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Narrative identity, rationality, and microdosing classic psychedelics
Abstract
Background:
Microdosing involves ingesting a small dose of a classic psychedelic (e.g., LSD and psilocybin) at regular intervals for prolonged periods. The practice is said to reduce anxiety, improve mood, and offer several creative and practical benefits to users. Using the narrative identity theoretical framework, our aim was to explore the experiences of those who microdosed classic psychedelics. Specifically, we sought to understand how and why they began microdosing and how they made sense of their actions in the context of their conventional lives.
Methods:
To understand the experiences of those who microdose classic psychedelics, we rely on data collected from semi-structured interviews with 30 people who had microdosed.
Results:
Participants saw themselves as conventional citizens who microdosed for rational and instrumental purposes. They emphasized the rationality of microdosing by discussing (1) the practicality of their procurement and administration processes, (2) the connection between their microdosing practice and their general awareness in health and wellness, and (3) the benefits of the practice.
Conclusion:
Participants described their microdosing in the context of embracing traditional middle-class values. This created social distance between themselves and those who use drugs recreationally. While people who use drugs recreationally typically construct boundaries by distancing themselves from symbolic others (i.e., "crackheads," "meth heads," "junkies"), microdosers constructed boundaries by emphasizing connections to conventional citizens who embrace middle-class values. This connection to conventional citizens allows them to normalize their drug use and facilitates persistence.
... Though microdosing psychedelic drugs is likely to be met with stigmatization, people who microdose often describe their drug use as initiating positive effects such as improved mood, increased concentration, boosting energy, and many more (Kuypers et al. 2019;Webb et al. 2019). Indeed, the act of ingesting any illicit substance is intrinsically stigmatizing, and thus the microdosing of psychedelic drugs is by no means publicly viewed as a more acceptable form of drug use. ...
... However, subcultural theory has yet to be used to explore more recently popularized methods of illicit drug use such as microdosing psychedelics, which has gained popularity in the past decade. Microdosing is also unique, as those who engage in it focus on the nootropic aspect of it rather than the mystical or euphoric experiences from larger doses (Webb et al. 2019). Therefore, the need to explore the subculture of microdosing psychedelics is important in that it may further our understanding of why people choose to engage in illicit drug use as well as how such a culture transfers its methods and values upon newcomers who seek to microdose psychedelic substances in an effort toward the betterment of themselves in some capacity. ...
... The act of microdosing differs from the traditional, recreational use of classic psychedelic substances in that the traditional uses of psychedelics achieve sensations of euphoria as well as spiritual and selfexploration, while those who microdose seek to resist such experiences (Beaton et al. 2020;Webb et al. 2019). Those who microdose typically have instrumental aims for their practices. ...
... Éstas van desde la reducción de la ansiedad y la depresión, pasando por el mejoramiento del bienestar y el desempeño cognitivo, hasta el mejoramiento de la salud física y el aumento de la empatía, la espirtualidad y la curiosidad (Hutten et al., 2019;. En efecto, varios estudios transversales han identificado asociaciones entre la microdosificación y las mejoras percibidas en el estado de ánimo (Anderson et al., 2019;Johnstad, 2018;Szigeti et al., 2021;Webb et al., 2019) y el funcionamiento cognitivo Rosenbaum et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2019), reducciones en el estrés (Polito & Stevenson, 2019) , depresión (Cameron et al., 2020;Polito & Stevenson, 2019;Webb et al., 2019) y ansiedad (Cameron et al., 2020;Kaertner et al., 2021;Polito & Stevenson, 2019). ...
... Éstas van desde la reducción de la ansiedad y la depresión, pasando por el mejoramiento del bienestar y el desempeño cognitivo, hasta el mejoramiento de la salud física y el aumento de la empatía, la espirtualidad y la curiosidad (Hutten et al., 2019;. En efecto, varios estudios transversales han identificado asociaciones entre la microdosificación y las mejoras percibidas en el estado de ánimo (Anderson et al., 2019;Johnstad, 2018;Szigeti et al., 2021;Webb et al., 2019) y el funcionamiento cognitivo Rosenbaum et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2019), reducciones en el estrés (Polito & Stevenson, 2019) , depresión (Cameron et al., 2020;Polito & Stevenson, 2019;Webb et al., 2019) y ansiedad (Cameron et al., 2020;Kaertner et al., 2021;Polito & Stevenson, 2019). ...
... Éstas van desde la reducción de la ansiedad y la depresión, pasando por el mejoramiento del bienestar y el desempeño cognitivo, hasta el mejoramiento de la salud física y el aumento de la empatía, la espirtualidad y la curiosidad (Hutten et al., 2019;. En efecto, varios estudios transversales han identificado asociaciones entre la microdosificación y las mejoras percibidas en el estado de ánimo (Anderson et al., 2019;Johnstad, 2018;Szigeti et al., 2021;Webb et al., 2019) y el funcionamiento cognitivo Rosenbaum et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2019), reducciones en el estrés (Polito & Stevenson, 2019) , depresión (Cameron et al., 2020;Polito & Stevenson, 2019;Webb et al., 2019) y ansiedad (Cameron et al., 2020;Kaertner et al., 2021;Polito & Stevenson, 2019). ...
Este artículo de reflexión sobre microdosificación con psilocibina se hizo con base en estudios observacionales, ensayos clínicos, una revisión sistemática y un estudio sociológico. La búsqueda se hizo en Pubmed usando los descriptores “psilocybin” y “microdosing”. Se tomaron artículos desde 2019 hasta enero de 2023, en inglés, enfocados en la microdosificación con psilocibina y principalmente del ámbito de las ciencias de la salud, que estudiaran sus efectos en la salud mental, el bienestar y en procesos neurológicos de tipo cognitivo y psicomotor, así como el rol de las expectativas en la aplicación clínica de la psilocibina o los psiquedélicos en general. El objetivo fue comprender hacia dónde apunta la evidencia científica en este tema y qué factores se deben seguir considerando para la investigación clínica. Otros artículos se incluyeron por su relevancia en el tema. Los estudios que más reflejan los efectos positivos son reportes anecdóticos, pero hay una dificultad para replicar dichos resultados en estudios controlados. La revisión sistemática no especifica los resultados en relación con la psilocibina, pero se encontró una mejoría general de la salud mental; en relación con la ansiedad y el estrés los resultados fueron mixtos; se encontraron desenlaces positivos en creatividad y bienestar. Se percibe la dificultad en aislar la influencia de las expectativas y el placebo. En estudios de laboratorio las muestras son muy pequeñas para ser significativas. Los estudios sociológicos pueden contribuir con la mejor comprensión de aspectos cualitativos. El estado actual de la investigación sobre microdosificación con psilocibina puede informar los escenarios de la investigación a futuro tanto en las fases preclínicas como clínicas con atención en los factores de confusión, así como aspectos cualitativos y propios de esta práctica. No menos importante será su contribución en la salud pública.
... Surveys of microdosing psilocybin have identified diverse practices but generally converge on the self-administration, 3-5 times per week, of 0.1 to 0.3 g of dried mushrooms [7][8][9][10][11][12] . Improvements in mood, emotional well-being and cognition have been reported among the top motivations for microdosing 13 , and several cross-sectional studies have identified associations between microdosing and perceived improvements in mood [13][14][15][16][17] and cognitive functioning 10,11,16 , reductions in stress 7 , depression 7,9,16 and anxiety 7,9,14,18 . www.nature.com/scientificreports/ ...
... Surveys of microdosing psilocybin have identified diverse practices but generally converge on the self-administration, 3-5 times per week, of 0.1 to 0.3 g of dried mushrooms [7][8][9][10][11][12] . Improvements in mood, emotional well-being and cognition have been reported among the top motivations for microdosing 13 , and several cross-sectional studies have identified associations between microdosing and perceived improvements in mood [13][14][15][16][17] and cognitive functioning 10,11,16 , reductions in stress 7 , depression 7,9,16 and anxiety 7,9,14,18 . www.nature.com/scientificreports/ ...
... Surveys of microdosing psilocybin have identified diverse practices but generally converge on the self-administration, 3-5 times per week, of 0.1 to 0.3 g of dried mushrooms [7][8][9][10][11][12] . Improvements in mood, emotional well-being and cognition have been reported among the top motivations for microdosing 13 , and several cross-sectional studies have identified associations between microdosing and perceived improvements in mood [13][14][15][16][17] and cognitive functioning 10,11,16 , reductions in stress 7 , depression 7,9,16 and anxiety 7,9,14,18 . www.nature.com/scientificreports/ ...
Psilocybin microdosing involves repeated self-administration of mushrooms containing psilocybin at doses small enough to not impact regular functioning. Microdose practices are diverse and include combining psilocybin with substances such as lion's mane mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus; HE) and niacin (vitamin-B3). Public uptake of microdosing has outpaced evidence, mandating further prospective research. Using a naturalistic, observational design, we followed psilocybin microdosers (n = 953) and non-microdosing comparators (n = 180) for approximately 30 days and identified small-to medium-sized improvements in mood and mental health that were generally consistent across gender, age and presence of mental health concerns, as we all as improvements in psychomotor performance that were specific to older adults. Supplementary analyses indicated that combining psilocybin with HE and B3 did not impact changes in mood and mental health. However, among older microdosers combining psilocybin, HE and B3 was associated with psychomotor improvements relative to psilocybin alone and psilocybin and HE. Our findings of mood and mental health improvements associated with psilocybin microdosing add to previous studies of psychedelic microdosing by using a comparator group and by examining the consistency of effects across age, gender, and mental health. Findings regarding the combination of psilocybin, HE and B3 are novel and highlight the need for further research to confirm and elucidate these apparent effects.
... Improved mood associated with microdosing was found across numerous qualitative (Anderson et al., 2019a;Fadiman & Korb, 2019;Johnstad, 2018;Lea et al., 2020a;Webb et al., 2019), retrospective survey (Anderson et al., 2019b;Hutten et al., 2019a;Lea et al., 2020b;Petranker, Anderson, Maier, et al., 2020), prospective (Szigeti et al., 2021), and lab ...
... Improvements in substance misuse was another recurrent finding, although this was assessed in only a minority of studies. Qualitative studies showed microdosing was thought by respondents to be linked to reductions in smoking (Johnstad, 2018), and substance use (Anderson et al., 2019b;Webb et al., 2019). Additionally, one retrospective survey study found that microdosers reported lower levels of substance use disorders yet higher rates of recreational substance use (Rosenbaum et al., 2020). ...
... Three qualitative studies (Anderson et al., 2019b;Beaton et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2019), and one retrospective survey study showed increases in the overlapping constructs of wellbeing, self-fulfilment, self-efficacy, and resilience. ...
The use of low doses of psychedelic substances (microdosing) is attracting increasing interest. This systematic review summarises all empirical microdosing research to date, including a set of infrequently cited studies that took place prior to prohibition. Specifically, we reviewed 44 studies published between 1955 and 2021, and summarised reported effects across six categories: mood and mental health; wellbeing and attitude; cognition and creativity; personality; changes in conscious state; and neurobiology and physiology. Studies showed a wide range in risk of bias, depending on design, age, and other study characteristics. Laboratory studies found changes in pain perception, time perception, conscious state, and neurophysiology. Self-report studies found changes in cognitive processing and mental health. We review data related to expectation and placebo effects, but argue that claims that microdosing effects are largely due to expectancy are premature and possibly wrong. In addition, we attempt to clarify definitional inconsistencies in the microdosing literature by providing suggested dose ranges across different substances. Finally, we provide specific design suggestions to facilitate more rigorous future research.
... Although research into psychedelic microdosing is burgeoning, empirical accounts exploring individuals' meaning-making around microdosing psychedelics are still scarce. So far, studies have explored how people dose and use psychedelics in this practice (Johnstad, 2018) and how they self-report the 'effects' of psychedelics (Webb et al., 2019). Further, studies have touched upon microdosing as cognitive enhancement (Bornemann, 2018) and the potential of microdosing as a therapeutic tool (Lea et al., 2020). ...
... Microdosing is a practice in which people ingest small doses of psychedelic drugs, usually repeatedly over a period of time that do not provide intoxication or alter users' consciousness in significant ways (Fadiman, 2011). Instead, microdosers say they are seeking more subtle outcomes that contribute to a "better" life-more focus, ease, motivation, or reflection (Webb et al., 2019). ...
... The authors show that by emphasizing justifications and acknowledging their drug use, participants positioned microdoses of classic psychedelics as "being a tool for success", allowing them to claim their substance use was socially acceptable. The issue of felt stigma around drug use and the felt dichotomy between social expectations and substance use did surface in the study by Webb et al. (2019). The participants in their study showcased "middle-class values" by creating social distance between those who use drugs recreationally and those who, like themselves, aim for an improvement in their lives, in this way normalizing their drug use. ...
