Short answer
Microdosing means taking a small amount of psilocybin, below the level that causes a noticeable trip, on a repeating schedule. People commonly report better mood, focus, and creativity. But in the best placebo-controlled studies, people taking a placebo improved about as much as people taking psilocybin. The evidence so far suggests expectation explains much of the benefit, and the long-term safety of repeated dosing hasn't been studied.
Key takeaways
- Microdosing is far less studied than full-dose psilocybin therapy.
- A large self-blinding study found microdosers and placebo takers improved about equally.
- The impressive depression results you've read about come from full, supervised doses, not microdoses.
- Long-term safety of frequent dosing is unknown, and potency varies widely between mushrooms.
What microdosing is
Microdosing means taking a small amount of a psychedelic, intended to be below the threshold where you'd notice obvious effects, repeatedly over weeks. The goal isn't a trip. It's a subtle lift in mood, focus, energy, or creativity. It took off in the 2010s in tech circles and has since gone mainstream.
We don't publish microdosing schedules or amounts. Partly that's because psilocybin is federally illegal, and partly it's because mushroom potency varies so much that a "small" amount from one batch can be a much bigger dose from another.
What microdosers report
Survey and observational studies are full of positive reports. In one study that followed people for a month, microdosers reported bigger improvements in mood and mental health than a comparison group of non-microdosers.3 People commonly describe:
- Better mood and less anxiety
- More focus and energy
- More creativity and openness
- Feeling more present and connected
The problem is that these studies can't separate the substance from the ritual. People who choose to microdose expect to feel better, and expectation is one of the most powerful forces in medicine.
What placebo-controlled studies show
Researchers at Imperial College came up with a clever workaround for the legal barriers: participants who already planned to microdose set up their own blinded capsules, some with their usual microdose and some empty, then mixed them up so they didn't know which they were taking. Across 191 people, both groups improved on wellbeing and mood measures, and the differences between real microdoses and placebo were small and mostly not significant.1 People who correctly guessed they were on the real thing reported more benefit, which points straight at expectation.
A 2022 double-blind study in Argentina gave participants either psilocybin mushrooms or placebo in microdoses and measured mood, cognition, creativity, and brain activity. It found few differences between the groups, though participants could often tell when they'd taken the active dose.2
Safety questions
Microdoses are generally well tolerated in the short term. The open question is what happens with frequent, repeated use over months or years. Psilocybin also activates the serotonin 2B receptor, found in heart valve tissue, and long-term activation of that receptor by certain other drugs has been linked to heart valve disease. Researchers have flagged this as a theoretical risk for chronic microdosing that hasn't been studied.4 Other practical issues:
- Potency varies, so an intended microdose can turn into an unexpected trip at a bad moment.
- Interactions with medications like lithium are a real concern. See interactions.
- Legal risk applies regardless of amount.
Where that leaves microdosing
Microdosing might have modest real effects that small studies haven't been able to detect, or it might be mostly a well-packaged placebo. Right now, the evidence leans toward the second, and larger, longer, well-blinded trials would settle it. Meanwhile, if someone is selling microdoses with promises of curing anything, keep your wallet in your pocket.
Common questions
Does microdosing psilocybin work for depression?
There isn't good evidence that it does. The clinical trials showing strong results for depression used full doses in supervised sessions. Microdosing studies with placebo controls have mostly found effects similar to placebo.
Is microdosing safe?
Short-term, microdoses seem to be well tolerated by most healthy people. Long-term, nobody knows. Researchers have raised a theoretical concern about heart valves with frequent, long-term use of drugs that act on a serotonin receptor found in heart tissue. It hasn't been tested.
Is microdosing legal?
Possessing psilocybin is illegal under federal law regardless of the amount. Colorado allows adults 21+ to possess and grow psilocybin mushrooms for personal use. Oregon's program covers supervised sessions at licensed centers, not take-home microdoses.
Sources
- Szigeti B, et al. Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing. eLife. 2021. doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62878
- Cavanna F, et al. Microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms: a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Translational Psychiatry. 2022. doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02039-0
- Rootman JM, et al. Psilocybin microdosers demonstrate greater observed improvements in mood and mental health at one month relative to non-microdosing controls. Scientific Reports. 2022. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14512-3
- Tagen M, et al. The risk of chronic psychedelic and MDMA microdosing for valvular heart disease. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2023. doi.org/10.1177/02698811231190865
This article is for education only and is not medical or legal advice. Psilocybin is a Schedule I substance under U.S. federal law. Talk with a licensed clinician before making decisions about your health. In a crisis, call or text 988.