Microdosing or Using Psychedelics? Here’s How to Support Academic Research
Support vital research, whether microdosing or taking a psychedelic on your own, in a group, or as part of a ceremony
Disclaimer: Please note that this article is for information and harm reduction purposes only. Psychedelics are illegal in most countries. The publisher and author of this article do not condone the purchase, possession, sale, or consumption of any illegal substances.
The tide is turning in the world of Psychedelics. Academic research is taking off in North America and Europe. This includes research into potential applications in the treatment of migraines, anxiety and depression. Additional research is also looking at the effect of Psychedelics increasing creativity.
Despite this, most scientific studies require specific conditions and are run in expensive laboratory’s. This often means administering substances to subjects in controlled, sometimes unfriendly, environments.
This is a problem as the ‘set’ and ‘setting’ are thought to be key factors in successful and meaningful Psychedelic experiences.
Set (a shortened form of “mindset”) refers to the mental state a person brings to the experience, like thoughts, desires, feelings, general mood, and any preconceived notions or expectations about what they are about to experience.
Setting refers to the physical and social environment that the trip takes place in. It is able to guide or influence the course of the experience on both conscious and subconscious levels.
In particular, the lack of realistic settings, could be limiting the validity of laboratory-based Psychedelic research.
The Psychedelic Survey Platform confronts this issue by allowing you to contribute from ‘real-world’ locations, such as the comfort and safety of your own home.
If you are planning on taking any psychedelic, be that Magic Mushrooms, DMT, LSD, Mescaline and others, you can contribute your data. This covers a variety of experiences including if you plan on using with friends or individually, starting microdosing or have an Ayahuasca ceremony booked.
Led by Imperial College London, the Psychedelic Survey Platform aims to build larger data-sets, quicker. It's anonymous and confidential. You provide data before and after your planned psychedelic experience.
Michael Pollan of ‘Trips Worth Telling’ and author of the best-selling book ‘How to Change Your Mind’ explains further in the video below.
There are six different studies you can currently take part in.
- Psychedelic Ceremony Study — For example, if you are going on an Ayahuasca retreat.
- Global Psychedelic Survey — General survey for non-ceremonial use, such as individual trips.
- Microdosing Survey Study — Microdosing involves taking small doses of Psychedelics at regular intervals.
- SSRI Survey Study — Not strictly to do with Psychedelics. For those taking a new SSRI.
- Self-blinding Microdose Study — More involved Mircodosing survey which involves self-blinding.
- Psychedelic and New Death Experience (NDE) Study — If you have ever experienced a near-death experience and taken a Psychedelic, this is the survey for you.
In my latest high-dose Psychedelic experience, I participated in the Global Psychedelic Survey. This consisted of completing four questionnaires. The first one week before your experience, one the day before, one soon after and the final two weeks later.
The questionnaires do take time, the first is particularly long (approx 30 mins). Without a doubt, completing the questionnaires helped me reflect and process what happened during and after my experience using Magic Mushrooms.
Psychedelic experiences can be complex and challenging to unpick. The questions I answered genuinely helped me understand what happened during my experience.
Be safe, and if you are going to use Psychedelics, do take the opportunity to contribute to Science.
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