Psychedelic microdosing, or taking small doses of psychedelic substances that do not induce intoxication or altered states but rather subtle outcomes such as increased focus, has quickly become a mass media phenomenon. Many claim microdosing has become the new secret to enhancement in work contexts. Drawing from literature on psychedelic microdosing, technologies of the self, self-identity and the sociology of work and leisure, this study understands microdosing as a technology individuals introduce into their lives to modify themselves for various purposes. We explore the ways in which the 1960s iconic psychedelic drugs, that once offered turning on, tuning in and dropping out, are now finding new uses across different contexts. Taking a cultural-sociological perspective, we examine how individuals use microdoses of classic psychedelic drugs and how they make sense of microdosing in their daily lives. Based on our findings, we identify three different uses of psychedelic microdosing: (1) as technology of self-esteem and control at work, (2) as a self-help technology, and (3) as a technology of ‘slow living’.
... Improved mood associated with microdosing was found across numerous qualitative (Anderson et al., 2019a;Fadiman & Korb, 2019;Johnstad, 2018;Lea et al., 2020a;Webb et al., 2019), retrospective survey (Anderson et al., 2019b;Hutten et al., 2019a;Lea et al., 2020b;Petranker, Anderson, Maier, et al., 2020), prospective (Szigeti et al., 2021), and lab ...
... Improvements in substance misuse was another recurrent finding, although this was assessed in only a minority of studies. Qualitative studies showed microdosing was thought by respondents to be linked to reductions in smoking (Johnstad, 2018), and substance use (Anderson et al., 2019b;Webb et al., 2019). Additionally, one retrospective survey study found that microdosers reported lower levels of substance use disorders yet higher rates of recreational substance use (Rosenbaum et al., 2020). ...
... Three qualitative studies (Anderson et al., 2019b;Beaton et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2019), and one retrospective survey study showed increases in the overlapping constructs of wellbeing, self-fulfilment, self-efficacy, and resilience. ...
The use of low doses of psychedelic substances (microdosing) is attracting increasing interest. This systematic review summarises all empirical microdosing research to date, including a set of infrequently cited studies that took place prior to prohibition. Specifically, we reviewed 44 studies published between 1955 and 2021, and summarised reported effects across six categories: mood and mental health; wellbeing and attitude; cognition and creativity; personality; changes in conscious state; and neurobiology and physiology. Studies showed a wide range in risk of bias, depending on design, age, and other study characteristics. Laboratory studies found changes in pain perception, time perception, conscious state, and neurophysiology. Self-report studies found changes in cognitive processing and mental health. We review data related to expectation and placebo effects, but argue that claims that microdosing effects are largely due to expectancy are premature and possibly wrong. In addition, we attempt to clarify definitional inconsistencies in the microdosing literature by providing suggested dose ranges across different substances. Finally, we provide specific design suggestions to facilitate more rigorous future research.
... Although acute effects of microdosing have been found to be subtle in clinical trials (Bershad, Schepers, Bremmer, Lee, & Wit, 2019;Ramaekers et al., 2020;Yanakieva et al., 2018), proponents claim that regular microdosing can lead to a range of long-term benefits, such as improved mood, wellbeing, sociability, creativity and performance (Webb, Copes, & Hendricks, 2019). Andersson and Kjellgren's (2019) thematic analysis of 32 microdosing videos on the Youtube platform aimed to understand microdosers' experiences, expectations, approaches, and viewpoints. ...
... The increase in the personality trait neuroticism observed by Polito and Stevenson (2019) appears to contradict the finding that people who microdose tend to have improved mental health, observed by Polito and Stevenson and others (Anderson et al., 2019;Fadiman, 2011;Webb et al., 2019). However, Bright et al. (2021) found that microdosers had higher levels of depression and anxiety compared to a yoga control group. ...
... The present finding appears more consistent with other contemporary microdosing research (Anderson et al., 2019;Webb et al., 2019) and many anecdotal reports highlighting the positive effects of microdosing on mental health, mood and (psychosocial) wellbeing (Fadiman, 2011;Waldman, 2018). Our finding is also more consistent with clinical research on higher psychedelic doses, in which the administration of oral psilocybin (10 mg and 25 mg, one week apart) has been linked to decreased neuroticism at a threemonth follow-up (Erritzoe et al., 2018). ...
Backround and aims
Having entered the recent public and research zeitgeist, microdosing involves consuming sub-perceptual doses of psychedelic drugs, allegedly to enhance performance, creativity, and wellbeing. The results of research to date have been mixed. Whereas most studies have reported positive impacts of microdosing, some microdosers have also reported adverse effects. In addition, research to date has revealed inconsistent patterns of change in personality traits. This prospective study explored the relationship between microdosing, personality change, and emotional awareness.
Methods
Measures of personality and alexithymia were collected at two time points. 76 microdosers participated at baseline. Invitations to a follow-up survey were sent out after 31 days, and 24 participants were retained.
Results
Conscientiousness increased, while neuroticism decreased across these time points (n = 24). At baseline (N = 76), neuroticism was associated with alexithymia. In addition, neuroticism correlated negatively with duration of prior microdosing experience, and extraversion correlated positively with both duration of prior microdosing experience and lifetime number of microdoses.
Conclusion
These results suggest that microdosing might have an impact on otherwise stable personality traits.
... Seven articles (6 observational studies and 1 case report) investigated classic psychedelics as a treatment or in relation to SUDs. Two observational studies investigated psychedelic microdosing (primarily psilocybin or LSD) with reports from an online survey indicating respondents who microdosed psychedelics were less likely than non-microdosers to endorse a history of SUDs [38] and qualitative accounts indicating greater success abstaining from substances following initiation of microdosing [39,40]. Online surveys documented reports of people reducing alcohol, cannabis, and stimulant misuse after a psychedelic experience [41,42]. ...
... Lastly, differences in dosage may be relevant to observed effects of psychedelics on SUD severity. Despite qualitative accounts indicating that psychedelic microdosing can lead to decreases in substance use [39,40,63,64], quantitative comparisons remain inconclusive [38]. Specific to clinical trials, larger dosages, and a greater number of dosing sessions (typically two or three) are associated with better treatment outcomes [22,27,96,116]. ...
Purpose of Review
Substance use disorders (SUDs) and other addictive behaviors such as gambling disorder are globally prevalent and remain significant public health concerns. Since the 1950s, studies have examined psychedelics in the treatment of addictive behaviors with these studies demonstrating safety, feasibility, and potential therapeutic benefit. This review aims to synthesize research reports from peer-reviewed sources investigating the use of psychedelic substances as a potential treatment for SUDs and behavioral addictions.
Recent Findings
Overall, 132 records met criteria for inclusion. One hundred ten records investigated psychedelic use and SUDs (2 meta-analyses, 1 tabulated synthesis of clinical trials, 33 clinical trials, 60 observational studies, 14 case studies) and the remaining 22 were relevant to gambling disorder (1 clinical trial, 1 observational study, 4 case studies, 16 literature reviews), with literature reviews also describing the potential clinical utility of psychedelics in the treatment of behavioral addictions. Overall, the most commonly studied psychedelic substances in clinical trials include ketamine, LSD, and psilocybin. Ibogaine, DMT, and mescaline were primarily investigated via observational and case studies. There is an emerging literature for MDMA.
Summary
Based on a synthesis of the available literature, the most robust evidence for the use of psychedelics in the treatment of SUDs is for the therapeutic use of LSD and ketamine in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Preliminary and mixed results along with lower quality of evidence in some areas indicates a need for more systematic investigation. Although putative mechanisms of action for the treatment of SUDs and behavioral addictions have been proposed, there is a need for additional research empirically evaluating these hypothesized therapeutic mechanisms while studying differences between specific psychedelic substances.
... Participants were given the opportunity for an informal phone/video-call to ask questions, including ethical or legal concerns, before agreeing to contribute. At interview, participants were afforded discretion to define their practices, acknowledging the fluidity of the term 'microdosing' (Webb et al., 2019;Polito & Liknaitzky, 2022). Interviews were conducting using MS Teams, WhatsApp Video, Discord, or Google Meet. ...
... A key part of research, then, was finding reliable sources of a psychedelic substance in a way that, as others have found (e.g. Webb et al., 2019), minimises the risks of exposure to criminality and being criminalised. For our participants, this involved both practical steps taken to reduce the risks of discovery, and overcoming the fear of potential criminalisation: ...
... This narrative of masculinised, instrumental self-improvement is particularly prevalent in the presentation and promotion of microdosing, and this is echoed in the literature in which the motivations of users are explored. Webb et al. (2019), for instance, document participants' perception of microdosing as part of a broader project of 'living smart'. Unfortunately, there has been little attention paid to questions of gender in the burgeoning research on psychedelics when used as human enhancement drugs, although in the studies that do exist it is notable that participants who identified as men always outnumbered those who identified as women, sometimes overwhelmingly so (e.g. ...
... Unfortunately, there has been little attention paid to questions of gender in the burgeoning research on psychedelics when used as human enhancement drugs, although in the studies that do exist it is notable that participants who identified as men always outnumbered those who identified as women, sometimes overwhelmingly so (e.g. Anderson et al., 2019;Webb et al., 2019). ...
Psychedelic substances have undergone a transformation in the public consciousness over the last 15 years. However, the most influential first-person narratives of psychonauts and ‘scientist-shamans’ navigating the frontiers of consciousness have tended to entirely exclude women’s experiences and voices. Psychedelic feminism, has emerged to signify the role consciousness expansion and experimentation might play in rejuvenating feminism’s collective imagination, and undoing the historical silencing of women’s voices in psychedelic culture and research. Drawing on Mark Fisher’s work on acid communism, the feminist psychedelic humanities, narcofeminism and autobiographical life-writing by women on experimental psychedelic substance use, this article investigates the promise of acid feminism for the wider narcofeminist movement, and its implications for undoing some key precepts endemic in psychedelic culture and research.
... This narrative of masculinised, instrumental self-improvement is particularly prevalent in the presentation and promotion of microdosing, and this is echoed in the literature in which the motivations of users are explored. Webb et al. (2019), for instance, document participants' perception of microdosing as part of a broader project of 'living smart'. Unfortunately, there has been little attention paid to questions of gender in the burgeoning research on psychedelics when used as human enhancement drugs, although in the studies that do exist it is notable that participants who identified as men always outnumbered those who identified as women, sometimes overwhelmingly so (e.g. ...
... Unfortunately, there has been little attention paid to questions of gender in the burgeoning research on psychedelics when used as human enhancement drugs, although in the studies that do exist it is notable that participants who identified as men always outnumbered those who identified as women, sometimes overwhelmingly so (e.g. Anderson et al., 2019;Webb et al., 2019). ...
Sociology has a long-standing interest in licit and illicit drug use, particularly as a feminist concern with scholars highlighting how drugs are used as regulatory technologies to control the conduct of women and other minoritised people. This collection flips this focus to explore what drugs can do as a feminist practice. Employing the drug-user activist concept of ‘narcofeminism’, it rethinks how drugs are conceived in sociology and charts their role in shaping selves and worlds.
A distinctive feature of the collection is the inclusion of diverse perspectives from activists and people whose lives are intimately connected with drugs. Alongside the contributions of critical drug scholars, these accounts invite attention to the creative, life-affirming qualities of drug use that are all too easily erased by dominant approaches centered on harm and pathology. They articulate the political potential of drug use as a mode of resistance to dominant social orders. Inspired by the explicit connection between drugs, creativity and activism, we elaborate the concept of narcofeminisms suggesting that it poses radical new possibilities for rethinking drug use as a mode of living, capable of transforming social relations. Importantly, this approach acknowledges the ingrained hostilities that differentially constitute drug consumption practices. Under prohibitionist regimes, illicit drugs are treated as intrinsically harmful, particularly for marginalised subjects. Our aim in the collection is not to dismiss or underplay the complexities that are part and parcel of the illicit world of drug use, notably the suffering and struggles that pervade it, but to dramatise how counterposing tensions of drug use (harms and benefits) are navigated. Instead of treating drugs as oppressive technologies (to be emancipated from), we ask what drugs can do (to emancipate, while inviting reflection on what emancipation means).
... For many, the practice of microdosing is embedded in a larger effort of self-improvement, resulting in "engaging with microdosing in an instrumental, measured manner in pursuit of selfimprovement goals through, for example, enhanced mood and cognition" (Liokaftos, 2021, p. 2). In this sense, microdosing serves as a support tool to help users reach their goals, and these goals are framed as rational and conventional, i.e., pursued in a responsible way regarding the safe modes of procurement and use, and with the practice being integrated in a more general lifestyle outlook that includes health and healthy living (Webb et al., 2019). ...
