Might want to mention that all of these studies were on healthy people. Except for one study where 7% had a current mental illness diagnosis. Most of the interest in micro dosing is for treating things like depression and anxiety. So reaching the conclusion that its a "scam" seems very premature. It's like saying antidepressants are a "scam" because they don't make happy people feel even happier.

Psilocybin mushrooms saved my life honestly. They helped me see the pure beauty in life, and made me realize how dumb it would be to take myself out.

Psilocybin flipped the off switch on my social anxiety like a light switch. It's effect lasted long enough that I thought it permanent. My anxiety and doubts and lack of self worth was gone. Anything that can make you love yourself should be legal

Depression haunted my life from a very young age, and I was put on a bunch of SSRIs as a child in attempt to deal with it. None worked.Psychedelic mushrooms was brought to my attention. It was the first thing that actually had real effects. They should only be used with great care and respect.

As long as we’re expanding research on psychedelics I’m happy

I’ve been on antidepressants for 10 years. I’ve tried microdosing. It was much more effective to just take 3.5-4.5 grams on a Saturday. It reduced my anxiety in a material way. You realize the absurdity of the things that fill our minds and stress us all out. Idk - I’m not a dr, but i feel better.

Mushroom was good to me

Psychedelics have the ability to induce profound altered states of consciousness.

I struggle with Manic-Depression and taking a full dose of LSD or Shrooms once every few months to half-a-year has had profound effects. Never tried microdosing, but can definitely attest full doses work wonderfully. I used to he hospitalized constantly for depression, but now its rare.

Ive been microdosing mushrooms over a year now and its been the best thing I’ve ever taken for depression, mental cognition, ADHD, quitting addictions, and finding meaning in life.

Micro dosing helped me get through the grief of loosing my baby. I had trouble letting go and started to spiral down into depression.

Microdosing made my years-long depression, anxiety, and PTSD all but completely vanish in a matter of weeks. These results are too concrete and too dramatic to even possibly be a placebo effect. And believe me, I was NOT expecting it to work. I actually thought it was going to be just another in a very long line of different and ineffective treatments I had tried over the last 30 years.

I think it's actually pretty cool how powerful the brain is to have the placebo effect to work 🤔

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

psychedelic therapy shows promise in the treatment of a number of mental health conditions. Get involved I'd say.

I can’t even express enough how microdosing changed me. Year ago I was in a mental mess and constant brain fog. Now, I feel great. I moved and discovered the real self. It’s worth it. We need more studies. This shit works

I've had Major Depressive Disorder my entire life. I've tried a full dose of 🍄 one time and it made my MDD go away almost completely for over a month. I've tried microdosing for about a month and it didn't do a single thing. I'm really glad that the researchers who are trying to prove that it works are being honest and letting us know what their study found. I hope more research keeps being done on these compounds, though, because there really is something here for us. The pharmaceutical SSRIs and SNRI I've tried didn't even work as effectively as the full 🍄 dose I tried, plus those medications take weeks to work and can come with some nasty side effects.

Sometimes hearing that something might only work as placebo really bums me out, because if I just didn't know that, then it would probably work for me. However, now that I know, it probably won't.

The best thing I’ve ever microdosed in my life is Iboga. I’ve done all of them, except mescaline. Literally permanently changed my brain chemistry for the better.

I have been depressed for a long time, but after taking shrooms few months ago, l feel much happier and highly motivated and my ADHD gone , lost a ton of anxiousness and had a few epiphanies about how I should live my life. I decided to buy an ounce for backup, but haven’t yet felt the need to take any more since then.

