Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
October 24, 2019
Toby Lea, Nicole Amada, Henrik Jungaberle
121 citations
People are self-administering very low doses of psychedelic drugs, known as microdosing, to improve mental health, wellbeing, and cognitive function, but little research has been conducted. A content analysis of Reddit discussions examined motivations, dosing practices, and perceived benefits and limitations. Motivations included managing mental health issues, improving psychosocial wellbeing, and cognitive enhancement. Self-reported benefits included cognitive and creative enhancement, reduced depression and anxiety, enhanced self-insight, improved mood, and better social interactions. Limitations included dosing problems, adverse physical effects, taking illegal substances, limited or no improvement, increased anxiety, and concerns about dependence. Standard doses in therapeutic settings show potential for treating mental health conditions, but clinical research on microdosing is needed.
International Journal of Drug Policy
November 25, 2019
Toby Lea, Nicole Amada, Henrik Jungaberle et al.
119 citations
People who microdose psychedelics like psilocybin or LSD are most often doing so to improve their mental health, for personal development, or to enhance cognitive performance. A 2018 international online survey of 525 current microdosers found that the perceived short-term benefits cluster into three areas: improved mood and reduced anxiety, a greater sense of connection to others and the environment, and cognitive enhancement. Unwanted effects included stronger-than-expected psychedelic effects, anxiety-related effects, and physical adverse effects. Most participants (78%) reported using at least one harm reduction practice. The findings indicate that microdosing is commonly used as a self-managed mental health therapy, often as an alternative or complement to conventional treatments.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
June 4, 2022
Nicole Amada, Jacob Shane
A survey of about 750 people from online psychedelic communities tested whether integrating a psychedelic experience into one's life story promotes optimal well-being. People who reported greater post-psychedelic integration also reported higher self-actualization, and this link was partly explained by perceived gains in self-insight and personal development—key aspects of narrative self-functioning. This pattern held for both clinical and non-clinical participants. Integration techniques that were more self-referential (e.g., reflecting on one's own identity) were indirectly associated with well-being through these narrative benefits. The authors caution that the cross-sectional design cannot establish causation.
Psychopharmacology
May 1, 2020
Toby Lea, Nicole Amada, Henrik Jungaberle et al.
An international online survey of 1102 people who had microdosed psychedelics found that 21% did so primarily for depression, 7% for anxiety, 9% for other mental disorders, and 2% to reduce or stop substance use. Forty-four percent perceived their mental health as "much better" as a result. Perceived improvements were associated with gender, education, microdosing duration and motivations, and recent use of larger psychedelic doses. The authors call for clinical trials to determine microdosing's potential role in psychiatric treatment and for further social research on its use as a self-managed therapy.