... This idea might be supported by a recent study, the largest so far in terms of sample size (n = 4050 microdosers), in which 82.9% of participants endorsed "Enhancing mindfulness" as the reason for engaging in their microdosing practice (Rootman et al., 2021). Similarly, microdosing practice seems to be embedded in a holistic lifestyle that also includes contemplative practices (Aronov, 2019;Webb et al., 2019). and psychedelics and meditation have been shown to have a synergistic effect if large doses are administered during a mindfulness retreat , which could further support mindfulness. ...
Background and aim: In the present study, we focus on the relationship between state authenticity – the experience of being true to oneself in a particular moment – and microdosing – a practice that implies repeatedly ingesting very small doses of psychedelics that do not reach the threshold for perceptual alterations. We propose that microdosing could increase state authenticity through influencing people's mood and the number and satisfaction with daily activities. Methods: We used self-assessments of state authenticity collected from 18 microdosers in the Netherlands across the period of 1 month for a total of 192 observations. Results: We found that on the microdosing day and the day thereafter, state authenticity was significantly higher. Furthermore, the number of activities and the satisfaction with them were higher on the day when participants microdosed, while the following day only the number of activities was higher. Both the number or activities and the satisfaction with them were positively related to state authenticity. Conclusion: We propose that feeling and behaving authentically could have a central role in explaining the positive effects of microdosing on health and wellbeing that are reported by current research.
... Microdosing is the practice of using sub-threshold doses (microdoses) of psychedelics to improve creativity, boost physical energy level, emotional balance, increase performance on problem-solving tasks, and treat anxiety, depression, and addiction [19,20]. The practice of microdosing has become more widespread in the 21st century, with more people claiming long-term benefits from the practice [21,22]. ...
... A microdose is usually 1/20 to 1/10 of an active dose of a psychedelic drug [24]. In contrast to the recreational use of psychedelics, individuals who microdose stick to drug schedules, often dosing about every three days [22]. There have been no published empirical studies on microdosing, and the current legal and bureaucratic climate make direct empirical investigation of the effects of psychoactive substances difficult. ...
Abusing psychoactive substances has been a popular sport in the business world since the mid-19th century. First, they were appreciated for their stimulating or tonic effects, but later with psychedelics on the scene, their importance in subculture matured. In the last decade, it has become very popular to use LSD and cocaine in subtle doses, which provides users with a high that is enough to feel their psychoactive potential, but not as high that significant behavioral changes can be seen. Unlike regular use, microdosing is usually sufficient to affect a few without undue finish and withdrawal symptoms. It allows for abuse in the regular mode of the working week with a rest phase on the weekend. The diametric difference between the abuse of standard dosing and micro-dosing is also in the decreasing tolerance of the organism. Over time, an organism permanently exposed to microdosing of stimulants is sufficient to achieve a gradually decreasing dose effect that psychedelics develop resistance to. Case studies of such prolonged use were described and analyzed to show the role of microdosing in the creative world and for business managers. Initial field research, funded by the Newton University internal grant, focused on contamination mapping in office spaces for employees in target positions. Further research continues on the investigation of microdosing in conditions of corporate reality.
... Methodologically, qualitative research based on interviews has already begun revealing a rich mosaic of user motivations, perceptions and experiences that complements and deepens the findings of the more numerous survey-based studies ( Beaton et al., 2019 ;Johnstad, 2018 ;Webb et al., 2019 ). The future inclusion of different groups of research participants would work towards a fuller understanding of the dynamic and multi-faceted development of microdosing. ...
... Moreover, the profile of the substances themselves as well as the profiles of their users change depending on the larger socio-cultural frame. In the case of psychedelics, for example, certain ways and contexts of using them echo countercultures of the 1960s, while others are compatible with a capitalist paradigm of performance and productivity ( Gray, 2020 ;Webb et al., 2019 ). In this sense microdosing can help examine how and what gets classified as a human enhancement drug and what the different meanings of 'enhancement' may be in different contexts. ...
Microdosing psychedelics is the regular use of sub-perceptive threshold doses of substances such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin (‘magic’) mushrooms. The phenomenon has attracted increasing public and scientific attention in numerous countries in recent years. This commentary looks at microdosing psychedelics as an emerging facet of human enhancement through drugs. After presenting a narrative based on a multidisciplinary body of literature on human enhancement drugs and microdosing, the commentary maps out directions for further sociological studies of the phenomenon as well as outlining the different fields such research can contribute to.
... Motivations for attending psychedelic retreats are consistent with the reasons people report using psychedelics in general, which tend to reflect health, wellness, and enhancement narratives that inform contemporary interest in psychedelics [28,29]. For instance, psychedelic users commonly cite reasons such as management of or coping with mental health ailments, self-improvement or enhancement, or a desire for self-knowledge [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. In addition to health and wellness motivations, spirituality (in line with historical and contemporary associations with religious and mystical experience), and curiosity are common reasons people report using psychedelics [32][33][34]37]. ...
Research into psychedelics’ clinical potential has corresponded to a growth in public interest and adult use. One common pathway to accessing psychedelics is through psychedelic retreats. While individual retreats have been characterized in the anthropological literature, no systematic evaluation of the psychedelic retreat industry exists. Assessing the characteristics of the psychedelic retreat industry is critical to understanding the associated ethical, legal, and social implications and ensuring consumer safety. To this end, we conducted a landscape analysis of online, publicly available information to capture and characterize a broad range of organizations offering psychedelic retreats and marketing to English-speaking consumers. From July 2023 to December 2023, we identified 298 psychedelic retreat organizations. Some identified as religious organizations, but the majority focused on general wellness. Organizations offered various psychedelic substances with ayahuasca being the most common, followed by psilocybin and San Pedro. Organizations held retreats across the globe at various price points. In total, there were 440 distinct physical locations where retreat experiences were held; 130 were inside the United States (U.S.) and 310 were outside the U.S. Further research into the practices of psychedelic retreat organizations is recommended to help reduce harm and support consumer education.
... Some who use cannabis do so to foster defiant or oppositional identities and show how they are attached to specific subcultures (Sandberg, 2013). Those who see psychedelics as beneficial can then define themselves as informed drug users and connoisseurs who are committed to self-improvements, which also allows them to distance themselves from those who use drugs as an escape (Copes & Ragland, 2024;Rolando & Beccaria, 2019;Webb et al., 2019). Thus, narratives of specific drugs can shape the way people experience the positive and negative effects of them. ...
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is characterized by the onset of cyclic bouts of severe nausea and vomiting in chronic cannabis users. As the number of CHS diagnoses rises, it is important to understand how people experience the disease. Using a narrative framework, we explore how the symbolic meaning participants associated with cannabis shaped the way they experienced diagnosis and treatment of CHS. To do this, we relied on semi-structured interviews with 24 people who self-reported having CHS. Participants had very positive perceptions of cannabis, which contributed to them contesting the diagnosis and resisting the treatment. They initially contested the diagnosis because they believed that cannabis was beneficial and helped with nausea, that claims about the harms of cannabis were part of a larger medical conspiracy to stigmatize it, and that they had different symptoms than those with CHS. They resisted treatment recommendations of abstinence and sought to continue using cannabis by trying new routes of administration, using only certain types of cannabis, reducing the amount or frequency of use, or substituting other substances. Findings point to the importance of understanding how narratives can shape the way people respond to diagnosis and treatment.
... Despite the lack of a systematic approach in investigating beneficial outcomes of microdosing, growing data, mostly self-reports [203], seem to support this alternative therapeutic method. Preliminary reports suggest that microdosing enhances mood and focus [182,184,187,204,205], cognitive performance [206], and empathy [183]. Bershad et al. compared the subjective effects of three doses of LSD (6.5, 13, and 26 µg) and basing their considerations on these findings hypothesized that the threshold dose of 13 µg of LSD might be used safely in repeated administrations [207]. ...
Psychedelics have shown promising effects in several psychiatric diseases as demonstrated by multiple clinical trials. However, no clinical experiments on patients with schizophrenia have been conducted up to date, except for some old semi-anecdotal studies mainly performed in the time-span '50s-'60s. Notably, these studies reported interesting findings, particularly on the improvement of negative symptoms and social cognition. With no doubts the lack of modern clinical studies is due to the psychomimetic properties of psychedelics, a noteworthy downside that could worsen positive symptoms. However, a rapidly increasing body of evidence has suggested that the mechanisms of action of such compounds partially overlaps with the pathogenic underpinnings of schizophrenia but in an opposite way. These findings suggest that, despite being a controversial issue, the use of psychedelics in the treatment of schizophrenia would be based on a strong biological rationale. Therefore, the aim of our perspective paper is to provide a background on the old experiments with psychedelics performed on patients with schizophrenia, interpreting them in the light of recent molecular findings on their ability to induce neuroplasticity and modulate connectivity, the immune and TAARs systems, neurotransmitters, and neurotropic factors. No systematic approach was adopted in reviewing the evidence given the difficulty to retrieve and interpret old findings. Interestingly, we identified a therapeutic potential of psychedelics in schizophrenia adopting a critical point of view, particularly on negative symptoms and social cognition, and we summarized all the relevant findings. We also identified an eligible subpopulation of chronic patients predominantly burdened by negative symptoms, outlining possible therapeutic strategies which encompass very low doses of psychedelics (microdosing), carefully considering safety and feasibility, to pave the way to future clinical trials.
... Notably, this dosing range is consistent with fewer, less acute effects than those observed in the other profiles, but partially surpasses what is considered a threshold dose (i.e., the dose necessary to achieve perceptible, hallucinogenic effects. Previous research indicates that self-reported microdosers may be partially motivated by a desire to increase productivity and creativity (Nayak et al., 2023;Ona & Bouso, 2020;Webb et al., psychedelic use patterns. In addition, our study builds on recent efforts to characterize people who use psilocybin. ...
Objective:
Patterns of psilocybin use in non-clinical settings are not well described in the literature. Psilocybin use can involve infrequent, large (i.e., macro) doses that produce hallucinogenic effects. In addition, some people report psilocybin use at particularly small (i.e., micro), sub-perceptual doses. Given the heterogeneity in reported use metrics, we sought to determine whether there are identifiable patterns of psilocybin use based on participants’ self-described typical use frequencies and quantities and to describe how demographic characteristics are associated with each pattern of use.
Method:
Participants were recruited from online communities via Reddit.com. We used Latent Profile Analysis to discern psilocybin use patterns defined by frequency and quantity of use. The analytic sample consisted of 664 participants (75.6% US residents; 83.1% white; 67.2% male).
Results:
The Chipper Profile (18%) was associated with approximately 1-4 annual uses and using between 0.75g and 1.0g of dehydrated, psilocybin-containing mushrooms. The Tripper Profile (64%) was associated with approximately 2-6 annual uses and self-reported use quantities between 2-4g. The Microdoser Profile (18%) was related to substantively higher psilocybin use frequencies than the other profiles (between 2-4 times a week) and a lower range of preferred quantities (between 0.25g - 0.75g). Additionally, profiles differed by certain demographic measurements, lifetime psilocybin use, and timing of psilocybin use.
Conclusions:
Psilocybin use in non-clinical settings is heterogeneous. We identified three profiles that differed on frequency and quantity of use and their associated demographic characteristics. Next steps are to identify factors that affect one’s likelihood of experiencing particular use outcomes and to explore use variability.
... Notably, this dosing range is consistent with fewer, less acute effects than those observed in the other profiles, but partially surpasses what is considered a threshold dose (i.e., the dose necessary to achieve perceptible, hallucinogenic effects. Previous research indicates that self-reported microdosers may be partially motivated by a desire to increase productivity and creativity (Nayak et al., 2023;Ona & Bouso, 2020;Webb et al., psychedelic use patterns. In addition, our study builds on recent efforts to characterize people who use psilocybin. ...
Objective:
College students represent a large portion of the population, and report high rates of cannabis use and related negative outcomes, including interpersonal problems, risky behaviors, or physical dependency. The contexts in which students use cannabis (e.g., at a party, when feeling down or depressed, after a fight with a loved one) likely affect their risk of experiencing consequences. We aimed to discern profiles of cannabis use contexts and compare profiles on use frequency, consequences, and the use of cannabis protective behavioral strategies (PBS).
Method:
College students were surveyed regarding their cannabis use contexts, frequency, consequences, and PBS use (n = 265; female = 72.8%). We used Latent Profile Analysis to identify patterns of cannabis use contexts and auxiliary testing to compare profiles on use frequency, consequences, and PBS use.