I don't know about microdosing, but psilocybin mushrooms absolutely do help if you take a couple 1-2g trips a month. I lost my dad a year ago and gained 40 lbs and just over all became sad and not myself. I hated my new appearance and I was just sad and different. I took a small dose of shrooms, about 1 gram, and it was such a great experience. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt so beautiful. My mind was sharp, I loved how silly I was. I did things without hesitation. If I needed to clean, normally I would just sit and procrastinate. But on shrooms, my body immediately moved for me to complete the chore... And happily! I feel silly and bubbly on shrooms. I feel weightless and content. Even if I feel sad... It's like my brain knows I'm sad, but it makes being sad feel happy and you feel like everything is okay. It's hard to explain. But yes, shrooms changed my life and I will continue to take a 1 or 2 gram trips once a month. ✨

It works. I've had a RADICAL change in my mood, less swings and I am vastly less angry. Also, my fiancé was on depression and anxiety medication for years before I met her. Since we both started at the same time, she no longer takes depression and anxiety meds anymore. Now, we did the large starter dose, then followed the instructions for micro dosing, and every few months we do a large dose again. And Micro dosing requires MONTHS of use, not just a one time event. Anyway, its a natural alternative to shoving pills down your throat from Big Pharma where you usually will have some kind of side effect. In our situation, it works and I highly recommend people doing it, but the right way.

Placebo or not. The 30 day microdose protocol I followed had such a profound effect on me that is still with me 8 months later. I was on anti depressants for years thinking the next one will finally help me and I never got a placebo effect with that. So for me personally, I can’t deny the benefits of psilocybin in any dose

Psychedelics definitely have potential to deal with mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression,they really helped me.

micro dosing isn't supposed to be a single dose ordeal, it is the practice of taking consistent does alongside practicing mindfulness. i took small doses of magic mushrooms for about 2 months and as someone with a major anxiety disorder i can attest that it most definitely changed the way my brain functions for the better. I no longer suffer from my chronic panic attacks.

I watched my friend suffer from neuropathy in her feet for years. Weeks after microdosing she hopping, skipping, jumping up and down the stairs like I had never seen her do before. She was much more active in daily life and she was very much happier. So i call BS, i saw them working with my own eyes. It was life changing for my friend and has continued to help her since.

Psychedelic mushrooms really healed me years back. These are great healing compounds! When used in proper context.

I would just like to add my experience, number one I consider myself a scientific person also very depressed. To the point I’ve written ten page college papers EXCLUSIVELY on the placebo effect. Recently I started micro dosing with heavy skepticism because I had tried basically every antidepressant with higher expectations for it to never work. About 6 months ago I started microdosing shrooms, eventually found out like hey this is actually working I can’t put it into words but I just feel better and more importantly other people say my personality seems better too. I ran out of shrooms and what do you know those effects eventually wore off after a few weeks. I got more mushrooms and within 2 or 3 days I was back to “myself”. I’m watching movies and TV again, going out with friends, communicating with people I haven’t in years, cleaning my house much more and getting more school work done. I feel like I’m one of the first people to assume something is a placebo but I don’t see how at least for me that is what’s going on. I am doing it much differently than the study however, and hey studies might just need to test it differently to find results. I’m actually taking probably more like mild doses daily opposed to micro, as much ground mushroom as I can fit into a 200 mg capsule. What I really like about the small dosages for me is that I was depressed enough and experienced with psychedelics enough to worry high doses might make me feel bad as the trips can be volatile.

once people started to realize they could make money off of trying to help us self medicate anxiety, depression, adhd and the like, they will claim anything to sell you whatever it is. i hope that psychedelics will be able to benefit people in the future :

I started micro dosing and it's been life changing! I'm so grateful to be on this journey.

Mushroom completely turned my life around and my anxiety and panic attack disappeared and my personality changed into a much more generous loving person

I would like to see more longitudinal studies on microdosing. I’m not convinced of either possibility. But I think it’s hard to determine what the benefits are after one exposure. Self reports are always tricky in research. I think the placebo effect is evidence enough that humans aren’t always the best at accurate self reporting.

I hope research continues in this field. I would like to see a study where they cover a range of doses from the micro to the macro. I would like to find out where that line is between the hallucinogenic properties and the medicinal properties. It could be that microdosing, as it currently stands, is too low of a dose to receive the benefits.

I find the best way to find out is to try. This is so cool to see studies being done finally again.

I’ve been microdosing on the batch of mushrooms I got from Myco saint for the last few months for depression and the results have been immeasurable. The world has beauty again whereas before it was grey and painful.

