Narrative identity, rationality, and microdosing classic psychedelics

This interview study (n=30) reviewed the experiences of subjects who have use psychedelics (e.g. LSD, psilocybin) in small quantities (microdosing) to understand their reasons and how they perceived themselves in their conventional lives in the context of their narrative identity. The study opined that the acute use of such psychedelics in small quantities allowed the subjects to rationalize their reasons due to their procurement and administration practices as well as health reasons. This helped them normalize their drug use, facilitates persistence and see themselves as conventional citizens with middle-class values. This reasoning ultimately allows them to distance themselves from those who “abuse” 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.

Authors: Megan Webb, Heith Copes & Peter S. Hendricks

Summary

ABSTRACT

We explored the experiences of those who microdosed classic psychedelics using the narrative identity theoretical framework, and how they made sense of their actions in the context of their conventional lives.

Participants described themselves as conventional citizens who microdosed classic psychedelics for rational and instrumental purposes. They created social distance between themselves and those who use drugs recreationally by emphasizing connections to conventional citizens who embrace middle-class values.

Introduction

Classic psychedelics, such as LSD and psilocybin, are psychoactive substances that alter the user’s perception, mood, and cognitive processes. Users report positive, life-changing experiences, and scientists are investigating the effectiveness of classic psychedelics in treating end-of-life distress, drug addiction, and other mental health conditions.

Recent years have seen renewed interest in classic psychedelic use among the general public. People microdose classic psychedelics for a range of salubrious outcomes, including improving mood, heightening creativity, and reducing anxiety.

Although research on those who microdose is increasing, only one study has examined those who do it using qualitative methods. The study found that participants experienced positive effects from microdosing.

We interviewed 30 people who had microdosed classic psychedelics and found that they drew on traditional middle-class values in discussing their motives for microdosing and in determining their dosing schedules.

Narrative identity

Storytelling is the primary way that people construct personal identities. These stories explain past behavior and guide future behavior, and people act out cultural stories when they engage in behaviors, including drug use.

Loseke (2007) says that narrative identity occurs at three levels: macro-level (cultural identities), meso-level (institutional and organizational identities), and micro-level (personal identities). Personal narratives are created by taking abstract, depersonalized narratives and adding complexity and personal perspective to them to make them specific to the person telling the story.

Narrative identity involves the formation of symbolic boundaries that make clear distinctions among types of groups. To better understand the social phenomenon of drug use, including microdosing classic psychedelics, it is important to examine the personal narratives people use to construct their personal identities.

Methods

We interviewed 30 people who microdosed classic psychedelics using semi-structured interviews. Participants had to be at least 18 years old and have experience microdosing a regimented schedule for at least five weeks.

We interviewed participants via telephone or Facebook call feature, and recorded these conversations with their consent. The interviews lasted between 30 min and 75 min.

We obtained IRB approval from the home university of the lead author to conduct semi-structured interviews with individuals who were microdosing and to examine the reasons behind their microdosing practices.

We used previous research on narrative identity and symbolic boundaries as sensitizing concepts, and engaged in a peer debriefing process to ensure consistency in coding. Both women and men described similar reasons for microdosing.

Twenty-four participants were men and 10 were women, with a median age of 31. Thirteen participants had used psilocybin mushrooms, eleven had used LSD, and six had used both.

Rationality and microdosing

Participants saw themselves as conventional people who microdosed classic psychedelics to enhance their lives. They discussed the practicality of their procurement and administration processes, and how they connected their microdosing to smart living, health, and wellness.

Practicality of microdosing

Participants emphasized their rationality in their procurement strategies and regimented schedule and dosage, and how they differed from hedonistic drug users who took risks when buying and using drugs.

Procuring classic psychedelics

I just happened to know somebody that had some LSD at the time, and I didn’t really associate with that type of crowd.

Some participants began microdosing when they were gifted a small amount of either substance by a friend. Many of them began growing their own psilocybin mushrooms rather than seeking out “real drug dealers” because it was safer and took several weeks to grow.

Participants believed they could purchase 1P-LSD legally online and felt less exposed to the risk of potentially ingesting something unknown or harmful by purchasing the drugs online.

1P-LSD is 99.9% pure laboratory manufactured, so you know exactly what you’re taking and how much of it there is.