Results:
Our examination revealed three latent profiles of cannabis use. The Social Use Profile was associated with use in predominantly social/uplifting contexts. The Physical & Emotional Pain Profile was also associated with use in these contexts but was defined by additional use in response to pain. The All Contexts Profile was associated with frequent use in all contexts, including those that were least endorsed by the other profiles. Profiles differed in cannabis use frequency, PBS use, and the number of consequences experienced, such that profiles were more likely to be associated with more frequent cannabis use, higher risk of experiencing use-consequences, and using fewer PBS as the number of use contexts increased across the profiles.
Conclusions:
The contexts in which people use cannabis are associated with cannabis risk and protection. Prevention and intervention efforts may benefit from considering contexts of cannabis use.
... One possible explanation is the well-established principle of homophily, which is the tendency for people to interact with others who are similar with regard to sociodemographic, behavioral, and intrapersonal characteristics. Substance use, including psychedelic use, may play a significant role in identity formation 11 and represent a salient homophilic characteristic. Though homophily may facilitate communication and help coordinate behavior, it can also limit social interaction and contribute to divisions across race, ethnicity, age, religion, education, occupation, and gender. ...
... 106 Dále observační studie naznačují, že mikrodávkování může mít antidepresivní a anxiolytické účinky. 100,101,106,[108][109][110][111][112] Uživatelé s duševním onemocněním, jako je ADHD/ADD, úzkosti a OCD, ale i s fyziologickými problémy, kteří užívali psychedelika formou mikrodávkování v rámci samoléčby, uváděli pozitivní dopady na své obtíže. 108,113 Některé observační studie dále odhalily u mikrodávkujících osob zvýšení kreativity, 114 zvýšenou pracovní produktivitu a zdravější životní návyky, 111 snížení míry deprese a stresu, roztržitosti, ale také zvýšení míry neuroticismu. ...
Tato publikace představuje komplexní úvod do problematiky a dosud první souhrnný přehled situace v oblasti fenoménu užívání psychedelik v České republice, shrnující výsledky výzkumného projektu Aplikace výzkumných metod při tvorbě návrhu systému služeb pro uživatele psychedelických látek realizovaného v letech 2019–2021 v Národním ústavu duševního zdraví a spolufinancovaného se státní podporou Technologické agentury České republiky.
This publication is a comprehensive introduction to the phenomenon
and so far the first complex overview of the situation in the field
of psychedelics use in the Czech Republic, summarizing the results
of the research project Application of Research Methods in Creating
a Design of a System of Services for Users of Psychedelics (hereinafter referred to as National Psychedelic Research) implemented
in 2019–2021 at the National Institute of Mental Health.
... While psychedelics are largely unexplored in the leadership literature, recent quantitative findings suggest that moderate-to-high doses of psychedelics-if administered in safe and supportive contexts-may also impact outcomes related to leadership (see also Schlag et al., 2022 for potential risks), including psychological health (Galvão-Coelho et al., 2021), creative thinking (Prochazkova et al., 2018;Wießner et al., 2022), and interpersonal attitudes and behaviors (Griffiths et al., 2006(Griffiths et al., , 2008Roseman et al., 2021). Other qualitative research indicates that regular use of psychedelics in low doses for prolonged periods (i.e., "microdosing") may have an impact on productivity and other leadership-related outcomes (Webb et al., 2019; see also Johnstad, 2018;Fadiman and Korb, 2019;Hutten et al., 2019). It is thus possible that psychedelics could be used as a potential tool for leadership development, but little remains known about the direct link between psychedelic use and leadership outcomes. ...
Background
Previous research suggests that mindfulness meditation and psychedelic substances show promise as mental health interventions, but relatively little remains known about their potential impact on leadership outcomes.
Aims
This study aimed to investigate if and how mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use may impact leadership among respondents with a management position as their primary role at work.
Methods
Using samples representative of the US and UK adult populations with regard to sex, age, and ethnicity, this study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine if and how mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use may impact leadership.
Results
Among respondents with a management position as their primary role at work (n = 3,150), 1,373 reported having tried mindfulness meditation and 559 reported having tried psychedelics. In covariate-adjusted regression analyses, both lifetime number of hours of mindfulness meditation practice and greater psychological insight during respondents’ most intense psychedelic experience were associated with describing a positive impact on leadership (ORs = 2.33, 3.49; ps < 0.001), while qualitative analyses revealed nuances in the type of impacts mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use had on leadership. There were several subthemes (e.g., focus, creativity, patience, empathy, compassion) that were frequently reported with both mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use. There were also unique subthemes that were more commonly reported with mindfulness meditation (e.g., improved sleep, stress reduction, calming effects) and psychedelic use (e.g., greater self-understanding, less hierarchical attitudes toward colleagues, positive changes in interpersonal attitudes and behaviors), respectively.
Conclusion
Although causality cannot be inferred due to the research design, the findings in this study suggest potential complementary effects of mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use on leadership, which could inspire new approaches in leadership development.
... Johnstad [12] interviewed people online who had microdosed and respondents described benefits to mental health, especially on symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as improved energy, cognition, and creativity, and few reported adverse effects. Webb, Copes and Hendricks [25] interviewed 30 people and found participants rationalised microdosing in a functional and considered manner that separated themselves and those who use drugs recreationally and hedonistically. Lea et al. [14] completed a content analysis of microdosing discussions on Reddit (an online forum), and found that those who were involved in these discussions were motivated to microdose to improve their mental health, wellbeing and cognitive performance. ...
Background
Microdosing psychedelic drugs is a growing phenomenon, but little is known about the experiences surrounding this. Research broadly suggests that people may use psychedelics in an attempt to self-medicate for mental health and wellbeing. However, the precise details, rationale and meaning of such attempts remains unclear, and would benefit from clarification, using tailored experiential methods. This research therefore aimed to explore the way that users make sense of microdosing psychedelics, with a particular focus on the experience of any perceived mental health or wellbeing changes.
Method
Participants were recruited via websites and online forums. An internet text-based, semi-structured interview was conducted anonymously with 13 participants regarding their experiences of microdosing psychedelic drugs. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the transcripts.
Results
Three superordinate themes were identified through the interviews: 1) Seeking a solution: Agency and rationale; 2) Microdosers as scientists; 3) Catalysing desirable and beneficial effects.
Conclusions
All participants approached microdosing methodically and with purpose. Participants reported that they had experienced beneficial effects of microdosing on their mental health, alongside cognitive, physical and social changes. By microdosing, participants reported that they had supported their own mental health and wellbeing, with microdosing described as a catalyst to achieving their aims in this area. This study provided additional knowledge and understanding of the experience, rationale and personal meaning of the microdosing phenomenon which can be used to inform future investigations in the areas of psychedelic use and mental health.
... Adaptations of this measure could be helpful for persons living with AD/ADRD and other clinical populations, such as persons coping with a terminal cancer diagnosis. Some researchers also propose qualitative outcome measures, drawing upon patient narratives to capture the deeper existential effects psychometric inventories may elide (Cox, Garcia-Romeu, and Johnson 2021;Webb, Copes, and Hendricks 2019). Psychedelic-aided psychotherapy could alleviate the existential dread that accompanies an AD/ADRD diagnosis, but without more specific measures tailored to existential transformation, the true range of benefit might be over-or underestimated. ...
In this paper, we examine the case of psychedelic medicine for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). These "mind-altering" drugs are not currently offered as treatments to persons with AD/ADRD, though there is growing interest in their use to treat underlying causes and associated psychiatric symptoms. We present a research agenda for examining the ethics of psychedelic medicine and research involving persons living with AD/ADRD, and offer preliminary analyses of six ethical issues: the impact of psychedelics on autonomy and consent; the impact of "ego dissolution" on persons experiencing a pathology of self; how psychedelics might impact caregiving; the potential exploitation of patient desperation; institutional review boards' orientation to psychedelic research; and methods to mitigate inequity. These ethical issues are magnified for AD/ADRD but bear broader relevance to psychedelic medicine and research in other clinical populations.
... This history has provoked social scientists to investigate why individuals may use substances and to what consequence. Extant research indicates that ingestion is related to a variety of factors, including identity formation or exploration, a desire for comradery, thrill-seeking, ambition, physical and emotional pain relief, existential contemplation, and spiritual awakening (e.g., Adler, 1993;Becker, 1953;Dollar & Hendrix, 2018;Douglas, 1977;Fadiman, 2011;Karavalaki & Shumaker, 2016;Kotarba, 1977;Miller, Miller, & Claxton, 2019;Novak, Herman-Stahl, Flannery, & Zimmerm, 2009;Webb, Copes, & Hendricks, 2019;Williams, 2009). ...
Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that alter ordinary states of consciousness. The U.S. criminalized ingestion of these drugs approximately 60 years ago and use remains punishable by law. Prior to this time, the substances were differentially declared spiritual sacraments, medicines, and/or party drugs. (Auto)Ethnographies and other research often indicate psychedelic-induced experiences as remarkably personal, necessitating subjective interpretation. Empirical studies exploring patterns across psychedelic encounters are rare, but among the few that exist, users tend to be identified as either pursuing psycho-spiritual enlightenment or self-indulgent amusement. The present paper utilizes narratives collected through 37 in-depth interviews with adults from diverse social backgrounds who report a history of psychedelic consumption in non-clinical settings. The data suggest a potential 4-part categorization based on five factors:
named forms of psychedelic substances used, reported frequency of psychedelic ingestions, stated reasons for consumption and desistance, self-imposed rules surrounding use, and descriptions of drug effects and experiences.
... Online surveys and observational studies on microdosing reported improved creativity, mood, and cognition (Johnstad, 2018;Polito & Stevenson, 2019;Prochazkova et al., 2018), increased sociability (Webb, Copes, & Hendricks, 2019), lower dysfunctional attitudes, lower negative emotionality, higher wisdom, and open-mindedness (Anderson, Petranker, Christopher, et al., 2019). However, the first double-blind, placebocontrolled trial of microdosing found no significant changes in perception, concentration, and consciousness (Yanakieva et al., 2019). ...
To date, the clinical and scientific literature has best documented the effects of classical psychedelics, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), in typical quantities most often associated with macrodosing. More recently, however, microdosing with psychedelics has emerged as a social trend and nascent therapeutic intervention. This variation in psychedelic practice refers to repeat, intermittent ingestion of less-than-macrodose amounts that do not cause the effects associated with full-blown “trips”. Microdosing paves the road to incorporating psychedelic drugs into a daily routine while maintaining, or even improving, cognitive and mental function. Unlike macrodosing with psychedelics, the influence of microdosing remains mostly unexplored. And yet, despite the paucity of formal studies, many informal accounts propose that microdosing plays an important role as both a therapeutic intervention (e.g., in mental disorders) and enhancement tool (e.g., recreationally—to boost creativity, improve cognition, and drive personal growth). In response to this relatively new practice, we provide an integrative synthesis of the clinical, social, and cultural dimensions of microdosing. We describe some of the overarching context that explains why this practice is increasingly in vogue, unpack potential benefits and risks, and comment on sociocultural implications. In addition, this article considers the effects that macro- and microdoses have on behavior and psychopathology in light of their dosage characteristics and contexts of use.
... The logarithmic power spectral density (LPSD) in the delta (1-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz), beta (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) and gamma (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40) bands was computed for each subject, condition and channel using a fast Fourier transform with a Hanning-tapered window (EEGLAB). ...
The use of low sub-perceptual doses of psychedelics (“microdosing”) has gained popularity in recent years. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies severely limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. Moreover, research conducted in standard laboratory settings could fail to capture the motivation of individuals engaged or planning to engage in microdosing protocols, thus underestimating the likelihood of positive effects on creativity and cognitive function. We recruited 34 individuals starting to microdose with psilocybin mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis), one of the materials most frequently used for this purpose. Following a double-blind placebo-controlled experimental design, we investigated the acute and short-term effects of 0.5 g of dried mushrooms on subjective experience, behavior, creativity (divergent and convergent thinking), perception, cognition, and brain activity. The reported acute effects were significantly more intense for the active dose compared to the placebo, but only for participants who correctly identified their experimental condition. These changes were accompanied by reduced EEG power in the theta band, together with preserved levels of Lempel-Ziv broadband signal complexity. For all other measurements there was no effect of microdosing except for few small changes towards cognitive impairment. According to our findings, low doses of psilocybin mushrooms can result in noticeable subjective effects and altered EEG rhythms, but without evidence to support enhanced well-being, creativity and cognitive function. We conclude that expectation underlies at least some of the anecdotal benefits attributed to microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms.