For me, micro dosing helps me articulate my thoughts better. When I’m sober I forget words easily and sometimes can’t form the proper sentence I’m thinking of. When I’m high on mushrooms the words flow easily and effortlessly.

as some one who has adhd and has microdosed during work it has helped me focus better and gave me a little bit of energy almost as if i drank coffee but definitely didnt have the negative side effects of coffee. just kinda came and went and i felt the same after. i am unmedicated with my adhd but microdosing was similar too if i used a stimulant! ive done it since october 2022 and all ive noticed was while on it, it helped.. but once it wears off i dont feel it did anything else except help me stay more focused and maybe make music hit a little harder😂 (also i was microdosing psilocybin for those wondering)

I had been seeing two psychiatrist and tried many different ssri's and additions. I had a severe depression that lasted two years. I cried 217 days in a row at one point. Once I started microdosing under supervision, Within three days, My depression was significantly better and each day got easier until it went into, what I call, a remission. I had tried tons of different med combos and my meds at the time of microdosing where unchanged for at least six months. Sometimes those new pathways need a lil help to get started.

I feel like it worsens my focus and ADHD (at least while I’m on a dose) but dramatically helps my social anxiety, even when I’m not on a dose. I just notice that I’m not overthinking socializing. I no longer need or want a drink while hanging out with someone.

what i think is interesting is that the microdose test ammounts were in the double digit range and they say there was no difference, but i can take 5 micrograms and feel it really strong within an hour. maybe im just sensitive to psychs but my personal experience is drastically different.

There's a lot of potential in psychedelics, I can't wait to try any of them mushrooms specifically but it's just so hard to find a reliable source over here, l'll be glad if anyone can be of help

Thanks for touching on this, you did a great and well balanced portrayal.

Psilocybin saved my life. I was addicted to heroin for 15 years and after Psilocybin treatment I will be 3 years clean in September. I have zero cravings. This is something that truly needs to be more broadly used in addiction treatment.

Micro dosing and occasionally full dosing on psyilobin has greatly improved my memory after I had a major seizure episode that affected a lot of my short term memory and core childhood memories. It also in my experience has allowed me to manage my epilepsy without medication. Also noticed my short term memory being much more reliable. For neurodivergent individuals there is undeniable results that need more research

RIP all silicon valley masterminds

No mention that these studies were on healthy people. Needs to be done with people who have anxiety and depression.

Mushrooms are the best compound I've ever taken. They killed my cigarette addiction instantly, they redefined my relationship with myself, with others, and with reality as a whole. They're also the most terrifying thing I've ever done.

it's cool to have the science explained in a video, I never really thought it was the 'Micro' dose that got me calm, I always assumed you took a small dose over a heroic dose because you were trying to still have a day while tripping (maybe not balls) on mushrooms.

@AsapSCIENCE Could you guys please do a video about HPPD (Hallucinogen Persistent Perception Disorder)? I had it really bad for almost two years after one year of taking a full dose of psilocybin every week, I would increase it for my tolerance but never exceeded 5g of mushrooms. Once the HPPD started to hit me I lost the ability to think coherently or form logical thoughts which was terrifying and the visual snow/other waviness in my vision continued at almost full force as if I was tripping for year after I stopped taking any psychedelics. I was also on an SSRI when I did all those mushrooms so I was being irresponsible for sure but still I didn't know how dangerous tripping that much could be or that I was putting my ability to think coherently at risk. I just want more people to understand how psychologically dangerous psychedelics are and I hope people exercise extreme caution when using them outside of a clinical setting!

I never expected it to work and I had almost given up after trying several SSRI and.. other things. But it does. No more anxiety waves/episodes for about a year now. I am 37 and 2022 was the best year in my whole life.

I've tried microdosing on mushrooms and what I felt and experienced regarding my mood shifts and productivity was def NOT a placebo effect. First two times I could even feel it in my body and noticed really drastic effects in my day-to-day life. I could sleep better, my muscles felt relaxed as if after a full-body massage. I was inspired and motivated (and still am). But the thing with microdosing is that it builds up your tolerance fast, even if you take it every 3 days, so by the end of one month they stop giving you any noticeable effects. But I do feel at a much better place mentally right now after this month that I've done it. Make sure to keep a mood diary if you decide to try it!

