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Microdosing Psychedelics Linked to Better Mood & Focus

OtherMicrodosing Psychedelics Linked to Better Mood & Focus

As far as I am aware, no. It is theoretically possible to have some long-term effects with chronic LSD recreational dosing (HPPD, some controversy here), and my understanding is that repeated LSD+ecstasy recreational dosing can screw up the serotonin system pretty badly.

For microdosing, the effects are very small to begin with, and the chronic effects are likely around you finding new or different ways to handle problems, and you remember the lessons even when you don’t take the drug.

Different drugs are very different. A typical LSD microdose might be 5 micrograms. If you multiplied that by 20, you get a recreational dose. A reasonable dose for an older antidepressant such as amitriptyline is 100mg, multipy that by 20 and you get a potentially lethal overdose, and similar math applies to SSRI and SNRI overdoses. SSRIs have severe discontinuation syndromes if you discontinue, whereas if you take LSD every day it stops working.

Different drugs are very different.

There is no physical dependence with daily LSD administration even at recreational dosing as far as I am aware. One can, of course, develop mental habituation and addictive behavior around anything. This applies to sugar and coffee, so of course LSD is no exception. So there is a risk.

Based on personal experience (so, purely anecdotal from a stranger on the internet), there is no withdrawal even after years of regular microdosing. I dosed for suicidality. After several years, I started forgetting to dose because I was feeling good. Then I would start feeling suicidal and remember I hadn’t dosed in a while. Maybe you could call that a dependence, but the suicidality started first. Over the past 2 years, I have worked hard to improve my mental reserves and have a lot less stress, so I am no longer suicidal and I no longer microdose. I have no after-effects, except knowing that if I become severely depressed and suicidal in the future I have a way out. (For anyone struggling with depression and suicidality, you know very well what it means to have a way out.)

For what it is worth, psychedelic use is actually inversely associated with lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia. I have my own theory as to why this is, but it could be because schizophrenics or people with strong family histories of schizophrenia stay away from psychedelics. It could also be because psychedelic exposure teaches you how to manage schizophrenic experiences without needing professional medical assistance (and so you never get diagnosed with schizophrenia because you manage it yourself). It could also be because psychedelics improve social awareness and social connection which are then protective of mental health overall. I don’t know if anyone has teased out why this inverse relationship exists, but for now if you have a personal or family history of psychosis it is probably a good idea to stay away from psychedelics in general, unless under direct care of a competent physician.

If you do not have a personal or family history of psychosis, it is important to relax your concern about psychosis as LSD-induced psychosis is quite rare. In every case I have been able to find, LSD-induced psychosis is either in the context of marked pre-existing mental illness, or occurs after several days of drug-induced insomnia (i.e. tripping every night + cocaine + amphetamine at a multi-day music festival, etcetera). If you stay awake for 4-5 days straight, even the most sane person will start developing symptoms of psychosis. Microdosed LSD simply will not have this effect; indeed, if you suffer from ADD/ADHD, it may even make you sleep or at least improve your sleep if you microdose at least 6-8 hours before you intend to try to sleep.

Not sure if this answers the question. There isn’t much good research on the topic as far as I am aware.

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