How Microdosing Psilocybin Improves Mood

Magic mushrooms and microdosing psilocybin have extended their reach beyond psychedelic drug circles toward public consciousness, in one part due to popular culture, and on the other hand, to people who attest to the benefits of both.

Among the reported benefits of consuming psilocybin mushrooms in microdoses is the improvement in one’s mood. But how does microdosing shroom improve your mood and mental health?

What Is Microdosing?

Learning a few concepts to understand the beneficial effects of microdosing psychedelic mushrooms is worthwhile.

Decades ago, psychedelic substances were talked about in hushed tones and deemed harmful. Fast-forward to today, psychedelic drugs like lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD, magic mushrooms, and ketamine have become buzzwords, first among biohackers and psychedelic circles, and later on, in mainstream circles.

A lot of that has to do with the purported health benefits of consuming psychedelic drugs, especially in microdoses, including positive mental health outcomes reported by users.

And while most of these psychedelic substances are classified as Schedule 1 controlled substances, there is a hope that future research will ultimately prove the positive effects of using these substances.

Understanding microdosing

In a nutshell, psychedelic microdosing means taking a hallucinogenic substance like magic mushrooms in low doses.

But that’s where things can get a little murky.

Due to the nature of these substances, there is still no clear definition of what constitutes a microdose. According to experts involved in psychedelic research, that is one of the major stumbling blocks of their studies.

Typically, people who microdose psychedelic substances say that a microdose can be anywhere between a fifth to 1/20 of a regular recreational dose.

For example, if you plan to microdose magic mushrooms, you will need to consume around 0.3 grams of dried shrooms. However, that figure is still inaccurate and does not mean you will get consistent results due to the other variables involved.

The potency of psilocybin mushrooms can be affected by different factors, including mushroom species, method of consumption, mushroom origin, part of the mushroom ingested, and more.

It certainly doesn’t help that psychedelic drugs are still illegal in most places, making it hard to establish guidelines about dosing.

Additionally, it is possible to develop tolerance to psychedelic drugs, even if you are microdosing. That means that maintaining the same dose can translate to diminishing returns.

A brief history of microdosing research

The use of psychedelic drugs goes back thousands of years, mostly for rituals and medical purposes.

However, in-depth psychedelic research started around the 20th century with scientists keen on understanding psychedelic substances’ effects and potential mental health benefits.

One of the key players in psychedelic research is the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman. Hoffman is credited for creating the synthetic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 1938.

Decades later, scientists and even government agencies were researching the impact of ingesting LSD and other related substances.

Dr. James Fadiman is another key player in psychedelic research. In 1966, Fadiman began his study of the effects of psychedelics on creativity and problem-solving. Participants reported an increase in their creativity, focus, and concentration, coupled with a decrease in their fear and inhibitions.

However, psychedelic research faced a major setback with the ban on the research on psychedelic substances.

This widespread ban did not stop Fadiman and other scientists from studying these substances. The doctor even studied Hoffman’s habit of microdosing psychedelics before going on long walks. In a way, Fadiman pioneered microdosing research.

We can trace the popularity of microdosing psilocybin and other psychedelic substances back to Silicon Valley tech workers who sought ways to improve their focus and concentration. Eventually, they ended up studying and experimenting with microdoses of psychedelics.

From there, psychedelic microdosing burst into popularity, starting with online platforms like Reddit.

Today, people microdose a variety of psychedelics, including shrooms, LSD, Dimethyltryptamine or DMT, and Iboga or ibogaine.

The benefits of microdosing psychedelic drugs

While microdosing research can still be considered a relatively new field of study, modern clinical research and observational studies suggest that microdosing psychedelics can bring about a few mental health benefits.

Current research indicates that large doses of psilocybin mushrooms can potentially treat mental health disorders and alleviate depressive symptoms.

Some experts even suggest that psilocybin can be used as an alternative to selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, which are currently used for treating depressive symptoms.

Other potential uses of psychedelics include treating anxiety, PTSD, and substance abuse.

Experts believe that psychedelics can influence how the human brain develops new connections among its cells.

Although many studies suggest that these effects can be seen in large doses, experts believe that it is possible to attain these even with microdoses.

But despite these advances in microdosing research, this field of study still faces a few stumbling blocks. Although researchers around the world have been granted permission to conduct scientific studies on these substances, they are only allowed to do so in a controlled environment.

This limits their ability to explore the effects of microdosing psilocybin and other psychedelics fully. To fully understand the effects of microdosing, study participants need to consume these substances daily.

With the status of psychedelics, this isn’t feasible, and researchers have to rely on reported benefits without the benefit of placebo effects and patient bias.

Microdosing vs. Macrodosing

How different is a macrodose from a microdose?

Aside from the obvious difference in the dose amount, a few other differences will help you understand why microdosing psilocybin and other psychedelics can be beneficial, especially for your mental health.

Differences in doses

Although there is no general consensus on what constitutes a macro and a microdose, a few factors can help you distinguish between the two.

Usually, a macrodose refers to a dose that is enough for users to experience drastic changes in their perception, cognition, and emotions.

A macrodose can range from a threshold dose to a heroic dose. A threshold dose refers to the dosage that is just enough to facilitate changes in your perception. A heroic dose, on the other hand, is a dose that is high enough to cause effects like ego death.

Conversely, a microdose can be between a fifth to a twentieth of a normal dose for recreational users.

Microdoses do not cause the traditional effects associated with the use of psychedelics.

Differences in individuals

While the baseline for doses can be established using various units of measurement, in actual practice, dosing can be quite tricky.