Dosing schedules

Participants described their regimented microdosing practice, which was based on extensive research and experimentation. They described how they arrived at a certain dosage through experiments on themselves, and how they put their mushrooms into capsule form to further the impression that their practice is legitimate.

When microdosing LSD, participants said it was easy to miss the proper dose, so they had to experiment. Improper doses led to them feeling distracted, so the desired benefit of productivity was minimized.

Participants said they would always try the first dose on a day they did not have to work, and then adjust their doses based on their practical experience.

Living smart and healthy

The participants said they tried to live healthy lifestyles and found a balance between their work and home lives by being smart about their choices. Microdosing was one way to do this.

I’m a big wellness buff and I like natural, holistic kind of stuff. Microdosing classic psychedelics is like pot to me.

I’m a plant person and we grow our own food, so I’d rather grow my own medicine than pay someone else to do it.

I am a qualified herbal practitioner, and an aroma-therapist. I understand plant medicine, and how to use plants most effectively.

Some participants believed that using psychedelics was consistent with their preference for organic medicine and holistic methods of improving mental health.

Participants were interested in promoting their own health and wellness and used regimented behavior to do so. They framed their microdosing as part of this general awareness and interest.

Participants’ concerns for overall health were exemplified by their disciplined approach to healthy lifestyles and use of scientific research and extensive self-experimentation.

Benefits derived from microdosing

Participants said that microdosing led to increased mood, increased productivity, and heightened sociability. The most common benefit was the enhancement of mood.

Before I started microdosing I was very depressed, not leaving my room, but after I started microdosing I felt motivated to study.

We had a friend die, and I was having to support both of them. Microdosing helped me feel better and pull me out of a funk I was in.

I felt like I was slowly coming back after my injury, but then I started taking mushrooms and I felt like myself again.

Participants reported quitting heroin, prescription opioids, alcohol, and cigarettes due to their regimented schedule of microdosing. Mark, 39y.o., White, Male, Construction, said he was able to quit smoking right away.

Overcoming negative emotions and health issues was described as an important benefit for continued microdosing, but so too was boosting already positive moods, attitudes, and outlooks.

Participants said that microdosing helped them to become less rattled by things that would typically agitate them. They also mentioned that they could empathetically experience the good mood of others.

All of the participants were students or had conventional careers and reported feeling more focused, creative, and energetic after microdosing.

Some respondents used microdosing to motivate themselves and to maximize their efficiency, while others used it to enhance their cognition. Paul noticed that his job was easier on the days where he did microdose, and Chase noticed that he was more focused.

I used to drink four cups of coffee a day, but now I only drink one or two, and I don’t need the caffeine.

I’m an introvert and I don’t like alcohol. Microdosing is like drinking alcohol, but cheaper and easier to use.

Microdosing classic psychedelics was conceptualized as rational in the context of participants’ conventional lives. They believed that the practice enhanced their focal concerns and made them better people.

Conclusions

Participants who microdosed classic psychedelics were mostly White, middle- and upper-class professionals, especially in technology industries. They spoke of their microdosing in ways that emphasized the values of the middle-class in the United States, including being curious, having self-control, and being ambitious.

In many ways, participants’ discussions of microdosing were attempts to distance themselves from recreational, hedonistic drug users. This distancing is common among those who use drugs, and involves narratively creating symbolic boundaries that distance themselves from those they define as problem drug users.

People construct symbolic boundaries by drawing from larger cultural narratives that highlight acceptable behaviors. In Western cultures, self-actualization comes from status-related achievement, such as academic or work success, and people who define themselves as functional users often draw on these themes when developing symbolic boundaries.

Our participants did create symbolic boundaries among groups, but they did so in ways that differed from other recreational or chronic drug users. They were predominantly middle-class, White people with college degrees, and they microdosed to ensure that they remained this way.

Due to the limited risk of being misidentified as “crackheads”, “junkies” or “strung out hippies”, participants did not actively maintain symbolic boundaries to distance themselves from such demonized groups. Instead, they used boundaries to show who they were, and how they fit in with conventional belief systems.

This study looked at how middle-class professionals who microdose classic psychedelics make sense of their actions by drawing from larger cultural narratives. The findings suggest that understanding the way people create narrative identities by drawing from larger cultural narratives is important for understanding drug using practices.

Study details

Topics studied
Microdosing

Study characteristics
Interviews

Participants
30

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