Microdosing psychedelics might have the key that unlocks your brain. - Girlsplained.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to foster the purchase, distribution, or consumption of drugs. Addiction is not a game, if you’re going through a recovery process and this article might trigger you, don’t read it. Also, if you are seeking help to overcome an addiction and feel alone, please email me, you’re not alone.
All of my life I’ve been told drugs are bad for you. Using them will inevitably unleash chaos in your life. But what if I told you that some people are trying to change that conception?
People have been experimenting with the effects of psychedelics for centuries. Even Steve Jobs used to be extremely open about it. "I would ingest the LSD on a sugar cube or in a hard form of gelatin. I would usually take LSD when I was by myself. I have no words to explain the effect the LSD had on me, although, I can say it was a positive life-changing experience for me and I am glad I went through that experience.”
Turns out, he’s not the only one who thinks psychedelics can make you change the way you see the world.
“Microdosing” became trendy a few years ago amongst Silicon Valley workers. In a highly competitive world like that one, people are willing to do anything to make the most out of their careers, including taking psychedelics. Well, I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise, these are people who say they work in “unicorns.” I think that’s trippy enough.
“Hey boss, can I reimburse the pizza I ate when I got the munchies. It was part of a business trip?”
But before going any further. What does it mean to micro-dose?
We’ve been told that everything can be good for you in the right amount. Could that be the case with psychedelics?
Microdosing is a practice that consists in consistently taking a tiny amount of drugs (usually 10%-20% of a recreational dose) during a certain period of time to improve your creativity, focus, productivity, memory, or overall well-being. In the beginning, it was supposed to be done with psychedelics alone - LSD, ayahuasca, peyote, mushrooms -, but people are now doing it out of other drugs as well. Microdosing marihuana is also a common practice.
The amount depends on your previous drug use and what’s your motive. It should be the exact amount to make your brain start working and connecting, but it shouldn’t make you feel trippy or high.
How does it work?
Since taking psychedelics is illegal in most countries, there’s no recipe or a certified plan to ingest them. All we know is the information other users share online, especially on Reddit. Plus, it varies depending on the drug, the making procedure, and the intent of using it.
Some people take a small amount for a few consecutive days, stop for a day, and then microdose again. Others take it twice a week with some rest days in between. And some even take it every day for a shorter period of time.
What they all recommend is to take the first few dosis when you have a day off. As the subreddit group, “r/microdosing” claims, “If you are trying microdosing for the first time, please try experimenting on a day off from work or any important obligations, and/or driving and operating machinery. Because psychedelics can affect everyone differently, you may feel different or impaired, and your sweet spot dose may be lower, so it is best to experiment on days off until you’ve dialed in your dose.”
Again, there’s not a step-by-step one-pager you could find online. If you’re meaning to try this, research a lot, find someone who can guide you in the process, and ask your therapist or another qualified health provider for advice.
What are psychedelics? And what are they made of?
Psychedelics are a type of drug that, when consumed in a recreational amount, can make you hallucinate and have an altered perception of reality.
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, “Psychedelics affect all the senses, altering a person’s thinking, sense of time and emotions. They can also cause a person to hallucinate—seeing or hearing things that do not exist or are distorted.” Some of the drugs under this category are:
LSD is a substance found in ergot and is a fungus that infects rye. It’s a synthetic and chemical drug. This is commonly sold as drops of LSD solution dried onto gelatin sheets, pieces of blotting paper, or sugar cubes.
Peyote is a psychedelic cactus. It contains a large spectrum of phenylethylamine alkaloids.
Ayahuasca is a tea or a brew made from the leaves of the Psychotria Viridis shrub with Banisteriopsis caapi vine, and other plants.
Magic mushrooms (shrooms), also called Psilocybin, grow in nature and can trigger alterations in perception, mood and thought.
Does it really work? Can you actually improve your life by ingesting micro amounts of drugs?
Well, thousands of people around the world tend to think so. Here are some reviews I found online:
Graydon Woods said, “I microdosed for thirty days. 4 on and 1 off. I stacked my pills with psilocybin, lion's mane, rishi and Damiana. After just 8 days, the carpal tunnel in my right hand disappeared, my eyesight and hearing improved and I literally became a nicer, more creative person. I suggest the entire planet try it asap.”
Author from the Willamette Week, Matthew Korfhage, tried microdosing with four different drugs: shrooms (psilocybin), cannabis, LSD and DMT. Every substance hit him differently, and while he couldn’t tell the effect the first two had on him, his colleagues and friends reported he was acting differently. His favorite was DMT but not to work - unless it is a customer service type of job -.
Korfhage said LSD was the best one regarding his energy levels, “Microdosed LSD is an entirely different experience. I did what I believed to be a 10-microgram dose each day, about one-tenth of a standard hit, left me feeling brighter, sharper and more energized in a noticeable way, without the tooth-grinding speediness of uppers like caffeine or Adderall, which are also used in offices as productivity tools.”
An unknown Reddit user shared in r/microdosing the following, “I’ve been microdosing for two weeks now. I’m taking about 0.05 g/twice a week with two days of a break in between doses. I’ve been a lot more productive than usual. I don’t dwell on the fact that I need to get shit done ~ I just do it! So far I’ve only applied that to cleaning and organizing.”
But not everything is perfect, the same user mentioned above shared that bad thoughts have been racing through her mind and she’s been impulsive with her money.
Also, another Reddit user (MonkResponsible1466) wrote his experience in the same subreddit, “I've been microdosing mushroom truffles for almost a month now. 4 days a week. My mood wasn't stable all the time. Some days I even feel depressed and I feel that my anxiety hasn't gone much better.”