... In recent years, microdosing attracted considerable attention in popular media, where it is reported to enhance productivity and reduce anxiety and mood symptoms (Garlick 2019;Glatter 2015;Nye 2017;Siebert 2020;Turk 2019;Waldman 2017). Current research concerning the effects of microdosing has focused on determining dose-effect relationships (Bershad et al. 2019;Holze et al. 2020;Hutten et al. 2020) or patterns of use and associated outcomes (Andersson and Kjellgren 2019;Hutten et al. 2019;Johnstad 2018;Webb, Copes, and Hendricks 2019). Findings have been inconclusive, with some studies observing that microdosing is associated with improved mental health (Anderson et al. 2019) and others observing increased anxiety in microdosers compared to controls Hutten et al. 2020). ...
While anecdotal reports claim that psychedelic microdosing reduces anxiety and mood symptoms, evidence supporting these claims is scarce. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between microdosing and trait anxiety. Furthermore, it was investigated if trait mindfulness mediated this association. Participants completed anonymous online questionnaires and were divided into three groups: current microdosers (n = 186), former microdosers (n = 77) and microdosing-naïve controls (n = 234). Trait anxiety and trait mindfulness were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - Trait subscale (STAI-T) and the 15-item Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-15) respectively. Current and former microdosers reported lower STAI-T scores compared to microdosing-naïve controls. Furthermore, associations of current and former microdosing with trait anxiety were mediated by trait mindfulness, with small effects of FFMQ-15 Total, Non-judging and Non-reactivity scores. However, in an exploratory analysis, all associations between microdosing and STAI-T scores became non-significant when participants with previous macrodose experience (n = 386) were excluded. Our findings suggest that RCT<apos;>s are warranted to test causal hypotheses concerning the effects of microdosing and the role of trait mindfulness in the effects of microdosing, while controlling for previous macrodose experience.
... Psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) are the most common psychedelics used for microdosing and users commonly follow the Fadiman protocol, which suggests that one should dose every third day to achieve optimal effects (Fadiman, 2011;Hutten et al., 2019). Anecdotal reports and observational studies suggest that microdosing can have antidepressant and anxiolytic effects (Anderson et al., 2019;Cameron et al., 2020;Fadiman and Korb, 2019;Johnstad, 2018;Kaertner et al., 2021;Lea et al., 2020;Petranker et al., 2020;Polito and Stevenson, 2019;Webb et al., 2019). Users with mental health conditions, such as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), report microdosing as a form of self-medication (Hutten et al., 2019;Johnstad, 2018). ...
Background
Microdoses of psychedelics (i.e. a sub-hallucinogenic dose taken every third day) can reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress according to anecdotal reports and observational studies. Research with medium to high doses of psilocybin points towards potential underlying mechanisms, including the modulation of emotion and interoceptive processing.
Aims
In this preregistered study, we investigated whether psilocybin microdoses alter self-reported interoceptive awareness and whether repeated microdosing over 3 weeks modulates emotion processing and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Methods
We used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject crossover design. Participants completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Questionnaire 1½ h after self-administering their second dose (or placebo), and the emotional go/no-go task and the shortened Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 1½ h after self-administering their seventh dose.
Results
Our confirmatory analyses revealed that psilocybin microdosing did not affect emotion processing or symptoms of anxiety and depression compared with placebo. Our exploratory analyses revealed that psilocybin microdosing did not affect self-reported interoceptive awareness, that symptoms of depression and stress were significantly reduced in the first block compared with baseline, that participants broke blind in the second block and that there was no effect of expectations. Further research in a substance-naïve population with clinical range anxiety and depressive symptoms is needed to substantiate the potential beneficial effects of microdosing.
... Ample anecdotal evidence suggests that microdosing can improve mood, well-being, creativity, and cognition (Fadiman, 2011;Fadiman and Krob, 2017), and recent uncontrolled, open-label observational studies have provided some empirical support for these claims (Johnstad, 2018;Prochazkova et al., 2018;Hutten et al., 2019;Polito and Stevenson, 2019;Anderson et al., 2019a;Anderson et al., 2019b;Fadiman and Korb, 2019;Webb et al., 2019;Cameron et al., 2020;. While encouraging, these studies are vulnerable to experimental biases, including confirmation bias and placebo effects (Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2021). ...
The use of low sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics (microdosing) has gained popularity in recent years. Although anecdotal reports claim multiple benefits associated with this practice, the lack of placebo-controlled studies limits our knowledge of microdosing and its effects. Moreover, research conducted in laboratory settings might fail to capture the motivation of individuals engaged in microdosing protocols. We recruited 34 individuals planning to microdose with psilocybin mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis), one of the materials most frequently used for this purpose. Following a double-blind placebo-controlled design, we investigated the effects of 0.5 g dried mushrooms on subjective experience, behavior, creativity, perception, cognition, and brain activity. The reported acute effects were significantly more intense for the active dose compared to the placebo, which could be explained by unblinding. For the other measurements, we observed either null effects or a trend towards cognitive impairment and, in the case of EEG, towards reduced theta band spectral power. Our findings support the possibility that expectation effects underlie at least some of the anecdotal benefits attributed to microdosing with psilocybin mushrooms.
... The prominence of addressing mental health concerns and enhancing psychological well-being and cognition suggest that a substantial proportion of those who microdose may be doing so in an attempt to treat symptoms of mental illness or prevent cognitive decline. Indeed, microdosers report reduced stress 14 , improvements in mood 3,13,17,31 and attenuation of symptoms of depression 9,14,17 , anxiety 9,13,14 , post-traumatic stress, and obsessive-compulsive disorder 17 . Studies have also reported that microdosing may be perceived as more effective than conventional treatments for psychiatric symptoms 11,13 . ...
The use of psychedelic substances at sub-sensorium ‘ microdoses’, has gained popular academic interest for reported positive effects on wellness and cognition. The present study describes microdosing practices, motivations and mental health among a sample of self-selected microdosers ( n = 4050) and non-microdosers ( n = 4653) via a mobile application. Psilocybin was the most commonly used microdose substances in our sample (85%) and we identified diverse microdose practices with regard to dosage, frequency, and the practice of stacking which involves combining psilocybin with non-psychedelic substances such as Lion’s Mane mushrooms, chocolate, and niacin. Microdosers were generally similar to non-microdosing controls with regard to demographics, but were more likely to report a history of mental health concerns. Among individuals reporting mental health concerns, microdosers exhibited lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress across gender. Health and wellness-related motives were the most prominent motives across microdosers in general, and were more prominent among females and among individuals who reported mental health concerns. Our results indicate health and wellness motives and perceived mental health benefits among microdosers, and highlight the need for further research into the mental health consequences of microdosing including studies with rigorous longitudinal designs.
... Middle class individuals who use drugs are able to call on class-based beliefs about hard work and enjoyment to rationalize their use and perceive their drug use as a tool for increased performance drawing boundaries between themselves and those they view as reckless users (Kerley, Copes, and Hayden Griffin 2015). Similarly, others have found those who micro-dosed psychedelics were apt to highlight their stereotypically middle-class values and goals and their belief that micro-dosing was beneficial for achieving such goals (Webb, Copes, and Hendricks 2019). Alternatively, individuals from more disadvantaged circumstances are more apt to view their drug use as problematic and draw on narratives highlighting their disadvantaged and oppressed place in society (Sandberg 2009). ...
... more frequent cannabis use (Choi et al., 2017;Metrik et al., 2018), since these studies did not differentiate frequency of use between cannabis forms with varying CBD:THC concentrations. Additionally, CBD-dominant users were more likely to microdose cannabis (e.g., use no more than 2.5 mg at a time), suggesting more responsible, functional, and medicinally oriented cannabis use (Dussault and Bardi, 2017;Johnstad, 2018;Webb et al., 2019). Prevalence of other drug use across almost all licit and illicit drugs was consistently higher among CBD-dominant users. ...
Introduction
Cannabidiol (CBD) is purportedly a promising therapeutic agent to provide relief for a variety of medical conditions with mild or no psychoactive effects. However, little is known about young adults who use cannabis and CBD-dominant products, and associations between CBD use and other drug use.
Methods
Young adults (aged 24-32) who currently used cannabis (n = 239) were surveyed in Los Angeles in March 2019 through March 2020. The sample was divided into CBD-dominant (at least 1:1 CBD:THC ratio) and THC-dominant product users. We described CBD forms, reasons and conditions for CBD use and examined between-group differences in sociodemographic characteristics, cannabis practices, health and other drug use.
Results
CBD-dominant users were more likely to be female, use cannabis at lower frequency and amount (except for edible/drinkable/oral products), self-report medical motivation for cannabis use, use cannabis for pain and report more health problems. Oil, flower, topicals and sprays/drops/tinctures were the most prevalent CBD forms. Psychological problems and pain were commonly reported conditions and medical reasons for CBD use. CBD-dominant users were more likely to report illicit drug use, where psilocybin use was markedly different between the two groups.
Conclusions
CBD use was associated with health histories and motivations linked to pain and psychological problems. Positive associations between CBD use and illicit drug use may indicate self-medication for psychological conditions. Future studies should evaluate the effectiveness of various CBD forms and dose regimens for treatment of pain and psychological problems, and as a potential intervention for decreasing other drug use and associated harms.
Motives are a highly influential force in substance use and vary depending on the substance or dose being used. Little research has compared motives across different doses of psilocybin. Psilocybin is often ingested in microdoses (0.1–0.4 g) or macrodoses (1 g+), each producing unique perceptual and mood effects. The current study examined whether motives for microdose and macrodose psilocybin use differ. An online survey was employed to examine differences in motives using an adapted Marijuana Motives Measure. A thematic analysis was conducted to further explore motives for each dose, and to determine if motives differ for initiating and continuing psilocybin use. As hypothesized, there were statistically significant differences in motives for microdose and macrodose use ( p < .001). Qualitative results also indicated differences in motives depending on dosage, and differences in reasons for initiating and continuing use. These findings have important implications for harm reduction and public policy.
Psychedelic substances have recently emerged as a promising method for treating mental health conditions, despite a history of stigmatization and restriction in use. The present review synthesizes existing literature on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA in addressing specific mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and addiction. On reviewing the existing literature, it became apparent that when administered in controlled settings with psychological support, psychedelics can induce profound psychological insights, leading to long-lasting and positive changes in mood, cognition, and behaviour. This review discusses the ethical, social, and regulatory challenges linked to using psychedelics within the mental health sector across different countries, and how these might influence societal beliefs towards their efficacy and use. Further research would be beneficial for eliciting a deeper understanding of the use of psychedelics in the field of mental health, leading to the development of standardized administration protocols and a thorough appreciation of societal implications and long-term outcomes. This review discusses the potential for psychedelics to revolutionize mental health treatment while underlining the urgent need for rigorous scientific inquiry on this topic and the ethical considerations surrounding the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.
Microdosing psychedelics, the repeated use of low doses of substances such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide, has gained popular and scientific attention in recent years. While some users claim microdosing psychedelics has therapeutic value, to date only a handful of (placebo-controlled) experimental studies in human volunteers have been conducted testing the effects of low doses on physiological, subjective state, and performance measures. This chapter aims to answer, based on the scientific knowledge we have so far, whether microdosing psychedelics has therapeutic potential. Reviewed studies demonstrated that low doses were in general well tolerated. Single doses produced subtle, beneficial effects on selective performance measures and subjective states. The fact that most studies were conducted in small samples of healthy (young) volunteers hampers generalization to other populations. However, the observed cognitive and affective effects might be of help in some psychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression. Future placebo-controlled studies in patient populations are needed to conclude about the (therapeutic) potential of microdosing psychedelics.
Suggestibility is an important aspect of the psychedelic experience that merits greater attention in the expanding field of psychedelic research. This article provides a comprehensive road map for exploring the critical questions and issues at the intersection of suggestion, suggestibility, and psychedelics. Suggestibility is linked to the psychedelic experience, and likewise, psychedelics are associated with enhanced suggestibility, possibly due to their apparent ability to amplify openness and associative thinking. This relationship is one that research has not adequately addressed. Key factors related to the psychedelic experience, including expectation, symbolic thinking, and mindset, are additionally important to examine for both users and researchers. This article examines how psychedelic substances contribute to our understanding of suggestibility and therapeutic techniques, ranging from fostering creativity and alleviating depression to provoking distrust and conspiratorial thinking. By discussing the role of suggestion and suggestibility in psychedelic research, we highlight their applications in clinical, social, and cultural contexts. Recasting historical interpretations of psychedelics through these constructive narratives can significantly benefit various social domains.
