• Wellness retreat guests microdose psychedelics on Hulu's limited series "Nine Perfect Strangers."
• The show references real research on psychedelics as potential treatment for mental conditions.
• However, details like the mandatory blood tests and the lack of consent are mere fiction.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Warning: This article contains "Nine Perfect Strangers" spoilers.

Hulu's new series "Nine Perfect Strangers," based on Liane Moriarty's book of the same name, follows nine people who travel to a remote part of California for a luxury wellness retreat.

At the retreat center run by Masha (Nicole Kidman), guests soon learn they've been microdosing psilocybin, the intoxicating substance in "magic" mushrooms. Throughout the series, Masha tells her employees to increase the guests' doses, implying they eventually experience full-blow psychedelic trips.

Though the show is part-satire of the wellness industry, it also contains truths about what it's like to attend a psychedelic wellness retreat.

These destinations have become increasingly of interest as a mounting body of research suggests psychedelics, like psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, and DMT, have therapeutic potential for mental health.

Insider spoke with Paul Austin, the founder of psychedelics education company Third Wave and co-founder of psychedelic retreat company Synthesis, to separate fact from fiction.

Research suggests microdosing psilocybin could be a potential treatment for depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Different as the nine Tranquillum House guests may be, they all arrive to the resort with the shared goal of healing. Masha, the ethereal head of Tranquillum House, promises to help.

So, she microdoses them with psilocybin, touting the psychedelic's health benefits during a dinner party in episode four, titled "Brave New World."

"This protocol cures addiction. It can treat mental illness. It can treat PTSD, schizophrenia, dementia. It can make you eat better, sleep better, fuck better, and it has the capacity to change the world," Masha tells the group.

A mounting body of research suggests psychedelics including psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, and DMT have therapeutic potential for mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, and anxiety.

Psychedelics researchers say the substances change the way information moves through the brain, allowing someone who takes the substance to look at who they are, and the events that have impacted them, differently.

When it comes to schizophrenia and other psychosis-related conditions, there's a rare chance psychedelics can lead to prolonged psychosis. For that reason, researchers and doctors warn people with a family history of these conditions against using psychedelics.

Psilocybin can cause a person to have flashbacks of their past, like Tony does on the show.

As the group continues ingesting psilocybin, several members, particularly Tony Hogburn (Bobby Cannavale), experience flashbacks to pivotal life moments.

The former professional athlete can't shake the memory of the in-game injury that ended his career. At one point in the third episode, "Earth Day," he has a vision of himself lying flat on the field after being tackled. The flashback feels so real that he becomes drenched in sweat and gasps for air.

Indeed, psilocybin can cause a person to relive certain memories, Austin told Insider.

"So many of our traumatic things we stuff into our subconscious and we forget about it, we repress it. What psychedelics do is they open that box back up," Austin said.

Sometimes, a person may not have a full-blown hallucination like Tony.

According to Austin, a person who takes a smaller dose of psilocybin may have old emotions rise to the surface while remaining in the present moment. They may cry or feel a certain sensation in their body, but don't have visions.

A facilitator typically guides people through their trips.

Masha and her wellness consultants — Delilah, Glory, and Yao — watch over the Tranquillum House guests throughout their stay at the retreat, monitoring their overall reactions to the psilocybin. 

Yao, Glory, and Delilah take on more of the "camp counselor" role by guiding the group and leading their daily activities. Masha, on the other hand, assumes the responsibility of asking the guests probing, uncomfortable questions that force them to confront their trauma.

During a psilocybin retreat, guests also work with guides, often called facilitators, while they trip on full doses of "magic" mushrooms, according to Austin. 

He said Masha's probing questions would be considered an overstep for a real-life psychedelic facilitator, who is supposed to guide you through trauma, not elicit it.

"Facilitators are really just there to support you, to help out with anything challenging that's coming up," Austin said.

That could include walking a retreat participant to the bathroom, providing a bucket and calming voice while they vomit, or reminding them they're not alone while they're tripping.

Throwing up is one of the potential side effects of taking psilocybin.

After Tony has a flashback to his football accident in episode three, he runs to the bathroom to vomit. 

Ingesting psilocybin can often lead to nausea and vomiting.

Though researchers haven't pinpointed why this happens to certain people, some theorize it's related to stomach acid interacting with soluble fiber in the mushrooms, Inverse reported.

Being in and around nature enhances the experience of taking psychedelics.

Tranquillum House is tucked away in the forests of Cabrillo, California, surrounded by lush greenery and scenic waterfalls. From the time the guests check in, they are immersed in nature.

On episode two, "The Critical Path," they contemplate their own mortality while lying down in grave-like ditches. The men forage for food as the women skinny-dip in a pond on episode three, "Earth Day." And on episode six, "Motherlode," the group ventures around the grounds while on elevated doses of psilocybin.

According to Austin, Synthesis retreat-goers also trip while surrounded by nature.

Unlike the characters in "Nine Perfect Strangers," real-life psychedelic retreat-goers aren't allowed to walk into the woods or participate in physical activity during the experience.

