Online discussions about microdosing psychedelics on the r/microdosing subreddit center on practical "how to" topics, serving as essential information hubs for the general population. Analysis of public submissions using structural topic modeling identified 16 distinct topics that fall into clinical, human enhancement, and self-medication narratives. The Covid-19 pandemic influenced the prevalence of discussion topics, suggesting that individuals may turn to microdosing as a means of self-medication during heightened stress and uncertainty. These findings highlight the role of online communities in facilitating self-medicalization and self-medication practices.
An analysis of posts on the Reddit community r/microdosing from 2013 to 2020 identified two distinct narratives among users: a spirituality topic and a scientific topic labeled 'neuro-cognition.' These topics rarely appeared together in the same user's contributions, indicating that spiritual and scientific narratives are largely segregated within the community. The findings demonstrate the value of text analysis for revealing the cultural frameworks that surround the practice of microdosing psychedelics.