there are different reports about the efficacy of psychedelics for depression, anxiety, ADHD, addiction, and pain. New reports in the Drug Science, Policy, and Law also highlights that psychedelic can improve symptoms of color blindness.

This article will take you through the key things to know about psilocybin and color blindness, so continue reading.

About Color Blindness

Color blindness is also known as color vision deficiency. It is a condition that affects 1 in 200 women and 1 in 12 men. Statistics also show that there are about 3 million color-blind people in the UK alone, and most are men. Also, the worldwide estimate is 300 million color-blind people.

There are different causes of color blindness. It’s a genetic condition in some people, while others experience it as a result of an underlying medical condition. This can be multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or due to certain medications.

Also, there are different types of color blindness, and there are rare cases in which people can’t see color. However, most color-blind people can’t see blue, green, or red light. The most common type of color blindness is known as green/red color blindness. Even though green/red color blindness is the most common, it has different severities and types.

The general myth about color blindness includes the following:

  • Color blind people see green as red and red as green
  • They confuse red with green
  • They can’t see green and red alone

However, none of these statements is true. People with green/red color blindness can easily confuse colors that have green or red in them. For example, colors with green/red in them are likely to confuse purple and blue color because they have elements of red.

Life is a Colorful Place

There’s a documentary on Netflix called Life in Color. The series is a perfect representation of how people and animals view the world with and without color. Some animals can see more colors than humans, allowing them to produce amazing images we can’t comprehend. Also, humans have pretty excellent sight, but color-blind people have restricted vision.

Here’s a link where you can check whether you’re color blind. There are many that don’t even know that they are color blind.

Many researchers today believe that psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin can help people with color blindness. Historical and anecdotal reports also show that psychedelics improve the symptoms of color blindness. However, research is still required to fully justify this claim.

According to previous studies by JEC Anthony and colleagues, psychedelics can help to improve color blindness symptoms. They went further to explore their findings in a large-scale drug survey, and their report further supported the earlier claims.

LSD and Psilocybin: The Most Colorful Substances of Color Blindness

Their large survey mostly included questioning color-blind participants to check if their color perception changed after psilocybin use. They got 47 responses from the questioning, and they were able to categorize these responses. 23 of the respondents reported an improvement in color blindness with psychedelics, while 24 did not.

Also, the most common substances used in the report were LSD and psilocybin. The report did not highlight any specific drug that yielded color blindness improvement at a greater frequency. Another thing worth noting is that the research did not have so many responses. The responses they got are not enough to conclude that the recreational use of psychedelics can improve color blindness.

In addition, the research also suggested that color blindness improvement extends for periods longer than the intoxication period. About 39% of participants experienced an improvement in their symptoms for up to 3 days and even years.

Improve Neural Plasticity

Even though psychedelics help to improve color blindness, the exact mechanism of this effect remains unknown. However, researchers suggest that it involves 5-HT2A serotonin receptors. Psychedelic substances like LSD and psilocybin can activate these receptors to alter neural plasticity. This also facilitates new connections in the cortical regions.

Anthony and his colleagues also suggest that psychedelics can improve the experience of a broader spectrum of colors. In the excited psychedelic state, there is always new communication between cortical regions. This communication can create a link between pre-existing color concepts and new photism. With this, the color experience becomes better, and the symptoms of color blindness improve.

Conclusion

Color blindness remains a condition that affects many people; some don’t even know they have it. Research is ongoing to explore different treatment options for the condition. One of the options that are considered today involves the potential of psychedelics to manage the condition. We have highlighted what research currently says above.

If you are thinking of microdosing psilocybin for color blindness, you might want to visit the Microdose Bros store now. We sell different types of magic truffles products, and we deliver discreetly in Europe. Also, you can visit our blog to learn more about Microdosing.