A few years ago, people just took supplements to boost their productivity. Today, however, we’ve seen a growing trend of people “micro-dosing” various drugs to supplement their life – including hallucinogenic like LSD.
Can you actually micro-dose LSD for health benefits? What are the benefits of dropping acid at work? Learn more today as we dive into the health benefits of micro-dosing LSD.
Why Micro-dose LSD?
People micro-dose LSD because of its perceived productivity benefits.
The productivity benefits of LSD have been discussed for years in Silicon Valley. Today, these productivity benefits are starting to be discussed by workers across America.
A GQ writer recently talked about his experience micro-dosing LSD. You can find similar reports on Reddit’s /r/nootropics and other websites.
How Micro-dosing LSD Works
Micro-dosing LSD works just like you think it works: you acquire a normal dose of LSD, then take a very small amount of it (typically a 10% dose of it).
In the GQ article listed above, the writer received a small brown vial containing a precise dilution of LSD. He took a tiny bit of it – a single drop – by placing it in a mug of water. Then, he drank the mug of water all at once.
Is LSD A Nootropic?
Is LSD the world’s newest and most popular nootropic? Or is this just yet another health trend with minimal evidence propagated by overworked Silicon Valley techies?
In recent years, we’ve seen a huge push of “productivity hacks” appearing online. Many of these “hacks” can be traced back to Silicon Valley. We’ve heard about cryotherapy, holotropic breathing, and putting butter in your coffee, for example.
Where Does Lsd Fit Into All Of These “Biohacking” Trends?
LSD has been promoted by Bay Area biohackers like George Burke, described as “one of the Bay Area’s most fervent biohackers”. Burke once gathered medical experts to create a presentation entitled “Performance Psychedelics”.
During that presentation, people like psychedelic psychologist Dr. James Fadiman explained that taking something like LSD at one-tenth of a conventional dose could stimulate the mind in a variety of ways.
Dr. Fadiman admitted that he didn’t exactly know why LSD was supposed to work like that. He only knew that in his testing, he found volunteers were less anxious, more socially at-ease, and more creative after taking a micro-dose of LSD.
Volunteers also reported reduced cravings for things like cigarettes and Adderall.
Said one volunteer, micro-dosing led to “better connections between his thoughts and words”, claiming that he felt unusually productive, quick, and clever in emails.
What Happens To Your Brain When You Micro-dose LSD?
A full “party dose” of LCD leads to hallucinations and other decidedly unproductive brain activities.
So why does 10% of that same party dose have such different effects on your brain? Researchers, surprisingly, don’t actually know.
Dr. Fadiman, the same psychologist we mentioned above, claims that “Our best guess is that it creates hyper-metabolism in the cerebral cortex”, along with better “information flow” throughout the brain.
Dr. Fadiman did, however, admit that most of this explanation was just a cover-up for the fact that “we don’t have the faintest idea”.
Will Micro-dosing LSD Make You More Productive?
You don’t have to look far online to find positive reports from people micro-dosing LSD. You’ll also find reviews from people who claim they experienced virtually no positive effects.
The GQ writer linked above, for example, claims that the biggest difference he noticed “was a significant increase in lucid dreams” – and not just on days when he micro-dosed.
He claims he rarely remembers his dreams, but after micro-dosing LSD, he woke up nearly every day recalling his own dreams:
“In two cases, I remembered dreams in which I was working my way through problems with stories I was writing.”
Nevertheless, that writer didn’t experience the same productivity boost that others report. He claims that when he actually sat down to work, the productivity benefits weren’t as obvious.
He claims he drank less coffee and felt more alert, but he also admitted this could have been a placebo effect.
Micro-dosing enthusiasts still defend their technique, stating that new drug users are unaccustomed to how subtle the effects of micro-dosing LSD can be: for some people, a 10% dose of LSD can be less perceptible than a cup of coffee.
That’s why many people increase their LSD dosage until they start feeling something – and then some people increase their dose so much that they’re actually tripping:
“One guy wrote Fadiman to say that 10 micrograms did nothing, so he tried 25. Then, he reported, “I realized at the sales meeting that I never cared about the stupid product we were selling, so I went home.””
What about the rest of the internet? What do they have to say about micro-dosing LSD for productivity? Reddit had a popular thread on its /r/nootropics section called “Micro dosing LSD for cognitive enhancement”, where nearly 100 commenters discussed the pros and cons of micro-dosing LSD.
In that thread, Redditors talked about their experience with micro-dosing. One Redditor claimed,
“The experience could be described as slightly withdrawn and I felt like I had worse coordination and consequently lower accuracy in playing [music]”.
That Redditor, who had experience with psychedelics, claims he uses standard doses of LSD for the emotional experience, but sees little productivity benefits in micro-doses. He was also a trained composer and musician.
It’s important to note that Reddit has an entire subreddit dedicated to microdosing.
Should You Micro-dose On LSD For Productivity Benefits?
LSD is best-known for its hallucinogenic benefits. Today, some people micro-dose LSD to enjoy perceived productivity benefits. They take 10 to 20% of a standard dose to boost their productivity.
Reviews online for micro-dosing LSD are mixed. Some people claim it’s the secret to superior productivity, and that they’ve transformed their lives with it.
Others, however, claim that the effects are so subtle, that they’re virtually undetectable. Some people claim the effect of taking a 10% dose of LSD is similar to drinking a cup of coffee – nothing more.
As with anything – especially nootropics – your mileage will vary widely.
