Daily self-assessment within a regimen of microdosing indicates enhanced psychological functioning on microdosing days relative to non-microdosing days.

Summary

Microdosing psychedelics is linked to higher self-reported psychological functioning on days when individuals microdose compared to non-microdosing days. In a survey of 1,435 adults, significant improvements were noted in Wellbeing, Productivity, Creativity, Connectedness, Contemplation, and Focus on microdosing days. Notably, those with prior experience using larger doses reported even greater increases in Creativity. However, the exploratory nature of the study suggests caution in interpreting these results.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Repeated self-administration of small doses of psychedelics, known as microdosing, has been associated with perceived improvements in psychological functioning. However, few studies have examined effects at the daily level. Drawing on data from a naturalistic, prospective, international survey of adults who microdose (N = 1435), we assessed self-reported within-person changes between microdosing days and non-microdosing days across six domains of psychological functioning. Using multi-level modeling, we identified higher (p <.001) ratings of Wellbeing (F(1,768) = 160.15), Productivity (F(1,917) = 108.69), Creativity (F(1,899) = 25.99), Connectedness (F(1,859) = 253.4), Contemplation (F(1,864) = 180.5), and Focus (F(1,846) = 191.72) on microdosing days compared to non-microdosing days. For the domain of Creativity, increased scores were more pronounced among respondents with a history of using larger doses of psychedelics (F(1,899) = 4.40, p = .04). Given the observational and exploratory nature of this study, these findings should be interpreted with caution; nonetheless, the prospective data provides valuable real-time insights while reducing recall bias.

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