This pre-print (n=13) investigates the subjective experiences of individuals engaging in psilocybin microdosing in their daily lives. Combining momentary ecological assessments and retrospective interviews, participants reported varied effects, including loosening of mental structures, increased salience of external stimuli, flexible cognition, and ego-dystonic contents.
Abstract of Salience, Sensemaking, and Setting in Psilocybin Microdosing: Methodological Lessons and Preliminary Findings of a Mixed Method Qualitative Study
“There are profound methodological challenges facing microdosing research. One way we can address some of these methodological issues is by understanding how psilocybin microdosing fits in the broader existential context of people’s lives. We recruited participants who underwent psilocybin microdosing on their own and consented to being monitored for harm mitigation purposes. We combined momentary ecological assessment and detailed retrospective interviews. Participants reported loosening of mental structures (i.e., less intense strength of thoughts, tangential stream of consciousness), increased salience of external stimuli (varyingly associated with greater interest in otherwise mundane activities, as well as sensory overload), an increase in flexible cognition, a decrease in stable cognition, and various ego-dystonic contents Highly structured environments were conducive to positive appraisal of experience and vice versa). Momentary ecological assessment and retrospective interviews yielded diametrically opposite accounts of microdosing experience. We relate our findings to stable and cognitive cognition, as well as the notion of salience. We point out the necessity for systematic mixed methods studies to better characterize the lived experience of psilocybin microdosing.”
Authors: Aleš Oblak, Liam Korošec Hudnik, Anja Levačić, Kristian Elersič, Peter Pregelj & Jurij Bon
Summary of Salience, Sensemaking, and Setting in Psilocybin Microdosing: Methodological Lessons and Preliminary Findings of a Mixed Method Qualitative Study
Introduction
Since the 1990s, the scientific interest in psychedelics has been increasing, and they may represent a potential novel treatment for various psychiatric disorders, most notably, mood and anxiety disorders, and substance dependence. Despite legal constraints, the use of psychedelics is also widespread in the general population.
Microdosing psilocybin has a complex relationship with acute psychedelic effects, but most people microdose for performance enhancement, mood enhancement, symptom relief, and curiosity. Methodological challenges arise from the use of psychedelics in psychiatry, including legal limitations and the subjective experiences and behavioral changes induced by these substances. This poses a risk of bias in research studies. In controlled, clinical settings, psychedelics have an excellent safety profile. However, a recent narrative review of the methodological problems in this field of research points out reasons for concern regarding the potential underestimation of adverse events resulting from psychedelic drugs. We present a pilot study on people’s lived experiences of psilocybin microdosing in order to gain a better understanding of how these substances fit into the broader existential situation of patients, as well as to identify potential risks that could allow for the development of harm mitigation strategies.
Find this paper
https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/523n4
Open Access | Google Scholar | Backup | 🕊
Cite this paper (APA)
Oblak, A., Hudnik, L. K., Levačić, A., Elersič, K., Pregelj, P., & Bon, J. Salience, Sensemaking, and Setting in Psilocybin Microdosing: Methodological Lessons and Preliminary Findings of a Mixed Method Qualitative Study.
Study details
Compounds studied
Psilocybin
Topics studied
Microdosing
Study characteristics
Observational
Interviews
Qualitative
Participants
13
Humans