in Biohacks & Treatments, Lifestyle, Mental Health, The Daily Tonic

Microdosing May Be A Low-Cost Solution To Our Mental Health Crisis

by Gabe Yanez October 17, 2022, 2:36 pmupdated December 15, 2022, 8:18 pm 10 Comments

We have talked about this before, but it is always worth mentioning again. We are in the middle of a pretty serious mental health crisis here in the U.S. Nearly 50 million Americans are currently experiencing some sort of mental illness. That is a staggering one in every five Americans.

To make matters worse, over half of the adults with mental illness do not receive treatment. This might be due to the stigma around seeking help, the lack of accessibility, or the simple fact that over 11% of Americans with a mental health problem are uninsured.

People are having enough of a hard time filling up at the gas pump these days, let alone paying for a psychologist or psychiatrist out of pocket.

Mental illness is also impacting young people at a staggering rate. According to recent statistics, over 2.5 million youth in the U.S. have severe depression. Young adults ages 18 to 25 actually had the highest prevalence of serious mental illness compared to other age groups.

Alright, so when do we get to the good news?

Well, given the state of our mental health in this country, it has become increasingly important for us to look into novel approaches for treatment and other ways to improve mental health that aren’t so dependent on heavy pharmaceutical use.

Enter magic mushrooms. We have briefly touched on psilocybin in the past, but to recap—this specific compound found in certain species of fungi (mushrooms) has a long history of health benefits across diverse cultures from all over the world. The problem is that ever since the “War on Drugs” here in the U.S., psilocybin has been mostly cast aside as nothing more than an illegal psychedelic drug you bring with you to Burning Man.

Microdosing mushrooms isn’t just a Reddit forum topic; it’s becoming very mainstream

But according to this new study, there are some very promising benefits associated with microdosing psilocybin that could lay the framework for at least a partial solution to our mental health crisis in the near future.

So what exactly is Psilocybin microdosing? Microdosing involves repeated self-administration of mushrooms containing psilocybin at doses small enough to not impact regular functioning. So basically, taking such small quantities that you don’t start to see smells and hear colors, but you do get enough to trigger some mental health benefits.

In this specific study, the microdoser group demonstrated greater observed improvements in mood and mental health after one month relative to the non-microdosing control group. Pretty good news!

The key takeaway? We have a big mental health problem and are in desperate need for solutions. Now, magic mushrooms are not going to solve this problem alone or overnight, but to see new research producing promising results is a huge step in the right direction for what eventually could be a part of the solution we need.

Now, psilocybin is still a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substance Act and therefore very much illegal on a federal level, so don’t expect us to plug our favorite microdosing brand in the Tonic Shots. But we will keep an eye on the evolving landscape here and keep you updated as things change!