Self-blinding citizen science to explore psychedelic microdosing

Summary & key facts

Researchers ran a citizen-led study where 191 people tried a month of microdosing while using a simple self-blinding method to include placebos. Both the people taking microdoses and those taking placebos felt better on many psychological measures after four weeks. The study found no clear overall benefit of real microdoses over placebo, and the small differences that did appear could be explained by some participants figuring out whether they had taken the drug or a placebo.

Key facts:

• 191 people completed the study, making it the largest placebo-controlled trial of psychedelic microdosing so far.
• Participants followed online instructions to ‘self-blind’, meaning they mixed real microdoses and placebo doses themselves so they would not always know which they took.
• After four weeks, people in both the microdose group and the placebo group reported improved psychological scores compared with their starting point.
• There were no significant overall differences between the microdose group and the placebo group on the main psychological outcomes.
• Small differences favoring microdoses appeared on short-term measures like mood, energy, creativity, and on later anxiety scores.
• The study authors say those small differences can be explained by some participants breaking the blind — that is, guessing or noticing whether they had taken the active drug or a placebo.
• Because the project was done by people at home without clinical supervision, the results show how much placebo and expectation might drive the positive stories about microdosing.

Abstract

Microdosing is the practice of regularly using low doses of psychedelic drugs. Anecdotal reports suggest that microdosing enhances well-being and cognition; however, such accounts are potentially biased by the placebo effect. This study used a 'self-blinding' citizen science initiative, where participants were given online instructions on how to incorporate placebo control into their microdosing routine without clinical supervision. The study was completed by 191 participants, making it the largest placebo-controlled trial on psychedelics to-date. All psychological outcomes improved significantly from baseline to after the 4 weeks long dose period for the microdose group; however, the placebo group also improved and no significant between-groups differences were observed. Acute (emotional state, drug intensity, mood, energy, and creativity) and post-acute (anxiety) scales showed small, but significant microdose vs. placebo differences; however, these results can be explained by participants breaking blind. The findings suggest that anecdotal benefits of microdosing can be explained by the placebo effect.

Topics

Chemical synthesis and alkaloids Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Alternative medicine Anxiety Blinding Clinical psychology Clinical trial Internal medicine Medicine MicroDose Mood Pathology Pharmacology Placebo Psychiatry Psychology

Substances

Other

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Anxiety or worry Difficulty focusing Lack of energy or motivation