Microdosing: A small amount of psychedelics for concentration
Psychedelics like LSD and truffles can be taken in very small doses, so small that you don't trip. This is called microdosing and has been on the rise among students for several years. “Microdosing gave my concentration a little boost.”
Max (22, interdisciplinary social science) started taking tiny amounts of truffles early this year. This is called microdosing, and it involves about a tenth of a normal dose. "I had received it as a gift from a family member, and I already knew that microdosing can have positive effects that are definitely helpful for me. I have ADD, and microdosing seems to help with your concentration.”
There was another reason Max started microdosing. “I quickly fall into certain addictions. For example, I often find myself endlessly scrolling through Instagram on my phone. Microdosing, it seems, can help with that, too.”
Max says it proved helpful. “Microdosing gave me a little boost in my concentration. Ritalin, a drug for ADD, also improves my concentration, but I don't like it. Ritalin forces you to focus, but it also makes you feel drained, which you don't have with microdosing.”
In addition, microdosing made Max happier but didn’t interfere with his daily activities. Microdosing is far from tripping, he assures. “But you do feel the positive effects. Music sounded nicer, for example, and light appeared more intensely.”
“Drugs for me were already normalized because I had already experimented a lot with them,” Max says. He just wasn't familiar with macro-doses of psychedelics because he was afraid of losing control in the process. “But when you micro-dose with them, as I do, you can't really lose control because the effects are so small.”
Max ended up microdosing for a month in January. Then he stopped because he felt that the positive effects of microdosing "also have to come from yourself.” Soon he plans to start again. “I feel more stable now. I also drink less, for example. So I think I'm ready now to continue developing myself, and as part of that I want to start microdosing again.”
Microdosing: A trend?
Ton Nabben is a criminologist. He now works at the HvA, but before that he worked at the UvA. He is an expert on Amsterdam nightlife and sees that drug use fits with today's society and youth culture. “Not all young people experiment with drugs, but some do. It's part of the twenty-somethings age group.” What Nabben finds fascinating is that not everyone who has ever microdosed also has experience with a standard dose of the psychedelics they take.
Nabben: "We first heard about microdosing in 2017. It was a trend that had blown over from San Francisco. It was said to have positive effects such as better concentration and more inspiration. I just have no idea if it has a positive effect on people's studies, for example.
“Microdosing means that you take a very small amount of a full dose. The quantity works, but almost completely unconsciously, so you don't trip and can function almost completely normally,” Nabben says. “It's helpful to keep a schedule during microdosing. For example, some users do it three times a week, others once a week. And the dose is so small that you might feel it in your muscles or sweat more. There are also people who become happier or more social because of a microdose.”
In 2017, a major study called Antenne was released on trends in alcohol, tobacco and drug use among young Amsterdammers, co-authored by Ton Nabben. In it, they also write about how among psychonauts (people who explore the universe of the mind), creative freelancers and students with above-average curiosity about psychedelics, there is a lot of interest in this new way of using drugs. The stories the researchers hear from people taking them vary: microdosing is said to combat depression, increase concentration if you have ADHD, help with a fear of tainting and with menstrual complaints.
Cheerier
Noa (22, political science) also feels happier and more satisfied when she takes a microdose. And she then enjoys social contact more. Early this year, she ordered truffles through Microdose.nl. She kept to the schedule from that site at first, "but I noticed I didn't feel the need to take a microdose so many times a week, so I switched to doing it every Saturday," Noa says. In total, she microdosed for a few weeks in February and again for a few weeks in the summer.
“I felt satisfied and happy while microdosing. In addition, I started to enjoy nature more. Your vision is also affected, so everything you see is beautiful and the light is brighter. And how I thought changed. I made associations that I wouldn't have experienced otherwise. For example, one time I was looking at a boat and then a lot of memories came up from the past about boats.
Noa also says that everything becomes more fun and interesting, including studying. “So microdosing has had a positive influence on my concentration in that way.”
Noa now advertises microdosing in her network. “Yes, definitely. I also talked to my Dad about it; he did it, too. So he and I both almost feel like it's the idea of doing something like that from time to time as a human being. And the experience you have through microdosing is super positive.”