As psychedelic psychologist Rosalind Watts explains in her Oxford TedX talk, a psychedelic experience allows the unconscious mind to become conscious. Therefore, you’re able to see everything that you’ve been putting away, hidden for years, it can be incredibly painful or incredibly beautiful.
Pros and cons of microdosing according to users.
As I mentioned above, every experience with microdosing or recreational size psychedelics is different. Also, the feelings can vary depending on the type of drug. However, these are the most repeated pros and cons.
Benefits:
Your brain has a higher degree of connectivity between the different parts of the brain. Those connections are partly what allows visual hallucinations to happen. It makes you see stuff in a different way.
Graphic from Vox.
People experience joy in performing typical tasks. While before consuming psychedelics, those tasks felt boring and routinary.
This can be a pro or a con at the same time, people say they get to reflect on what’s happening inside of them. This can be a positive or negative experience.
Improved sensory experience. People say they felt the world differently, and some sensors enhanced.
Post-microdosing joy. While we’ve heard that other drugs make you feel terrible the next day, microdosing psychedelics can make you feel more joyful the next day than usual.
Some studies show that it can be a major help in curing cigarette addiction, anxiety and depression.
Increased focus, productivity and creativity. Which allows people to perform better at whatever they do for a living. As a personal note, I don’t have anything against recreational drugs. However, if you feel the need to start consuming any kind of substance to perform better and to be able to compete with your peers, maybe you should question the type of job you’re doing and whether or not that’s beneficial for you and your body.
Disadvantages:
It’s illegal. While some countries have approved the use of psychedelics as a medical treatment. Using it for a self-proposed microdosing experience is not. You could go to jail for buying this kind of stuff.
Following the previous disadvantage, since it’s illegal to produce, you cannot be sure if what you’re consuming has other components and if it’s going to be good for you.
You can get really thirsty while you’re microdosing.
You are going to be high, especially if you’re not a person who consumes drugs recreationally. The next 3-4 hours can be a trippy experience.
The possibility of becoming an addict hasn’t been discarded. Microdosing could eventually turn into macrodosing.
There aren’t enough studies that confirm what happens to your brain and your body in the long term after the constant micro use of psychedelics.
Some users say it may cause short-term memory loss.
Psychedelics could be the cure for depression.
While some drugs and medicine may cause depression, Alcohol, Antabuse, Anticonvulsants, Benzodiazepines, Cocaine, Beta-adrenergic blockers, Estrogens, Opioids, Statins, to name a few. Psychedelics might cure it.
Some studies have shown that patients who suffer from chronic depression find microdosing psychedelics better than using antidepressants.
The study I’m about to share is just one of a few other studies that have been conducted on this subject. However, I think for this to gain more credibility, scientists need to do research with a placebo control team. That hasn’t happened yet.
According to psychedelic psychologist Rosalind Watts, “Antidepressants don't treat the cause of the pain, they numb their emotions. But they also numbed other emotions.” Making people feel flattened or unable to feel other things.
In this study, she took 20 people who suffered from depression, used antidepressants and went regularly to a therapist.
The participants first had regular sessions with the therapists, and once they built a trustworthy relationship, patients were given psilocybin (shrooms). It came with a ritual where patients would have their eyes closed and would listen to some music.
The first sessions (before psychedelics) would have a structure proposed by the therapists. When they were on psychedelics, they organized their own session.
When you’re on these kinds of drugs your brain connects in new ways, allowing you to see parts of yourself that have been repressed or sent to the unconscious mind. One of the patients discovered he had been sexually abused as a child and that was one of the reasons why he was depressed. Watts said “It could be incredibly painful or incredibly beautiful. With psilocybin, we achieved in 6 hours of session what we would’ve achieved in 6 years of therapy.”
During the experiment, patients would go through these three phases:
Revisiting childhood trauma.
Getting insights about their lives.
Experiencing harmony, connection and unity.
Patients described the experience with shrooms as:
Going from being emotionally locked, to being emotionally liberated. From avoiding emotion to accepting emotion.
Antidepressants didn’t treat the cause of the pain, but they numbed their emotions. They also numbed other emotions.
Outer unlock, from disconnection with the world to being connected with it.
Contrary to antidepressants, users didn’t report any side effects in the following days, and some didn’t have any sign of depression for months or years.
In the end, six months after the psychedelics dose, 6 of them were in remission, 3 of them had no effects, and 11 of them experienced mild or no symptoms at all after two months.
Watts doesn’t believe that these mushrooms are actually magically curing depression, she believes “it is not the mushroom that cures depression. It’s the patient. The mushroom just shows you the way.”
I thought this was a pretty interesting topic since I first heard the term “microdosing” a few weeks ago. Again, I do not encourage you to do it, but if you ever decide to try it, do your research and ask a health professional about it.
Look at all the things you learned today:
This article is not meant to promote the use of drugs.
Microdosing psychedelics became trendy a few years ago amongst Silicon Valley workers.
Microdosing consists in consistently taking a tiny amount of drugs during a certain period of time to improve your creativity, focus, productivity, memory or overall well-being.
Psychedelics are a type of drug that, when consumed in a recreational amount, can make you hallucinate and have an altered perception of reality.
The most common psychedelics are: LSD, Peyote, Ayahuasca, Shrooms.
Thousands of people online say it’s the best thing that has ever happened to them.
Psychedelics make you feel a lot. That can either be a good or a bad experience.
One of the most important disadvantages is that this is an illegal practice.
Studies have shown that psychedelics can catalyze your way to discovering the cause of your depression and curing it.
Thanks for reading. I hope you learned something. If so, please recommend it, leave a comment if you want me to explain any particular topic, or buy me a beer if you truly enjoyed it.
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