This article examines the use of psychoactive substances for cognitive enhancement in the context of work. By drawing upon existing qualitative research and sociological theories on meaningful work, valuation, and human agency, I explore cultural and institutional processes encouraging individuals to engage in such practices and argue that pharmaceutical neuroenhancement aids them in navigating contemporary workplaces characterized by increasingly more fragile autonomy, dignity, and recognition. Simultaneously, dominant criteria of worth generate individual worth based on achievement, self‐reliance, and material success. This interplay between institutional orders and public culture creates conditions of possibility for future‐oriented agency that resorts to pharmaceuticals as an instrument of anticipating and mitigating risks such as failure to perform, job loss due to inadequate performance, or accidents and mistakes. Often, they are attributed to individual workers' imperfections rather than to prolonged working hours or a stressful work environment. I conclude that, in the context of fragile meaningful work at the organizational level, pharmaceutical neuroenhancement becomes a tool to struggle for meaningfulness—work autonomy, dignity, and recognition—at the agent level.
Background
The applications of psilocybin, derived from ‘magic mushrooms,’ are vast, including a burgeoning practice known as microdosing, which refers to the administration of sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelic substances to obtain benefits without experiencing significant cognitive and perceptual distortion. However, current research is fairly new with several limitations and gaps that hinder adequate conclusions on its efficacy.
Aims
This semi-structured review aimed to identify and highlight research gaps in the field of psilocybin microdosing for future research.
Methods
A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses based strategy was employed, utilizing a chain of keywords and key phrases across multiple databases, augmented by a cross-sectional Google search for relevant grey literature in the form of the top 10 search results. A total of 40 studies and 8 unique websites were identified, summarized and tabulated into four distinct categories, namely non-clinical, clinical, observational and anecdotal evidence.
Results
The majority of available evidence originates from observational studies, while non-clinical and clinical study findings remain comparatively sparse and inconsistent. Web-based findings were consistent with current research findings. Key research gaps were highlighted: the imperative for more randomized placebo-controlled trials, exploration of dose-response ranges, psychological and personality testing of participants, utilization of active placebos, greater diversity in study populations, an increase in psilocybin-exclusive microdosing studies and the refinement of animal models.
Conclusion
Definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy of psilocybin microdosing remain elusive, emphasizing the need for further study. Numerous research gaps necessitate consideration for future investigations.
Purpose
Psychedelic drugs can induce altered states of consciousness characterised by changes in visual perception, tactile sensation, cognition, and emotion. Although there is a history of misinformation surrounding these drugs, recent investigation has reinvigorated interest. However, little research has assessed the attitudes of psychedelic consumers regarding these substances. The current study aims to explore the attitudes and perceptions of people with experience with psychedelic drugs, specifically surrounding psychedelic drugs themselves and their use within Aotearoa New Zealand.
Design/methodology/approach
Nineteen individuals with experience of psychedelic use were recruited to participate across eight groups in semi-structured, exploratory interviews, where a range of topics associated with psychedelics were discussed. Reflexive thematic analysis of the data focussed on participants’ current perceptions and attitudes.
Findings
Four themes were produced: (1) a negative historical influence on current perceptions of psychedelics; (2) knowledge is key but not everyone has it; (3) prohibition is not working, policy needs to change; (4) psychedelics have therapeutic potential. These themes emphasise key features of people with experience of psychedelic drugs’ current views and highlight potential areas for future investigation and intervention.
Social implications
Findings indicate a need for greater public knowledge and awareness of psychedelics in Aotearoa society. Findings also inform information, education and policy, which in turn will reduce the stigma and associated harm that those who have used or use psychedelic drugs may experience.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, qualitative research aiming to understand attitudes and perspectives surrounding psychedelic drugs and their use from a drug users’ perspective have not yet been assessed.
Narrative criminology prioritizes personal narratives for explaining past behaviours and shaping future decisions. Using this perspective, we rely on data from a photo-ethnography with people who use peyote in religious ceremonies to understand how their discourses about peyote shape their experiences with it. We find that participants define peyote as an ‘earth medicine’ that helps with healing (physical, spiritual and psychological) and thus should be respected. This narrative dictates how and when they use it (e.g. with intention and not recreationally), distances from other drugs (which are regarded as harmful) and directs their physiological experiences. Findings suggest that the symbolic meaning associated with specific drugs justifies using it and directs and encourages continued use. Thus, understanding drug use requires examining how discourse about specific drugs are incorporated into personal narratives.
The history of psychedelia within the New Left counterculture often implies a cultural alignment between psychedelics and progressive values or the promise of radical communitarian social reform. In contrast to these potentials, this paper examines Silicon Valley’s engagement with psychedelics, a community which has demonstrated considerable financial and personal interests in these drugs despite promoting and advancing consistently neoliberal ends. This article studies Silicon Valley’s culture of psychedelic drug use through extensive analysis of published interviews by tech industrialists, news reports, and recent studies on the tech industry’s proliferation of mystical and utopian rhetoric. This work finds that psychedelics and their associated practices are given unconventional mystical meanings by some high-profile tech entrepreneurs, and that these meanings are integrated into belief systems and philosophies which are explicitly anti-democratic, individualist, and essentialist. It is argued that these mystical ideas are supported by a venture capital community which profits from the expression of disruptive utopian beliefs. These beliefs, when held by the extremely wealthy, have effects on legalization policy and the ways which psychedelics are commercialized within a legal marketplace. As Silicon Valley has put considerable resources into funding research and advocacy for psychedelics, I argue that the legalization of psychedelics will likely be operationalized to generate a near-monopoly on the market and promote further inequality in the United States that is reflective of both neoliberalism, and the essentialist beliefs of Silicon Valley functionaries.
Issues:
Serotonergic psychedelics (SP) are psychoactive substances that produce unique sets of subjective effects, such as hallucinatory experiences. This systematic review is the first to summarise which motives for SP use have been assessed in medical, psychological, sociological and ethnological research across different types of SPs and across cultural backgrounds. Findings on use motives can be especially important in the context of harm reduction.
Approach:
We searched academic databases (Medline, Web of Science and Embase) and included publications if they were peer-reviewed and written in English, German, Spanish or Dutch. We analysed which type of motives were reported, comparing motives from quantitative and qualitative reports, and investigating associations between motives and year of publication, specific SPs and specific participant populations.
Key findings:
Our search in November 2020 resulted in 30,257 unique articles of which 37 were included in the analysis. Across all studies, the most common motive for SP use was the desire to expand awareness (78% of included studies), followed by coping (67%) and enhancement (57%) motives. There were no statistically significant associations between reported motive and type of report (quantitative vs. qualitative), year of publication (range: 1967-2020), type of SP and participant population.
Implications:
If SP-related harms are to be reduced, harm-reduction services could focus on providing non-pharmacological ways of fulfilling an expansion motive. Additionally, future studies should aim to assess specific motives for specific SPs.
Conclusions:
SPs are most commonly used to expand (self-)knowledge, promote spiritual development or for curiosity, notably across different SP user populations including patients.
Background
People have been using hallucinogens for thousands of years and interest in these substances has grown in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine the basic socio-demographic data, preferences, experiences, and attitudes associated with hallucinogen use in Slovakia.
Methods
A cross-sectional research design was used whereby an online survey included participants who had had at least one experience with hallucinogens (N = 422, age M = 27.78; SD = 7.84; SE = 0.38; 35.1% females). Due to the illegal, intimate, and minority nature of the phenomena studied, data was collected using the snowball sampling method via an online social network in groups that declared a drug focus.
Results
Users of hallucinogens were mostly employed (61,8%) and in some form of partnership (57,6%); they usually have a high school diploma (46,68%) or a university degree (45,41%). They most often use psilocybin mushrooms, while the age of initial use (M = 19,61; SD = 5,39) as well as lifetime frequency use (M = 18,26; SD = 24,21; Median = 10) are similar to global trends. Free use without rituals was preferred to ceremonial use. In general, our sample of hallucinogen users considered the integration of psychedelic experiences to be simple rather than challenging. Concurrently, they tended to see hallucinogens as useful to humans, but realised that they are not without risk and can be somewhat dangerous. Males used hallucinogens for the first time at a younger age (p < .05, r = −.12), used more hallucinogens during their lifetime (p <.001, r = −.23), and demanded decriminalisation and legalisation more (p <.01, r = −.13) than females.
Conclusion
Slovak users of hallucinogens in our sample showed similar usage trends as users abroad. Even though both males and females perceive and evaluate hallucinogens very similarly, females are significantly more careful in using these substances.
This paper analyzes notions and models of optimized cognition emerging at the intersections of psychology, neuroscience, and computing. What I somewhat polemically call the algorithms of mindfulness describes an ideal that determines algorithmic techniques of the self, geared at emotional resilience and creative cognition. A reframing of rest, exemplified in corporate mindfulness programs and the design of experimental artificial neural networks sits at the heart of this process. Mindfulness trainings provide cues as to this reframing, for they detail each in their own way how intermittent periods of rest are to be recruited to augment our cognitive capacities and combat the effects of stress and information overload. They typically rely on and co-opt neuroscience knowledge about what the brains of North Americans and Europeans do when we rest. Current designs for artificial neural networks draw on the same neuroscience research and incorporate coarse principles of cognition in brains to make machine learning systems more resilient and creative. These algorithmic techniques are primarily conceived to prevent psychopathologies where stress is considered the driving force of success. Against this backdrop, I ask how machine learning systems could be employed to unsettle the concept of pathological cognition itself.
Microdosing psychedelics, the repeated use of small doses of substances such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide, has gained popular and scientific attention in recent years. While some users claim microdosing psychedelics has therapeutic value, to date only a handful of (placebo-controlled) experimental studies in human volunteers have been conducted testing the effects of low doses on physiological, subjective state, and performance measures. This chapter aims to answer, based on the scientific knowledge we have so far, whether microdosing psychedelics has therapeutic potential. Reviewed studies demonstrated that low doses were in general well tolerated. Single doses produced subtle, beneficial effects on selective performance measures and subjective states. The fact that most studies were conducted in small samples of healthy (young) volunteers hampers generalization to other populations. However, the observed cognitive and affective effects might be of help in some psychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression. Future placebo-controlled studies in patient populations are needed to conclude about the (therapeutic) potential of microdosing psychedelics.
Background::
Novel psychedelics approximate classic psychedelics, but unlike classic psychedelics, novel psychedelics have been used by humans for a shorter period of time, with fewer data available on these substances.
Aims::
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of novel psychedelic use and the associations of novel psychedelic use with mental health outcomes.
Methods::
We estimated the prevalence of self-reported, write-in lifetime novel psychedelic use and evaluated the associations of novel psychedelic use with psychosocial characteristics, past month psychological distress, and past year suicidality among adult respondents pooled from years 2008-2016 of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (weighted n=234,914,788).
Results::
A fraction (weighted n=273,720; 0.12%) reported lifetime novel psychedelic use. This cohort tended to be younger, male, and White, have greater educational attainment but less income, be more likely to have never been married, engage in self-reported risky behavior, and report lifetime illicit use of other drugs, particularly classic psychedelics (96.9%). (2-(4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethanamine) (2C-B) (30.01%), (2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenethylamine) (2C-I) (23.9%), and (1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylphenyl)-2-aminoethane) (2C-E) (14.8%) accounted for the majority of lifetime novel psychedelic use. Although lifetime novel psychedelic use was not associated with psychological distress or suicidality compared to no lifetime novel psychedelic use or classic psychedelic use, relative to lifetime use of classic psychedelics but not novel psychedelics, lifetime novel psychedelic use was associated with a greater likelihood of past year suicidal thinking (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR)=1.4 (1.1-1.9)) and past year suicidal planning (aOR=1.6 (1.1-2.4)).
Conclusion::
Novel psychedelics may differ from classic psychedelics in meaningful ways, though additional, directed research is needed.
Rationale
Microdosing psychedelics—the regular consumption of small amounts of psychedelic substances such as LSD or psilocybin—is a growing trend in popular culture. Recent studies on full-dose psychedelic psychotherapy reveal promising benefits for mental well-being, especially for depression and end-of-life anxiety. While full-dose therapies include perception-distorting properties, microdosing mayprovide complementary clinical benefits using lower-risk, non-hallucinogenic doses.
Objectives
This pre-registered study aimed to investigate whether microdosing psychedelics is related to differences in personality, mental health, and creativity.
Methods
In this observational study, respondents recruited from online forums self-reported their microdosing behaviors and completed questionnaires concerning dysfunctional attitudes, wisdom, negative emotionality, open-mindedness, and mood. Respondents also performed the Unusual Uses Task to assess their creativity.
Results
Current and former microdosers scored lower on measures of dysfunctional attitudes (p < 0.001, r = − 0.92) and negative emotionality (p = 0.009, r = − 0.85) and higher on wisdom (p < 0.001, r = 0.88), openmindedness(p = 0.027, r = 0.67), and creativity (p < 0.001, r = 0.15) when compared to non-microdosing controls.