I can't find a source anywhere for any good psychedelics in my area, I suffer some pretty bad depression and i got a chance to try K and man it was a miracle substance, I felt free,the only high or euphoria was from the relief of my vices being released, that's exactly what it did

I've personally have micro dosed in the past and it helps a lot with my anxiety.. not exactly a placebo if I can feel it lol, I think making a video on this while never microdosing just to say it doesn't work is very misleading!

It made me feel a lot more positive and easier to handle ny negative emotions and I only just took my first dose!

i started taking psychedelics this year at first it was just on sunday mornings at home but now i’ll microdose in the afternoons before going to the gym and i’ve seen tremendous improvement in the gym and overall in my life

Loved this video, thank you for all the information. I wonder if an MRI of the brain would show changes with the micro-dosing vs the placebo.

I have a plethora of mental ailments and issues I tried everything from pills, talking about things, journaling, self help books, working out, eating healthy and none of them worked out for me but I started microdosing and almost immediately I feel like I’m a new person! I experience life with a whole new presentness I’ve never thought capable of my mind. To be honest I don’t care what the studies might or might not suggest, micro-dosing worked for me and I recommend it to all my friends and family members who similarly struggle

Thank you so much for synthesis sir. Greatly appreciated !

Thanks for the informative video! I think something to add is that the effects of psychedelics especially mushrooms often snowball over weeks, months, and years. It’s not a drug like we’re used to. Take advil now and the headaches gone in less than an hour for most. Psychedelics and really any mind altering experience will hardly show immediate effects that last long term. Everyone should know their intentions going on and be open to what they experience during the trip.

Correct me if I heard wrong, it sounds like those studies were about short term use. I'm curious to see if there will be any studies about long term use and what those results will be. Mostly because of the neuroplasticity effects of full doses

I think it's important to note that the science of psychedelics is still in it's infancy in many ways. Research is extremely difficult to do in a controlled manner, and many studies are forced to rely on self-administration and self-reports, which are not the most reliable ways to construct experiments or collect data. For this reason, dosages used in various studies are not uniform, and may not be representative of actual use by those reporting benefits given the difficulty of determining dosing in the real world. Weed has a similar issue where the cannabis available for research purposes comes from a few sources and is not at all representative of cannabis being consumed by the public in terms of genetic/chemical composition or psychoactive effects. Additionally, there have been several recent studies showing significant effects of microdosing. While there is probably a placebo effect, I think it's too early to definitively conclude that is the only effect it has, as there are lots of contradictory findings. Claiming that the claims of microdose supporters are invalid or more difficult to test because they are broad doesn't really make sense. For one thing, macro doses of psychedelics also have a hugely broad range of effects, so we'd expect similar to come from smaller doses. Additionally, science is literally built to take broad phenomena and distill them into measurable quantities. The problem with this video is that it does not acknowledge the fact that this kind of work takes time, often decades, and that's in a situation where the research is not nearly impossible to conduct, as is the case with psychs. For a great overview, see the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics paper on microdosing, as well as Polito and Liknaitzky, 2022 (The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics (1955-2021) and recommendations for the field). I'm a little disappointed with the definitive (almost closed-minded) tone this episode took, but I would love to see a video on science history and how long different sciences took to fully understand the landscape of their fields, and compare that to research on psychedelics. Thanks as always for your work!

I know for a fact it has helped myself & several other people struggling with PTSD & depression. I also know it helped me stop procrastinating with goals I had. If it's a scam I wonder what was going on with my Antidepressants that had such bad side effects?

I must say I am unsure about the studies you linked in the description. In two studies, they only administered one dose, and in one study, they administered a total of seven doses over a period of three weeks, which was the longest duration studied. Only one study reported benefits. I always thought that you need to microdose for an extended period (e.g., 6 months or more) before experiencing any benefits. I find it hard to imagine that a single microdose would be of any help.

Microdosing changed my life and got rid of all my mental illnesses and addictions I used to be bedridden and now I’m active and feel great!

I've been watching AsapScience (I think) since the early days. Gotta say, you guys never disappoint! Love your content, and all the small animations you put together. Just thought I would share some of my gratitude with you guys today! Don't ever stop! Science Rulez!

