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Does Microdosing actually work?
The research of Psychedelics has mostly focused on clinical angles (PTSD, Depression et cetera) using large (macro) doses under supervision of a psychiatrist. Yet fewer studies have investigated microdoses of psychoactive compounds, despite its popularity as a believed cognitive upgrade. I myself, as is fashionable of late, have done a little research of my own.
This idea of using compounds as smart drugs is not new. The movie Limitless is often suggested to be based on the drug Modafinil (otherwise known as Provigil), and the use of amphetamine based pharmacological compounds for studying is so widespread at this point, to call it fringe would be disingenuous. Over the years, psychedelics in particular, have been used for the belief they may enhance productivity, creativity and cognitive flexibility — but how legitimate is this claim really if there are few scientific studies which validate it? In technology, the space I’ve worked for all of my career, microdosing psychoactive compounds was frequently suggested as a performance-enhancing-drug of sorts, a cognitive edge in a domain where edges can mean billions, but could this have all been a hallucination in itself?
Over the years, I’ve gone through periods of micro dosing (both LSD and Psilocybin) to see if it would improve all kinds of cognitive functioning, and had some mixed results. My experiences, obviously, were all anecdotal — there was no real way I could have proved a benefit either way. If you’d put a gun to my head — I’d have said the results were positive? But this was likely me just telling myself a story about it more than a real, interoceptive assessment.
First though, before you read on, the usual caveats apply to something like this. It goes without saying, don’t use illegal substances, don’t do things without a doctor’s oversight, abide by the laws that govern the jurisdictions in which you live, and only engage in these activities, should you wish, where it is legal and safe to do so — none of this should be considered medical advice, obviously. But most of all, If you have any sense of mental illness or psychosis, or even simply increased vulnerabilities to mental disorders, which you’d find out by seeing a professional, you should take the doctors route, have a discussion about it, and my advice, is to steer clear from loading up your mind with mysterious compounds, because there can be some real…
