Microdosing Mushrooms: Explained

Microdosing Mushrooms to Science is currently in the midst of a psychedelic research renaissance. Long-practiced Indigenous rites and modern party drugs alike are being investigated with empirical methods. Rigorous studies are being done on various psychedelics’ potential for psychiatric treatment — and some of the results have been quite promising.

Ketamine and psilocybin seem to have a dramatic effect on treatment-resistant depression; MDMA therapy looks promising in the treatment of PTSD.

At the same time, there’s been a cultural shift of sorts, as rapturous anecdotes overflow on Reddit — and spill into the mainstream media — extolling the benefits of microdosing mushrooms, LSD, and various other compounds.

So, What’s “Microdosing Mushrooms” Mean?

Microdosing mushrooms — or any other psychedelic or drug, for that matter — means exactly what it sounds like: taking a very small dose.

Why Do People Do It?

Since they’re not tripping, what do folks get — or believe they get — out of microdosing mushrooms?  Anecdotal reports from the great human chorus that is the internet suggests an array of possible benefits. Dennis van der Meijden, a graphic designer, producer, and rapper in the Netherlands, told STAT his microdosing of mushrooms provides energy and a heightened consciousness — an improved normal, one supposes.

What’s the Science Say About Microdosing Mushrooms?

Regular Dope Science readers will know that, when it comes to drugs, hard science is relatively new to the party (especially considering some Indigenous uses have been practiced for thousands of years).

And there’s some elements of psychedelic research that makes it extra tricky: for example, how does one make a convincing placebo for something so dramatic as a trip? Are the kinds of people who volunteer for these studies more apt to be taking psychedelics — and therefore more likely to approach them with positive attitudes?