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Microdosing: Work Performance Enhancement Via Psychedelics

Just listened to the ABC's "Conversations with Richard Fidler yesterday on the topic op micro-dosing. He was talking to Michael Pollan, who some here may have heard of:

In 2006 writer Michael Pollan became aware of new research into the therapeutic effects of psychedelics.

He found that drugs such as LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) can help to alleviate depression, anxiety and addiction.

Then he met terminally ill patients who administered large doses of these substances, and who then found themselves to be happy and at peace.

Michael was nearly 60 when he took LSD for the first time.

Later he smoked the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad to 'shake the snowglobe' of his mind.
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A highly entertaining and informative 50 minutes!

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/michael-pollan-microdosing/11311770
 
This is getting a bit R.D. Laing, specifically the practice of getting his psychiatric patients off their faces on LSD to "help" them. As far as I know, it didn't work out. In fact, any attempt has proven untestable at best, damaging at worst, so I don't know why it's persisting.
 
GNC said:
This is getting a bit R.D. Laing, specifically the practice of getting his psychiatric patients off their faces on LSD to "help" them. As far as I know, it didn't work out. In fact, any attempt has proven untestable at best, damaging at worst, so I don't know why it's persisting.
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Well, I think the the difference there (according to Michael Pollan) is that they used big doses nillywilly n the 1960s.

Now it isn't getting about "off their faces", but having a spiritual experience via a one-off, very small dose in a controlled environment. A very important part of that experience is the presence of a guide. You can call him a doctor, an elder, a shaman or a priest - it doesn't seem to matter. What matters is that there is someone there to help you through the journey.

(For the record, I've been clean and sober for many years now and rather like it that way, so I'm not lining up for a trial. If I were terminally ill - I might consider a one off experience).
 
Kingsize Wombat said:
. A very important part of that experience is the presence of a guide. You can call him a doctor, an elder, a shaman or a priest - it doesn't seem to matter. What matters is that there is someone there to help you through the journey.

.
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Is that a code for 'to stop you jumping out of the window if things get out of hand' ?
 
Kingsize Wombat said:
Well, I think the the difference there (according to Michael Pollan) is that they used big doses nillywilly n the 1960s.
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Right ... Microdosing does not involve either the dosage or the effects involved in recreational "tripping."


Kingsize Wombat said:
Now it isn't getting about "off their faces", but having a spiritual experience via a one-off, very small dose in a controlled environment. A very important part of that experience is the presence of a guide. You can call him a doctor, an elder, a shaman or a priest - it doesn't seem to matter. What matters is that there is someone there to help you through the journey.
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In the context of more recent therapeutic usage, I don't think there's a specific dosage range that's always used. It depends on the therapeutic situation. I've heard of low dosages being used in psychiatric situations and what appear to be Sixties-style "oh, wowwww" dosages in other scenarios.
 
INT21 said:
Is that a code for 'to stop you jumping out of the window if things get out of hand' ?
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That's up their with the old "baby sitter put baby in the oven when she was high on LSD" sort of thing.

Yes, people have fallen off or out of things when intoxicated on drugs, but death attributed by LSD as far as I recall is pretty rare.
(Happy to be proved wrong).
 
Naughty_Felid said:
That's up their with the old "baby sitter put baby in the oven when she was high on LSD" sort of thing.

Yes, people have fallen off or out of things when intoxicated on drugs, but death attributed by LSD as far as I recall is pretty rare.
(Happy to be proved wrong).
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And I think the example comes from people being dosed by LSD spiked punch.
 
It even works with no dose at all :)

In the second sample, before the debriefing, we asked participants to guess whether they had taken a psychedelic, a placebo, or whether they were uncertain. Overall, 35% reported being certain they had taken a placebo, 12% were certain that they had taken a psychedelic, and the rest (53%) were uncertain. In the first sample, we did not ask this question, but the same number of people spontaneously reported being certain that they had taken a psychedelic drug.

During the debriefing, when we revealed the placebo nature of the study, many participants appeared shocked. Several gasped and started laughing. One stated, “It’s very funny!”, and another replied, “It’s sad!” One of the participants who had sat with a group near the paintings throughout the study asked, “So we were all sober and just watching these paintings for 45 minutes?!”

