That Other Eternal Search

"There’s currently a renaissance going on in psychedelic research with pilot trials and promising studies of full-dose MDMA (ecstasy) use for post-traumatic stress disorder and of psilocybin use within healthy populations or to treat depression and end-of-life anxiety. There hasn’t been the same research focus on microdosing. We didn’t have answers to the most basic epidemiological questions – who is doing this and what are they doing?"
"We wanted to ensure the results produced a good basis for future psychedelic science.Typical doses aren’t well established. We think it’s about 10 mcg or one-tenth of an LSD tab, or 0.2 grams of dried mushrooms. Those amounts are close to what participants reported in our data."
"Users engage in black market criminalized activities to obtain psychedelics. If you’re buying what your dealer says is LSD, it could very well be something else. We wouldn’t suggest that people microdose, but if they are going to, they should use Erlich reagent [a drug testing solution] to ensure they are not getting something other than LSD."
"With microdoses, there should be no ‘trip’ and no hallucinations. The idea is to enhance something about one’s daily activities, but it can be very difficult to divide a ½-cm square of LSD blotting paper into 10 equal doses. The LSD might not be evenly distributed on the square and a microdoser could accidentally ‘trip’ by taking too much or not taking enough."
"The goal of the study was to create a foundation that could support future work in this area, so I’m really excited about what these results can offer future research. The benefits and drawbacks data will help ensure we can ask meaningful questions about what participants are reporting. Our future research will involve running lab-based, randomized-control trials where psychedelics are administered in controlled environments. This will help us to better characterize the therapeutic and cognitive-enhancing effects of psychedelics in very small doses."
Thomas Anderson, PhD candidate, cognitive neuroscientist, Regulatory and Affective Dynamics (RAD) Lab, U of T Mississauga

Microdosers experiment with sub-hallucinogenic hits of acid and mushrooms in the hope of gaining some reprieve from depression, anxiety and other distractions. Brent Lewin/Getty Images

"What we found with microdosing is that people's negative feelings again were less. But they also had more positive feelings, which has never appeared on anti-depressant studies. People felt less bad, and more good."
"People indicate they have incredibly improved focus and attention. I remember one young man who said, 'I only use it [LSD] when I have a coding problem'."
James Fadiman, psychedelic researcher and psychologist, author The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide

LSD blotter tabs on top of a US quarter coin. Microdosers say they typically take about one- or two-tenths of a tab every three days or once per week. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

"[Microdosing can induce a kind of] cognitive flexibility [one] that helps you reframe how you are seeing the world, what's salient to you, the kinds of connections you're able to make, the kinds of insights into problematic situations that you're capable of having." 
"[Psychedelics are about therapeutic or existential improvement], how to make sense of your environment and realize what's relevant to you."
"It's more about people trying to respond to the meaning crisis in culture [not the] tune in, drop [counterculture of the 1960s]."
John Vervaeka, assistant professor, cognitive psychology and cognitive science, University of Toronto

A new Canadian study digs into the little-researched subject of how and why people microdose psychedelic drugs, including so-called magic mushrooms, pictured above. (Evert-Jan Daniels/AFP/Getty Images)

There were 909 participants in one of the largest formal studies recruited online from 29 countries to focus on microdosing with psychedelics to assess the effects on mental health. Responses to the online questionnaire and having participants measure creativity allowed two University of Toronto PhD candidates to complete one of the first psychological profiles of a community that is growing, and identified by their commitment to microdosing; consumption of small amounts of LSD or "magic mushrooms".

Microdosers scored lower overall on neuroticism and "dysfunctional attitudes" than their non-microdosing counterparts. They also had higher scores on a "wisdom" scale measuring certain perceptions such as "I am in touch with my feelings", or "I have a good sense of humour about myself". The microdosers appeared to be more open-minded, curious and creative, able to think of more unique and unusual uses for example, that a brick or a knife could be put to. They appeared to the researchers to be prime examples of outstanding mental health.

The two researchers, Thomas Anderson and Rotem Petranker, compared current and former microdosers against controls with no microdosing experience in their backgrounds. University of Toronto Centre for Psychedelic Studies, newly launched, and the two researchers are now preparing for a first Canadian study of a new randomized trial to compare placebos to measured psilocybin -- the principal psychoactive compound in certain types of fresh and dried mushrooms. According to Mr. Petranker, the associate director of the new centre, microdosing has assumed the proportions of a new religion.

Several trials have been conducted on the affects of taking LSD, but none on microdosing it. Photograph: PR

Microdosing subreddit alone has close to 40,000 using subscribers making it abundantly clear that tens of thousands of people have launched their personal experiments with sub-hallucinogenic hits of acid and mushrooms hoping to feel less depressed, to assuage anxiety, to become more focused; a practise likened to an "illicit, chemical form of yoga", according to The New York Times. It's a trend that saw its beginnings in Silicon Valley when biohackers in 2010 were looking for a competitive edge.

Psychedelic-guided therapy at the present is based primarily on a phenomenon known as "ego dissolution"; belief that a person's sense of self, distinct from the rest of the world, evaporates during a psychedelic experience, permitting a new sense of connections and "boundlessness" to be gained. Microdosing involves "sub-perceptual" hits, typically representing one-tenth of a recreational dose; ensuring that no altered states of consciousness ensue. There should be no visions, no wavering lights; less about feeling at one with everything, more about pulling through the day.

More than half of Canadians, according to a recent survey, believe depression and anxiety have reached "epidemic" proportions. "People are saying, at a grassroots level, what else can we possibly do?", said Petranker, given that antidepressants dispensed so commonly offer little help over placebo for mild depression, according to studies. Mr. Fadiman, of Sofia University in Palo Alto, California and Toronto clinical psychologist Sophia Korb report from their experience with microdosers, the end result is that there is less depression, better mood, less procrastination, more energy and more patience.

Researchers presented the findings at the Beyond Psychedelics conference in Prague in June. (Source: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Microdosing Psychedelics)