Microdosing for mental, physical health problems
Four hundred and ten survey respondents reported microdosing to self-treat a total of 901 physician-diagnosed mental and 161 physiologic conditions. They were asked three efficacy questions: Did it work? Did symptoms disappear? Did your quality of life improve?
The responses were disorder-specific. Individuals with anxiety disorders, ADHD, migraine, and other pain syndromes were the only ones to consistently rate microdosing as more effective than conventional treatment. Microdosing was rated less effective for symptom relief than were full-dose psychedelics only in respondents with depression or anxiety; individuals with other mental disorders or with physiological disorders rated the two dosing strategies similarly (Front Psychiatry. 2019 Sep 13. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00672).
Future randomized controlled trials are warranted to more accurately assess efficacy claims for various psychedelics, optimal dosing, disorder specificity, and how they stack up compared with standard therapies, she said.
Dr. Kuypers reported having no financial conflicts of interest regarding her studies, which were conducted free of commercial support.