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Microdosing as a Response to the Meaning Crisis: A Qualitative Analysis

Rotem Petranker, Juensung J. Kim, Thomas Anderson

Journal of Humanistic Psychology February 14, 2022 DOI: 10.1177/00221678221075076 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Placebo-controlled Double-blind Peer reviewed
Sample size 118
Population People who reported microdosing at least once in the last year
Topics Microdosing
Key findings Four emergent themes were identified: reasons for microdosing, the practice of microdosing, outcomes linked to microdosing, and meta-commentary about microdosing; the results suggest benefits occur regardless of motivation and are likely due to enhanced psychological flexibility and connectedness.

Abstract

The use of psychedelic substances in both humanistic and mainstream clinical research has been increasing in the last decade. In particular, the practice of microdosing—ingesting sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics—has been increasing in popularity, but large-scale qualitative analyses are still uncommon. This study attempted to recognize emergent themes in qualitative reports regarding the experience of microdosing to enrich the theoretical landscape in psychedelic research and propose future research directions for both basic and clinical research. Participants were people who reported microdosing at least once in the last year; they described their experiences using an online survey. Data from 118 informative responses suggested four main emergent themes: reasons for microdosing, the practice of microdosing itself, outcomes linked to microdosing, and meta-commentary about microdosing. We use meaning-making theory and propose that, even at low doses, psychedelic substances can provide a sense of meaning. Our results suggest that many of the reported benefits occur regardless of motivation to microdose and are likely due to the enhanced psychological flexibility and a sense of connectedness made possible due to the use of psychedelics. Double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments are required to substantiate these reports.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on microdosing, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Psychedelic microdosing benefits and challenges: an empirical codebook Active microdosing community 2019 Mixed-methods study
Narrative identity, rationality, and microdosing classic psychedelics People who had microdosed classic psychedelics 2019 Qualitative study n = 30
Twenty percent better with 20 micrograms? A qualitative study of psychedelic microdosing self-rapports and discussions on YouTube YouTube videos and comments about psychedelic microdosing 2019 Qualitative study
Accounting for Microdosing Classic Psychedelics People who had microdosed classic psychedelics 2019 Qualitative study n = 30
Experiences of microdosing psychedelics in an attempt to support wellbeing and mental health. People who microdose psychedelic drugs 2023 Qualitative study n = 13

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