Conclusions
These findings provide promising initial evidence that warrants controlled experimental research to directly test safety and clinical efficacy. As microdoses are easier to administer than full-doses, this new paradigm has the exciting potential to shape future psychedelic research.
Rationale
Previous research demonstrating that lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) produces alterations in time perception has implications for its impact on conscious states and a range of psychological functions that necessitate precise interval timing. However, interpretation of this research is hindered by methodological limitations and an inability to dissociate direct neurochemical effects on interval timing from indirect effects attributable to altered states of consciousness.
Methods
We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study contrasting oral administration of placebo with three microdoses of LSD (5, 10, and 20 μg) in older adults. Subjective drug effects were regularly recorded and interval timing was assessed using a temporal reproduction task spanning subsecond and suprasecond intervals.
Results
LSD conditions were not associated with any robust changes in self-report indices of perception, mentation, or concentration. LSD reliably produced over-reproduction of temporal intervals of 2000 ms and longer with these effects most pronounced in the 10 μg dose condition. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that LSD-mediated over-reproduction was independent of marginal differences in self-reported drug effects across conditions.
Conclusions
These results suggest that microdose LSD produces temporal dilation of suprasecond intervals in the absence of subjective alterations of consciousness.
Introduction
Taking microdoses (a mere fraction of normal doses) of psychedelic substances, such as truffles, recently gained popularity, as it allegedly has multiple beneficial effects including creativity and problem-solving performance, potentially through targeting serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors and promoting cognitive flexibility, crucial to creative thinking. Nevertheless, enhancing effects of microdosing remain anecdotal, and in the absence of quantitative research on microdosing psychedelics, it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions on that matter. Here, our main aim was to quantitatively explore the cognitive-enhancing potential of microdosing psychedelics in healthy adults.
Methods
During a microdosing event organized by the Dutch Psychedelic Society, we examined the effects of psychedelic truffles (which were later analyzed to quantify active psychedelic alkaloids) on two creativity-related problem-solving tasks: the Picture Concept Task assessing convergent thinking and the Alternative Uses Task assessing divergent thinking. A short version of the Ravens Progressive Matrices task assessed potential changes in fluid intelligence. We tested once before taking a microdose and once while the effects were expected to be manifested.
Results
We found that both convergent and divergent thinking performance was improved after a non-blinded microdose, whereas fluid intelligence was unaffected.
Conclusion
While this study provides quantitative support for the cognitive-enhancing properties of microdosing psychedelics, future research has to confirm these preliminary findings in more rigorous placebo-controlled study designs. Based on these preliminary results, we speculate that psychedelics might affect cognitive metacontrol policies by optimizing the balance between cognitive persistence and flexibility. We hope this study will motivate future microdosing studies with more controlled designs to test this hypothesis.
A psychological model of classic psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy informed by contemporary scientific data is presented in this paper. It is suggested that classic psychedelic-occasioned mystical experience is characterized by profound awe, a discrete emotion experienced in the presence of a vast stimulus requiring accommodation of mental structures. Awe, in turn, promotes the small self, a construct that, in the extreme, is analogous to those of unitive experience and ego dissolution. The small self is conceptualized as key to understanding the downstream effects of mystical experience occasioned in the context of classic psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. With this novel theoretical framework in mind, a number of clinical implications and recommendations are provided so as to advance this incipient field of study.
Aims:
This article presents a qualitative interview study of people who microdose with psychedelic drugs, which means that the user takes about one tenth of an ordinary recreational dose.
Design:
Respondents (n = 21) were recruited at several Internet fora for individual interviews via private messaging. Every participant was male, and the median respondent was in his 30s with a stable job and relationship and extensive entheogen experience.
Results:
Respondents tended to experiment with microdosing in phases, reporting mostly positive consequences from this form of drug use. Reported effects included improved mood, cognition, and creativity, which often served to counteract symptoms especially from conditions of anxiety and depression. There were also reports of various challenges with psychedelic microdosing, and some did not find the practice worth continuing.
Conclusion:
The study obtained evidence of a group of users taking small doses of psychedelics not for the purpose of intoxication but to enhance everyday functioning. While the study’s findings are not generalisable, they may inform subsequent investigations with research questions and hypotheses.
Maslow’s self-actualization remains a popular notion in academic research as well as popular culture. The notion that life’s highest calling is fulfilling one’s own unique potential has been widely appealing. But what do people believe they are doing when they pursue the realization of their full, unique potentials? Here, we examine lay perceptions of self-actualization. Self-actualizing, like any drive, is unlikely to operate without regard to biological and social costs and benefits. We examine which functional outcomes (e.g., gaining status, making friends, finding mates, caring for kin) people perceive as central to their individual self-actualizing. Three studies suggest that people most frequently link self-actualization to seeking status, and, concordant with life history theory, what people regard as self-actualizing varies in predictable ways across the life span and across individuals. Contrasting with self-actualization, people do not view other types of well-being—eudaimonic, hedonic, subjective—as furthering status-linked functional outcomes.
Acute and enduring adverse effects of psilocybin have been reported anecdotally, but have not been well characterized. For this study, 1993 individuals (mean age 30 yrs; 78% male) completed an online survey about their single most psychologically difficult or challenging experience (worst “bad trip”) after consuming psilocybin mushrooms. Thirty-nine percent rated it among the top five most challenging experiences of his/her lifetime. Eleven percent put self or others at risk of physical harm; factors increasing the likelihood of risk included estimated dose, duration and difficulty of the experience, and absence of physical comfort and social support. Of the respondents, 2.6% behaved in a physically aggressive or violent manner and 2.7% received medical help. Of those whose experience occurred >1 year before, 7.6% sought treatment for enduring psychological symptoms. Three cases appeared associated with onset of enduring psychotic symptoms and three cases with attempted suicide. Multiple regression analysis showed degree of difficulty was positively associated, and duration was negatively associated, with enduring increases in well-being. Difficulty of experience was positively associated with dose. Despite difficulties, 84% endorsed benefiting from the experience. The incidence of risky behavior or enduring psychological distress is extremely low when psilocybin is given in laboratory studies to screened, prepared, and supported participants.
The narrative study of identity promotes the idea that people develop social identities by telling stories about themselves and others. Through these stories, people associate with desired groups and create social boundaries separating them from the less desirable. While all people engage in boundary work, it is especially important for those who are physically or socially near members of stigmatized groups (e.g. drug users). My aim here is to examine how drug users narratively create symbolic boundaries to differentiate types of users (i.e. functional vs. dysfunctional). To elaborate on the general characteristics of these symbolic boundaries, I rely on qualitative meta-synthesis of research on boundary work among drug users and insights from my own research with people who use drugs. I draw from narrative identity theory to locate the places from which they derive their stories when creating symbolic boundaries and the content of the symbolic boundaries. I discuss the role of symbolic boundaries in facilitating drug use and inhibiting recovery and conclude by discussing the theoretical importance of using narrative criminology for understanding boundary development, boundary maintenance, and the content of boundaries.
While commentators on the postmodern scene have dismissed or trivialized the personal self, it nonetheless remains a central experiential construct, articulating a sense of moral agency for everyday life. This article examines self-construction in the context of a world of proliferating going concerns - social institutions - that increasingly shape the discursive contours of subjectivity. Both the negative and the positive sides of this development are examined, the analytic implications of which can move us in strikingly different directions. We conclude by offering suggestions for tying the study of the contemporary self to the variety of discursive environments and practices that set the conditions of possibility for who and what we are or could be.
Drug users often define themselves as functional users and depict others as dysfunctional (i.e. junkies). Previous research on the social identities of drug users has focused on the symbolic boundaries they create to distance themselves from stigmatized others. Investigators have yet to focus on how users account for their own boundary violations. Here, we examine the narratives of 30 former women methamphetamine (meth) users to determine how they make distinctions between functional and dysfunctional meth users (i.e. “meth heads”). The distinctions they make are based on users’ abilities to maintain control of their lives and to hide their use from outsiders. Those who saw themselves as functional but who engaged in behaviors inconsistent with this image accounted for these behaviors to maintain desired identities. We show the complexity of drug users’ identities and illustrate how anti-drug campaigns that provide grotesque caricatures of drug users may prolong drug using careers.
Among policymakers and media in the United States, there is growing concern over increasing rates of illicit prescription drug use among college students. Using semi-structured interviews with 22 college students who misused prescription stimulants, we find that they draw on conventional middle-class beliefs (e.g., success and moderation) to make sense of their drug use. They do this by creating identities as people who are focused on success and use stimulants only as a tool to perform their best. They use excuses and justifications rooted in middle-class values to create symbolic boundaries between themselves (as legitimate users) and others (as hedonistic users). This allows them to persist with their illegal behaviors while maintaining an identity as conventional citizens.
In recent years, the concept of boundaries has been at the center of influential research agendas in anthropology, history, political science, social psychology, and sociology. This article surveys some of these developments while describing the value added provided by the concept, particularly concerning the study of relational processes. It discusses literatures on (a) social and collective identity; (b) class, ethnic/racial, and gender/sex inequality; (c) professions, knowledge, and science; and (d) communities, national identities, and spatial boundaries. It points to similar processes at work across a range of institutions and social locations. It also suggests paths for further developments, focusing on the relationship between social and symbolic boundaries, cultural mechanisms for the production of boundaries, difference and hybridity, and cultural membership and group classifications.
We investigate how participants in the street economy of crack cocaine construct a “hustler” identity by contrasting their social behaviors and styles with a dialectically contrastive crackhead identity. For those who are proximate to, or involved in, the crack cocaine economy, effort is required to avoid being labeled a crackhead. Would-be hustlers construct boundaries that separate them from others on the street through talk and behavior. We draw on interviews conducted with 28 men convicted of committing violent street crimes to explore how they distance themselves from those exhibiting distasteful symptoms of crack addiction. By examining the boundaries between these two street-based identities we increase sociological understanding of the significance of offenders’
identity work for shaping their conceptions of self and other, as well as their interactions in everyday street life.
Keywords: identity, boundary maintenance, hustlers, crackhead, crack.
Much social science research dictates that the most productive mode for producing narrative data is through face-to-face interviews, with other modes of data production assumed to be ‘second best’. This research note makes a unique contribution to this debate by reflecting on a research project which used telephones to produce participant narratives. It draws on data from both the researcher’s field notes and the participants themselves, who were asked after the narrative interview about their experiences of participating in a seemingly ‘strange’ research encounter. Furthermore, it describes the particular ideological, methodological and practical benefits that using telephones produced and reflects how such findings speak to Stephens’ (2007) recent work concerning telephone interviewing. This research note concludes that the use of telephones should be seriously considered as a preferred alternative to face-to-face interviews when considering how to conduct narrative interviews with particular groups of participants.
Anders Behring Breivik carried out two terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011, killing 77 people. In a 1500-page Manifesto, he justifies the attacks, describes his ideology and presents his life-story. The Manifesto is Breivik’s attempt to present a coherent story, although one that shifts between different, sometimes competing, characters and narrative tones. He relies heavily on the narratives of an anti-Islamic or ‘counter-jihadist’ social movement, mainly present on the internet, but he makes creative adjustments. Some studies emphasize that narratives are unified, others that they are fragmented. Similarly, some emphasize the strategic and others the structural aspects of story-telling. This article further develops a theoretical framework of narrative criminology. The main argument is that offenders’ stories need to be analysed as agency conditioned by culture and context. Such stories must also be understood as attempts at coherency and unity, drawing on a wide variety of cultural narratives and discourses. It is suggested that researchers can benefit from further reflecting on the diversity of ways in which self-narratives are analysed and understood. In line with narrative criminology, it is suggested that when narrative and crime are closely connected, their study gets to the core of the complex causes of crime.
Based on individual conversational interviews with 44 socially integrated drug users in Stockholm, this article examines the informants’ self-presentations and their representations of drug abusers. The results show that the informants strive towards positive self-presentation. In this process, the drug abuser identity is important as it provides a negative identity that reinforces the informants’ desired self-presentation. The mechanisms of negative Other-presentations derive from a background in which the informants attempt to escape a socially ascribed deviant identity and exchange it for a not yet stabilised positive identity.