Started microdosing sclerotia of psilocybin mushrooms at the age of 61 to see if it would help with my lifelong migraine and a decade old rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Used the “1 on - 2 off” method. Didn’t notice any changes for 3 weeks at was ready to drop it, but my health practitioner suggested I continue for another week. And indeed, something happened. Now at age 62 I’m mobile again and the arthritis is as good as gone. The migraines have drastically reduced in strength, duration, and frequency. I’m not a scientist and to be honest, I really don’t give a 💩how and why it works 😂 it works for me. That’s all I care about. And since the sclerotia of psilocybin mushrooms , AKA magic truffles, are not illegal in Europe, I’ll stick with them 😊

I have been microdosing for a week. I suffer from anxiety and depression as well as grieving recent loss of a parent. In the past 6 days the change is astonishing. Several of my friends have also seen drastic changes in mood and energy.

Whatever, insurance pays the medical bills anyway lol.

I always love your whiteboard animations!! Such a perfect way to display information and keep the attention of everyone as always keep up the amazing work!!

I had severe depression and didn't want to get trapped in the pharma system with shitty anti depressants so I decided to grow my own shrooms. I experimented with different doses. .25, .5, .1, 1.5, 2.5 and 6g lol each trip has taught me something. I started breaking patterns. Doing things differently. Evolving. Yes they do work. BUT you gotta read and understand how they work so you can get the best from them. They are just a tool like a gym. You still gotta now what exercises to do to get the best gains.

Psychedelics definitely have potential to deal with mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression I would like to try them again but its just hard to source our here

HEY u all those ”scam studies” were sponsored bu big pharma who starts to lose their clients😂😂😂😂

wow, it's almost like a narrow scientific study can't encapsulate the human experience

Thank you for being honest! I was just about to dive into it but now im going to take more caution 🥰

I know a couple of people that this has helped Tremendously... Like changed their lives and really got them motivated to achieve their goals. I'm poor so I never tried it, but I've witnessed huge positive change in some people that started this.

I find it helps me by, giving me a mental barrier to filter my thoughts. So I can think about things that would usually make me depressed and I can work through it

Never heard of this yet. Who decided to try this method? Is this something that has been done over decades or something within the last few years? You have some of the most interesting content. You mention it way before the mainstream groups do.

I have a anxiety disorder and I can say microdosering does work!

My experience is that microdosing benefits more over time and has become more effective for me and preferable to my ADHD medication. I’m not sure how long these studies lasted but I noticed the best results after three months.

I've always been of the opinion that an occasional big dose is way more effective than regularly microdosing, especially if you're defining microdosing as a sub perceptual dose (meaning you can't even feel it). I think light doses are good for if you want a creative boost but still wanna be able to function, if you're comfortable with psychedelics you can take like 1/4 of a dose rather than a 1/10. I think most of the reason microdosing is so popular is people want the benefits of psychedelics while still being able to have a 9 to 5 and be able to take care of their other responsibilities and if you take a full dose of psylocybin or LSD you pretty much need a whole weekend just to yourself in a calm environment and nothing you have to do but trip and unfortunately that's not practical for a lot of people. That's why I think we really need psylocybin clinics that regular people can go to and have a calm environment with someone to watch after them and help them process the trip, this is gonna be the best way moving forward cause not everyone is like me and can take 8 grams of mushrooms and dance naked in my kitchen without worrying about my neighbors calling the cops.

Every single person i have spoken to that has micro dosed mushrooms or even had a good amount have said it helps with depression and mental health. Ive spoken to quite a few people as well, i have seen many videos of testimonies as well, i have seen research in to this and the positive always out weighs the negative which in every case i have seen the negative is almost non existent

Idk man, it's either taking a small amount of hallucinogens for the rest of my life to treat mental health, or taking unnatural chemicals with nasty side affects, also for the rest of my life.

I knew it! Thanks for validating what I already knew! (And explaining why.)😂

Love, love, love your videos! I appreciate how you explain, in every day terms, how the world works.

