Microdosing means taking very small amounts of a psychedelic on a repeating schedule, with the aim of feeling subtly better rather than having a full experience. It became popular through personal reports, and research has tried to test those reports against a placebo.
The controlled results are mostly negative. In a self-blinding study that 191 people completed, both groups improved and the differences were not significant (Szigeti et al., 2021). A preregistered study found no effect on emotion processing or on anxiety and depression symptoms (Marschall et al., 2022). A 2024 review of 19 placebo-controlled studies said it is not yet possible to decide whether microdosing is a placebo (Polito and Liknaitzky, 2024).
Observational surveys tell a different story: 953 microdosers reported larger mood improvements over about a month than 180 non-microdosers (Rootman et al., 2022). But people in surveys choose to microdose and expect benefits, so these studies can’t separate effect from expectancy. A 2026 systematic review rated the overall certainty as low (Page et al., 2026). Possession of psilocybin is illegal in Canada outside authorized routes (Health Canada).
Sources
- Szigeti et al., eLife, 2021
- Polito and Liknaitzky, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2024
- Rootman et al., Scientific Reports, 2022
- Page et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2026
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