Instead, guests are asked to lay down on individual mats, wear eye masks, and listen to music as they trip.

Guests would have to consent to taking psychedelics.

By the time the group members find out about Masha's "new protocol" in episode four, "Brave New World," they have already been microdosing psilocybin for days. 

Despite the fact that none of them ever consent to taking the drugs, the Tranquillum House staff administer psilocybin through their smoothies. 

At psychedelic retreats, participants attend knowing that they'll be taking psilocybin, MDMA, or other substances before they ever do.

Leading up to trip sessions, facilitators, shamans, or retreat leaders explain what participants should expect to create a calm and empowering atmosphere.

Blood work is not a standard part of psychedelic retreats.

In addition to submitting their medical records ahead of their arrival, all Tranquillum House guests sign a legal disclaimer at check-in.

"You would be the first not to sign," Delilah tells Lars (Luke Evans) after he questions the purpose of the document on the first episode, "Random Acts of Mayhem."

By signing the document, the guests consent to submitting a blood sample "every few days," which one of the staff members describes as "standard practice." 

"It's part of how we tailor your wellness journey," Delilah tells Lars. 

Blood work isn't standard for psychedelic retreats, said Austin. 

At Synthesis, applicants are required to submit detailed health histories. Staffers look over the forms to ensure participants don't have mental health conditions or medication regimens that could interfere with the psychedelics.

Psilocybin can be ingested through smoothies, but it's not the only method.

Every morning at Tranquillum House, each of the nine guests slurps up their own bright-colored smoothie. Or, as Napoleon Marconi (Michael Shannon) calls the beverage, "a big yum-yum."   

In "Brave New World," they learn the smoothies are packed with more than berries and chia seeds; They're vessels for liquid psilocybin.

Every psychedelic retreat or ceremony has its own protocol for serving guests, said Austin.

During a ceremony Austin attended in Bali, he drank mushrooms in a smoothie. At Synthesis, guests eat psilocybin truffles, which are young "magic" mushrooms. You can also make a lemon or lime juice concoction, tea, or take psilocybin in pill form.

MDMA is more helpful for relationship therapy than psilocybin.

While all the other Tranquillum House guests take psilocybin, Jessica Chandler (Samara Weaving) and Ben Chandler (Melvin Gregg), a married couple trying to salvage their relationship, microdose MDMA, a drug commonly known as "ecstasy" or "molly."

In "Brave New World," Yao tells Jessica that MDMA is "profoundly beneficial" for couples' relationship healing.

Austin agrees.

"When you're on high doses of psilocybin, it's difficult to communicate with other people and you don't really want to communicate with people. You're in your own experience, your own journey. You're deep into yourself," Austin said.

Since MDMA causes the body to release the feel-good hormones oxytocin and serotonin, it's more conducive to being open and vulnerable with others than psilocybin.

Resorts offering psychedelic therapy cost thousands of dollars per day to attend.

Napoleon discusses the "massive price break" Masha gives his family to attend Tranquillum House in the first episode, "Random Acts of Mayhem." The other guests, he explains, are paying thousands of dollars for their stays. 

Due to the largely illegal nature of psychedelics and the environment required for a beneficial experience, real-life luxury retreats are expensive and exclusive.

Weeklong retreats can cost between $4,000 and $10,000, depending on the amenities a guest chooses and the particular retreat. 

Retreats are concentrated in The Netherlands, Jamaica, and South America, where psychedelics are decriminalized or legal.

Shared psychosis can occur when two or more people are tripping on hallucinogens at the same time.

All three members of the Marconi family hallucinate visions of their late family member, Zach, at the same time while on elevated doses of psilocybin on episode six, "Motherlode." 

Psychedelics, Masha tells Napoleon and Heather (Asher Keddie), can be used to "achieve an alternate reality," one in which their son did not die three years prior, via shared psychosis, or when two or more people have the same hallucination.

Masha describes shared psychosis as a "very rare" and "very powerful" way for people to "relive" and "come to terms" with their past trauma by facing the "object of their grief."

After the primary inducer — in this case, Zoe (Grace Van Patten) — hallucinates Zach, her parents are able to see him and speak with their son as well. 

There's no research on the relationship between psychedelics and shared psychosis. The term is typically used to refer to someone with psychotic disorder and someone close to them who begins to have the same delusions. 

At the same time, some psychedelics users have reported experiencing "psychedelic telepathy," where they communicate non-verbally with images, words, or feelings with another person who is tripping.

Fasting ahead of a trip can intensify the experience.

On episode three, "Earth Day," the group embarks on an 11-hour long fast between breakfast and dinner. They spend the entire day split into two groups, exploring the area surrounding the property.

By this point, the guests have already been microdosing drugs for days, and going without food seems to intensify their experience.

According to Austin, Synthesis retreat-goers are instructed to have a very light breakfast and abstain from caffeine before taking psilocybin. This allows the substance to take effect more quickly and can prevent vomiting. 

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