"Wood-lover paralysis": Describing a toxidrome with symptoms of weakness caused by some lignicolous "wood-loving" Psilocybe mushrooms.
Simon A Beck, Caine Barlow, Liam Engel, Monica J Barratt
Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology June 7, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108450 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Retrospective online survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 392 |
| Population | People who consumed psilocybin-containing mushrooms, mainly from Australia and New Zealand |
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Magic mushroom Paralysis Psilocybe Wood lover Muscle weakness Shrooms Mobility issues Harm reduction safety Psychedelic fungi Risk management Drug safety |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | 42.1% of respondents reported experiencing wood-lover paralysis after consuming psilocybin-containing mushrooms, with symptoms including impaired mobility, swallowing difficulties, and breathing difficulties. |
Abstract
Psilocybin-containing mushrooms have long been used for their psychoactive effects, but emerging evidence suggests that certain lignicolous ("wood-loving") species may also induce a distinct toxidrome known as "wood-lover paralysis" (WLP). WLP is characterised by transient weakness following mushroom ingestion, but its aetiology and prevalence remain poorly understood. In this paper, we present an investigation of WLP, based on a retrospective online survey conducted in 2020 (N = 392: 71.8 % male; 34.1 % aged 26-35 years; mainly from Australia and New Zealand). We found that 42.1 % of respondents reported experiencing WLP, with onset typically occurring within 4 h of ingestion. Weakness primarily impaired mobility (80.4 %), with some reporting difficulties swallowing (26.7 %) and breathing (16.6 %). Symptoms persisted into the following day for nearly half of those affected (48.1 %), and 21.5 % experienced a fall or accident. WLP was reported across different methods of mushroom preparation and environmental growth conditions, with no significant associations observed between WLP occurrence and age, gender, health status, or allergies. While the true prevalence of WLP remains unclear, our results suggest it is an under-recognised potential adverse outcome that can occur with ingestion of certain lignicolous Psilocybe species. Given the increasing medical and recreational use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms following policy shifts toward decriminalisation and legalisation, further research is needed to elucidate the currently unknown mechanism of WLP and inform harm reduction strategies and healthcare responses. Awareness among consumers, service providers and regulators will be crucial in improving recognition, reporting, and appropriate responses to this toxidrome.