This is because the effects of macrodosing and microdosing will vary from one individual to another. What may be a microdose for one person may be a macrodose for another.

The effects of macrodosing and microdosing

Another way to distinguish the differences between microdosing and macrodosing is to look at their effects.

Microdosing

The effects of microdosing are vastly different from the effects of macrodosing. If you have used psychedelics before, that’s one of the differences that you will immediately notice.

Current studies indicate that placebo effects influence the effects of microdosing. Even in placebo-controlled studies on LSD microdoses, non-placebo effects have been reported.

The key problem with many studies regarding psychedelics is that they must rely heavily on user reports. Experts need to determine whether microdosing induces those effects or if there are other factors at play.

Nonetheless, there are some similarities in the experiences reported by people who microdose. These include changes in their mood, energy levels, concentration, mental health, and creativity.

Macrodosing

Compared to microdosing, macrodosing offers a diverse range of benefits, including visual, auditory, cognitive, emotional, physical, and mystical effects.

When compared to microdosing, macrodosing effects are more impactful and significant.

Context matters

It is also crucial to take into account how psychedelics are used.

People who microdose psychedelics use these substances because they do not want to experience changes in their perception. Typically, you microdose psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics because you want to do your normal activities.

In contrast, macrodosing is an experience unto itself. You use psychedelics because you don’t expect to do anything else but immerse yourself in a psychedelic experience.

How Microdosing Magic Mushrooms Improves Mood and Mental Health

In a study published in Nature-Scientific Reports, researchers discovered that people who microdosed psilocybin mushrooms reported noticeable improvements in their mental health.

The study involved over 1,000 participants. Of this number, over 900 participants took microdoses of magic shrooms for a month, while 180 people received a placebo.

This and several other studies confirm that psychedelics can boost mood and minimize mental health symptoms like anxiety through microdoses of hallucinogens.

But besides the mental health benefits, scientists are also interested in other potential benefits, including psychomotor benefits.

In one study involving patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s diseases, researchers observed marked improvements in the psychomotor abilities of the participants.

In the 2021 Global Drug Survey, one in four people interviewed reported using microdoses of magic mushrooms or LSD within the year. Among psychedelic substances, LSD and shrooms remain the most popular among those who microdose.

Limitations of psychedelic research

Despite the positive results of many studies around the use of psychedelics, major breakthroughs are not yet within reach due primarily to the limitations of these studies.

Researchers face a major stumbling block: they have limited control over expectancy. Expectancy is a phenomenon where research participants expect certain results.

This phenomenon is fairly common not only in psychedelic research but also in other kinds of studies.

Another major hindrance to psychedelic research is the current status of psychedelics as an illegal substance in most parts of the world.

Fortunately, some government agencies like the United States Federal Drug Administration or FDA have granted breakthrough therapy status to psychedelics, thus fostering a positive environment for further research.

This is crucial not only for psilocybin mushrooms but for psychedelics in general.

Although microdosing psilocybin mushrooms are considered safe, researchers still don’t know the potential long-term effects of psychedelic use.

Overcoming the stigma

Despite the potential benefits of using psychedelic substances for health benefits, these drugs still need to overcome the stigma surrounding them.

Despite the fact that scientists have proven that substances like psilocybin and LSD have a low risk of causing addiction, especially when compared to tobacco and alcohol, the general public still considers psychedelics harmful.

In fact, the general consensus among experts is that microdosing psilocybin is not risky. Aside from the low risk of addiction to these substances, fatalities related to psilocybin use are quite rare. This is because the substance has low toxicity.

How to Microdose Shrooms

When compared to other drugs, the use of shrooms is relatively low. However, that number is steadily rising, most likely because of the mental health benefits of microdosing psilocybin.

It certainly helps that multiple scientific pieces of research confirm the claims about psilocybin mushroom use.

If you are interested in microdosing psilocybin, here are a few things you need to know.

Setting your expectations

Multiple user reports and studies suggest that microdosing psilocybin offers benefits like improvements in mood coupled with the reduction of the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Aside from that, people who microdose say that they have seen improvements in their creativity and productivity.

More importantly, the general consensus among researchers and users is that psilocybin mushrooms are safe. In fact, it is quite difficult to overdose on shrooms. You’ll have to consume a massive amount of mushrooms before reaching a toxic level.

However, some people might be sensitive to mushrooms.

How to microdose

The overall goal of psychedelic microdosing is to reap the benefits without necessarily having a psychedelic experience and impairment associated with a regular dose.

Shrooms can be microdosed in a variety of ways, including powder form, capsules, teas, edibles like shroom gummies, and eaten whole.

Although there is no general guideline on what constitutes a microdose, starting with a lower dose, like a third of a gram, is best. If you are new to microdosing, it is better to err on the side of caution.

But microdosing isn’t just about the dosage. It’s also how frequently you consume mushrooms. Generally, you’d like to consume this psychedelic every other day for one to two weeks.

After that, you should stop microdosing. This will help prevent you from developing a higher tolerance to this psychedelic substance.

Experts and users also suggest avoiding using mushrooms with other substances, especially alcohol.

A few precautions

If you have taken too many mushrooms or if you are sensitive to the psychedelic substance, you might experience a few side effects, including anxiety, nausea, and some hallucinations.

To counter these effects, you’ll need to take deep breaths to help you come down and relax. It is also important that these effects will wear off shortly because microdoses are generally mild.

Finally, ensure that you have someone with you if you plan for psychedelic microdosing.

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