Psychoactive drug use shows great diversity, but due to a disproportionate focus on problematic drug use, predominant nonproblematic drug use remains an understudied phenomenon. Historic and anecdotal evidence shows that natural sources of "psychedelic" drugs (e.g., mescaline and psilocybin) have been used in religious and spiritual settings for centuries, as well as for psychological self-enhancement purposes. Our study assessed a total of 667 psychedelic drug users, other drug users, and drug nonusers by online questionnaires. Coping, life purpose, and spirituality were measured with the Psychological Immune Competence Inventory, the Purpose in Life test, and the Intrinsic Spirituality Scale, respectively. Results indicate that the use of psychedelic drugs with a purpose to enhance self-knowledge is less associated with problems, and correlates positively with coping and spirituality. Albeit the meaning of "spirituality" may be ambiguous, it seems that a spiritually-inclined attitude in drug use may act as a protective factor against drug-related problems. The autognostic use of psychedelic drugs may be thus hypothesized as a "training situation" that promotes self-enhancement by rehearsing personal coping strategies and by gaining self-knowledge. However, to assess the actual efficiency and the speculated long-term benefits of these deliberately provoked exceptional experiences, further qualitative investigations are needed.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative review and offer novel insights regarding human research with classic psychedelics (classic hallucinogens), which are serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonists such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin. Classic psychedelics have been administered as sacraments since ancient times. They were of prominent interest within psychiatry and neuroscience in the 1950s to 1960s, and during this time contributed to the emergence of the field of molecular neuroscience. Promising results were reported for treatment of both end-of-life psychological distress and addiction, and classic psychedelics served as tools for studying the neurobiological bases of psychological disorders. Moreover, classic psychedelics were shown to occasion mystical experiences, which are subjective experiences reported throughout different cultures and religions involving a strong sense of unity, among other characteristics. However, the recreational use of classic psychedelics and their association with the counterculture prompted an end to human research with classic psychedelics in the early 1970s. We provide the most comprehensive review of epidemiological studies of classic psychedelics to date. Notable among these are a number of studies that have suggested the possibility that nonmedical naturalistic (non-laboratory) use of classic psychedelics is associated with positive mental health and prosocial outcomes, although it is clear that some individuals are harmed by classic psychedelics in non-supervised settings. We then review recent therapeutic studies suggesting efficacy in treating psychological distress associated with life-threatening diseases, treating depression, and treating nicotine and alcohol addictions. We also describe the construct of mystical experience, and provide a comprehensive review of modern studies investigating classic psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences and their consequences. These studies have shown classic psychedelics to fairly reliably occasion mystical experiences. Moreover, classic-psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences are associated with improved psychological outcomes in both healthy volunteer and patient populations. Finally, we review neuroimaging studies that suggest neurobiological mechanisms of classic psychedelics. These studies have also broadened our understanding of the brain, the serotonin system, and the neurobiological basis of consciousness. Overall, these various lines of research suggest that classic psychedelics might hold strong potential as therapeutics, and as tools for experimentally investigating mystical experiences and behavioral-brain function more generally.
Data suggest psychedelics such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) may hold therapeutic potential in the treatment of addictions, including tobacco dependence. This retrospective cross-sectional anonymous online survey characterized 358 individuals (52 females) who reported having quit or reduced smoking after ingesting a psychedelic in a non-laboratory setting ⩾1 year ago. On average, participants smoked 14 cigarettes/day for 8 years, and had five previous quit attempts before their psychedelic experience. Of the 358 participants, 38% reported continuous smoking cessation after psychedelic use (quitters). Among quitters, 74% reported >2 years' abstinence. Of the 358 participants, 28% reported a persisting reduction in smoking (reducers), from a mode of 300 cigarettes/month before, to a mode of 1 cigarette/month after the experience. Among reducers, 62% reported >2 years of reduced smoking. Finally, 34% of the 358 participants (relapsers) reported a temporary smoking reduction before returning to baseline smoking levels, with a mode time range to relapse of 3-6 months. Relapsers rated their psychedelic experience significantly lower in personal meaning and spiritual significance than both other groups. Participants across all groups reported less severe affective withdrawal symptoms (e.g. depression, craving) after psychedelic use compared with previous quit attempts, suggesting a potential mechanism of action for psychedelic-associated smoking cessation/reduction. Changes in life priorities/values were endorsed as the most important psychological factor associated with smoking cessation/reduction. Results suggest psychedelics may hold promise in treating tobacco addiction as potentially mediated by spiritual experience, changed priorities/values, and improved emotional regulation.
Methamphetamine (or “meth”), a central nervous system stimulant, has been constructed as a dangerous drug with certain and extreme consequences. Incomplete and sometimes inaccurate portrayals, while aimed at preventing the initiation of use, stigmatize those who do use. Using data from in-depth, qualitative interviews with eight Northern Colorado women who are active meth users, this article explores how female meth users navigate this stigma through negotiation of group membership and management of information. The women in this study internalize and challenge the stigma: They identify as meth users and addicts yet view their own practices as distinguishing them from other users; and, they carefully control the extent to which they tell others of their use, even when contradictory to their sense of self and desirable relationships. These findings support the need for increased recognition and further examination of the role and enactment of agency among drug users and other oppressed groups.
The article analyzes Danish clubbers’ strategies for taking drugs in night clubs. This exploration is framed within the discussion of a possible normalization of youth drug use. Thus, the article investigates how young drug-users experience the level of acceptability of drug use in clubs and how this perceived acceptability—or rather lack of acceptability—affects their practices around drug-taking. The analysis points towards two distinct strategies which the clubbers make use of when taking drugs in clubs: an assimilative strategy and an opportunistic strategy, and it is shown how these strategies are indicative of the level of acceptability of drugs in club settings. Through this focus on the micro-level, the article adds to the limited amount of literature on this dimension of the normalization thesis. Empirically, the article is based on a Danish mixed methods club study.
While commentators on the postmodern scene have dismissed or trivialized the personal self, it nonetheless remains a central experiential construct, articulating a sense of moral agency for everyday life. This article examines self-construction in the context of a world of proliferating going concerns—social institutions—that increasingly shape the discursive contours of subjectivity. Both the negative and the positive sides of this development are examined, the analytic implications of which can move us in strikingly different directions. We conclude by offering suggestions for tying the study of the contemporary self to the variety of discursive environments and practices that set the conditions of possibility for who and what we are or could be.
This article explores the author's experiences of conducting both face-to-face and telephone interviews with elite and ultra-elite respondents. It draws upon the author's PhD research that uses a Sociology of Scientific Knowledge perspective to understand the social construction of macroeconomics. The article demonstrates how this perspective, and contributions from broader methodological texts, shaped the evolving research practice. The author reflects upon the distance between themselves as a relatively novice researcher and the high status position of the elite and ultra-elite respondents. This is followed with a discussion of several practical issues that arose from the research experience that would usefully inform the work of any researcher considering utilising telephone interviews. The article concludes that telephone interviewing with elite and ultra-elite respondents is both a productive and valid research option.
Although criminologists have long used the offender's own story to shed light on crime and its possible causes, they have not plumbed its potential as an explanatory variable. This article considers the way narrative has been conceptualized in criminology and the way that it might be re-conceptualized, following scholarship in other social sciences and in humanities, as a key instigator of action. The concept of narrative is useful for the projects of contemporary criminology because it: (1) applies to both individuals and aggregates; (2) applies to both direct perpetrators and bystanders; (3) anchors the notion of (sub)culture; (4) circumvents the realism to which other theories of criminal behavior are bound; and (5) can be readily collected by researchers, though not without confronting the problematic that is the socially situated production of discourse.
Psychedelic drugs have long been known to be capable of inducing mystical or transcendental experiences. However, given the common "recreational" nature of much present-day psychedelic use, with typical doses tending to be lower than those commonly taken in the 1960s, the extent to which illicit use of psychedelics today is associated with mystical experiences is not known. Furthermore the mild psychedelic MDMA ("Ecstasy") is more popular today than "full" psychedelics such as LSD or psilocybin, and the contribution of illicit MDMA use to mystical experiences is not known. The present study recruited 337 adults from the website and newsletter of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), most of whom reported use of a variety of drugs both licit and illicit including psychedelics. Although only a quarter of the sample reported "spiritual" motives for using psychedelics, use of LSD and psilocybin was significantly positively related to scores on two well-known indices of mystical experiences in a dose-related manner, whereas use of MDMA, cannabis, cocaine, opiates and alcohol was not. Results suggest that even in today's context of "recreational" drug use, psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin, when taken at higher doses, continue to induce mystical experiences in many users.
This article explores the micro-politics of recreational use of illicit ‘party drugs’ in a social network of young Australians. These young people often engage in extended sessions of concurrent alcohol and other drug use, and regularly emphasise the pleasures associated with this use. However, as well-integrated young people, they are also exposed to the discourses of non-using friends, family and the wider society, which represent illicit drug use as a potential moral threat. Some group members invoked the need for self-control in relation to illicit drug use and had developed a number of strategies to cease or regulate their use. However, they struggled to regulate pleasure and drew on popular understandings of ‘excessive’ drug use as indicative of flawed neo-liberal subjectivity. Other group members rejected the need for self-control, choosing instead to emphasise the value of unrestrained bodily pleasure facilitated by the heavy use of illicit drugs. These co-existing discourses point to the complex ways in which illicit drug users try to challenge the stigma associated with their drug use. Our analysis suggests that future accounts of illicit drug use, and harm reduction initiatives, need to be more attentive to the micro-politics of normalisation. How should harm reduction respond to those who articulate its ethos but pursue pleasure in practice? What should harm reduction say to those who reject regulation on the grounds that it stifles pleasure? Discussing ways to incorporate pleasure into harm reduction should be central to the future development of policy and practice.
I argue that the study of narrative identity would benefit from more sustained and explicit attention to relationships among cultural, institutional, organizational, and personal narratives of identity. I review what is known about these different types of narrative identity and argue that these narratives are created for different purposes, do different types of work, and are evaluated by different criteria. After exploring the inherently reflexive relationships between and among these various narratives of identity, I conclude with demonstrating how examining these relationships would allow a more complete understanding of the mutual relevance of social problem construction and culture, of the work of social service organizations attempting to change clients' personal narratives, and the possibilities of social change. Exploring relationships between and among different types of narrative identity would yield a better understanding of how narratives work and the work narratives do.
Although the number of drug users over the age of 35 is growing at a faster rate than other age groups, a gap in knowledge of how people age with drug use remains. This study focuses on heroin users who were born between 1945 and 1965, the baby boom cohort. Based on questionnaires and in-depth interviews with 38 active heroin users in Atlanta, Georgia, variations in their heroin use were explored through modified grounded theory methods, including constant comparison. Numerical and narrative data revealed a typology of active heroin users who are members of the baby boom generation. The two salient dimensions of the typology are the level of control over heroin use and the users’ social roles, specifically the status the users allocated to their social role as a heroin user. The typology includes: 1) controlled occasional users; 2) weekend warriors; 3) habitués; 4) marginal users; 5) problem addicts; 6) using dealers/runners; 7) using hustlers/sex workers; 8) junkies; and 9) relapsing addicts. Increased insight into the heterogeneity among current baby boomer heroin users is relevant when designing comprehensive prevention and intervention programs.
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin are often claimed to be capable of inducing life-changing experiences described as mystical or transcendental, especially if high doses are taken. The present study examined possible enduring effects of such experiences by comparing users of psychedelic drugs (n = 88), users of nonpsychedelic illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana, amphetamines) (n = 29) and non illicit drug-using social drinkers (n = 66) on questionnaire measures of values, beliefs and emotional empathy. Samples were obtained from Israel (n = 110) and Australia (n = 73) in a cross-cultural comparison to see if values associated with psychedelic drug use transcended culture of origin. Psychedelic users scored significantly higher on mystical beliefs (e.g., oneness with God and the universe) and life values of spirituality and concern for others than the other groups, and lower on the value of financial prosperity, irrespective of culture of origin. Users of nonpsychedelic illegal drugs scored significantly lower on a measure of coping ability than both psychedelic users and non illicit drug users. Both groups of illegal drug users scored significantly higher on empathy than non illicit drug users. Results are discussed in the context of earlier findings from Pahnke (1966) and Doblin (1991) of the transformative effect of psychedelic experiences, although the possibility remains that present findings reflect predrug characteristics of those who chose to take psychedelic drugs rather than effects of the drugs themselves.
This study examined the impact of stigma on patients in substance abuse treatment. Patients (N=197) from fifteen residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment facilities completed a survey focused on their experiences with stigma as well as other measures of drug use and functioning. Participants reported experiencing fairly high levels of enacted, perceived, and self-stigma. Data supported the idea that the current treatment system may actually stigmatize people in recovery in that people with more prior episodes of treatment reported a greater frequency of stigma-related rejection, even after controlling for current functioning and demographic variables. Intravenous drug users, compared to non-IV users, reported more perceived stigma as well as more often using secrecy as a method of coping. Those who were involved with the legal system reported less stigma than those without legal troubles. Higher levels of secrecy coping were associated with a number of indicators of poor functioning as well as recent employment problems. Finally, the patterns of findings supported the idea that perceived stigma, enacted stigma, and self-stigma are conceptually distinct dimensions.
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