From:
Tripping on nothing: placebo psychedelics and contextual factors
Jay A. Olson, Leah Suissa-Rocheleau, Michael Lifshitz, Amir Raz, Samuel P. L. Veissiere
Received: 13 September 2019 / Accepted: 16 January 2020

Results
There was considerable individual variation in the placebo effects; many participants reported no changes while others showed effects with magnitudes typically associated with moderate or high doses of psilocybin. In addition, the majority (61%) of participants verbally reported some effect of the drug. Several stated that they saw the paintings on the walls “move” or “reshape” themselves, others felt “heavy. . . as if gravity [had] a stronger hold”, and one had a “come down” before another “wave” hit her.
 
I wish I could convince myself that skittles were psychadelics ... what a great way to live, to have low level LSD like effects by only taking food.
 
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Bad Bungle said:
Forty years ago before the widespread availability of 'blotters', one could obtain yeast tablets impregnated with LSD. These were very good for producing colours (and paranoia) but I always had terrible stomach cramps on them - 'oh that's just the strychnine' said my mate. He said it was added to the tabs to boost the effects - ('common knowledge' was that drinking pure orange juice had the opposite effect). I remember thinking 'FFS why am I taking strychnine - that's STUPID' and stopped soon after.
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Then again, Robert Anton Wilson (and he should know) refers, in one of the Illuminatus! books, to the efficacy of "horse-doctor doses of Vitamin C" as a specific for counter-acting the effects of LSD on the system.
 
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I'm Microdosing at the moment and some times my negative thoughts and anxiety gets but on ignore but my postive thoughts but then again cutting out the drink through the week helps.
 
Sabresonic said:
I'm Microdosing at the moment and some times my negative thoughts and anxiety gets but on ignore but my postive thoughts but then again cutting out the drink through the week helps.
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What are you mircrodosing with - Psylocybin? Are they legal where you are or do you pick them yourself?
 
Delightful said:
I think I'll try some microdosing experiments next year. See if it works.
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I've tried microdosing with several levels of dosing. Note: this is still legal here.
First I tried the standard 1 gram / every 3-4 days with truffles. I had the feeling that it made me more open and positive. Also no negative effects at all. So overall positive. But I could not check whether it was a real or a placebo effect.
After three months or so the effect felt much smaller.
So I tried another regime 7 grams / per 2-3 weeks. This was closer to a light trip. Same positive effects and very relaxing for a few hours. Very limited visual effects (that's not why I'm doing it).
But also this effect got smaller. It's as if my brain concluded: "You may like it, but I don't and I'll adapt." :)
Now I've stopped experimenting. Not because of any negative effects, effects were positive overall. But truffles taste disgusting and I probably got sensitized against that taste. I now would struggle to ingest them.
 
uair01 said:
I've tried microdosing with several levels of dosing. Note: this is still legal here.
First I tried the standard 1 gram / every 3-4 days with truffles. I had the feeling that it made me more open and positive. Also no negative effects at all. So overall positive. But I could not check whether it was a real or a placebo effect.
After three months or so the effect felt much smaller.
So I tried another regime 7 grams / per 2-3 weeks. This was closer to a light trip. Same positive effects and very relaxing for a few hours. Very limited visual effects (that's not why I'm doing it).
But also this effect got smaller. It's as if my brain concluded: "You may like it, but I don't and I'll adapt." :)
Now I've stopped experimenting. Not because of any negative effects, effects were positive overall. But truffles taste disgusting and I probably got sensitized against that taste. I now would struggle to ingest them.
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I had no idea that truffles could have such an effect.
 
I've heard a theory that one reason Elon Musk engages in such unpredictable behaviour is that he's on ketamine the whole time. He does claim to microdose it to treat depression.

EDIT: I think the microdosing/psychedelics to improve efficiency (how depressing) thing is part of a wider Silicon Valley culture that includes stuff like polyamory, 'Effective Altruism' and so on. Actually since these few, somewhat strange, people are effectively shaping our entire future it would be good to know a bit more about their unique cultural practices.
 
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I did 2 Micro Mushroom capsules with half a glass of water with half a squeezed Lemon (Lemon Tekking) and I got a lovely relaxed mild hit ....it was cosy.
 
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