Hmm idk if this was accounted for in the study but I think the microdose itself varies from person to person and you can't simply give everyone the same dose and expect the same thing to happen. There is no general microdose, only individual microdoses. Taking the example of alcohol, different people will have different reactions to the same amount. If we conduct a study where everyone is given the same amount, we won't get any meaningful results.

I mean, they’re doing the ongoing study with the Stamets Stack and have tens of thousands of data points at this point. The sample size is getting larger every day, and they’re not just measuring subjective things, like mood, they’re testing neuroplasticity and dexterity/coordination as well, and there is a marked difference in performance over time. Especially in the 55 and over group, the combination of Psilocybin, Lion’s Mane extracts, and niacin showed a marked improvement even compared to doses including some components of the stack and not others. Can’t really attribute that to placebo.

I suffer from a normal mental state. Microdosing makes me run like a child on sugar

Tolerance is also an issue. Most psychedelics temporarily loose their power after using them; it takes at least a week to reset their efficacy. I know there are microdosing patterns designed to compensate for this, but I doubt anyone can really beat tolerance.

Whats currently being called a microdose i think is too small, when i "micro dose" i take a quarter - half tab of acid. Id like to see studies around that dose range

Could be a placebo. But I have found that people who try a standard dose of psychedelics for the first time especially psilocybin and LSD, don’t seem to notice any change in effects or have a mild trip. And that’s a standard dose. Since the high has to do a lot with your environment and thoughts I think that in order to micro dose you must be an experienced user in order to tap into that mindstate. Over time I can definitely see how that mindstate can be transferred to a sober state. You are what you think.

This study just makes me believe in spiritual significance even more. It shows how much a person affects things wether it be chemical or idea.

So we must go for just the legendary dosification

The results of the study where they gave 4 microdoses to participants kind of feel expected. I didn't feel any improvement before at least a month of microdosing. I've microdosed on and off, and I always found that I either needed to actually get high on a 1000-2000mg dose first, or microdose for a couple weeks, before I felt that the effects worked again. Then again, it might all be placebo

I fear this getting to accepted before we know enough about it. We don’t know what other effects there could be to these types of drugs, especially psychedelics. Hopefully the research in the long run will show us the risks and benefits.

Been microdosing for a few months now, honestly the way I can work out of lifelong ruts, ptsd, and essentially have a lot of the benefits of adhd medication without losing myself as a person is insane. Maybe its all placebo, but I cant deny what its done for me so far.

I have been trying to improve my mental well being after struggling 42 years with depression. I was looking into microdosing, but this is interesting to see. I am not necessarily done looking into it, but this is great to know that it might not be what I was expecting it to be. It is too bad. It looked like the solution to my problems. Either way, more and more research like this will hopefully lead to real breakthroughs happening. I don't know enough about psilocybin, but If we can find a way to expand the average persons mind to understand more about the world and how to treat each other so we are all happy, that would be awesome!.

I'm curious as to environment of the study with LSD. It's a drug that relies heavily on how you feel going into the experience as well as the present atmosphere, I can't imagine that a cold clinical environment would lend itself well to that. On the other hand if it was a more open happy environment that may yield better results. I'm always happy to see progression with psychedelics but I do believe that if we really wanna see clear results were going to have to accommodate the experience better.

It's really hard to have MDD, I've had it for around 33 years (since I was 23, and I'm 56 now). You spend a lot of money and never find a solution. Always promising things, but never a solution. During that period of time, many of your relatives suffer because of your ilness, others die, etc. It's super difficult. And of course, many commit suicide. I believe that it's better to always continue living, despite the difficulties. You never know what you'll live, and what you can do for others. Also, suicide hurts your relatives worse than your ilness. It's better to live and fight, even if it's for many years. Shows you're a warrior.

as someone that has bpd type 1 and has also microdosed in the past I see more benefit to the macro doses than I have ever with the micro. also something that is never talked about is how much mentally ill people love escapism and I think for a lot of people micro dosing is not a medication it’s an exciting method of frequent escapism. I am understanding of treatment resistant depression though I have friends that struggle with it but from what I observe a macrodose has done them more good than a microdose ever will.

Onces you've take high enough doses enough times you learn to notice even the smallest amount of cognitive disturbance within your reality even at those macro mini levels of your mind