Perceived outcomes of psychedelic microdosing as self-managed therapies for mental and substance use disorders.

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The regular consumption of very small doses of psychedelic drugs (known as microdosing) has been a source of growing media and community attention in recent years. However, there is currently limited clinical and social research evidence on the potential role of microdosing as therapies for mental and substance use disorders. This paper examined subjective experiences of microdosing psychedelics to improve mental health or to cease or reduce substance use, and examined sociodemographic and other covariates of perceived improvements in mental health that individuals attributed to microdosing. An international online survey was conducted in 2018 and examined people's experiences of using psychedelics for self-reported therapeutic or enhancement purposes. This paper focuses on 1102 respondents who reported current or past experience of psychedelic microdosing. Twenty-one percent of respondents reported primarily microdosing as a therapy for depression, 7% for anxiety, 9% for other mental disorders and 2% for substance use cessation or reduction. Forty-four percent of respondents perceived that their mental health was "much better" as a consequence of microdosing. In a multivariate analysis, perceived improvements in mental health from microdosing were associated with a range of variables including gender, education, microdosing duration and motivations, and recent use of larger psychedelic doses. Given the promising findings of clinical trials of standard psychedelic doses as mental health therapies, clinical microdosing research is needed to determine its potential role in psychiatric treatment, and ongoing social research to better understand the use of microdosing as self-managed mental health and substance use therapies.