Microdosing: what it brought me, and what I still do not know
I think it matters that people can speak openly about their experiences, including those that are difficult to discuss or socially sensitive. I want to describe how I experienced microdosing, leaving room for what I do not know.
This is a personal account. My path is not medical advice or a recommendation for anyone else. This text is separate from my paid coaching offer.
Antidepressants
After severe mental health difficulties and a suicide attempt, I took antidepressants. I understood why doctors considered the medication important and why I continued taking it myself.
In my personal experience, I often noticed little benefit. Emotional flattening was not necessarily the hardest part. The worsening of physical complaints weighed particularly heavily on me.
That is my experience. Antidepressants can make a significant difference for other people.
The order matters
Before I could begin microdosing, my own course of events required me to have been off antidepressants for several weeks already. The possibility of trying microdosing was an important motivation for me to stop taking the medication.
Microdosing did not directly get me off antidepressants. I had already stopped before I began.
I am describing my history, without suggesting a safe way to stop medication or a waiting period for others. Do not change or stop prescribed medication on your own. Discuss it with your prescribing doctor.
A few hours of relief
While microdosing, I sometimes experienced a few hours of marked relief. It was relaxation, but not quite the same relaxation I had experienced with diazepam.
Sometimes I felt more connected with life, with other people and with the world around me. Sometimes a little dreamy. It occasionally reminded me of the feeling after a long run. At times I felt like dancing.
At work, I noticed that social contact sometimes came more easily.
Even if the mountain is just as big the next day, you have had some social contact in the meantime.
That temporary experience could be meaningful.
What I still do not know
I do not know whether microdosing fundamentally changed anything for me in the long term. The relief was often temporary.
Perhaps the substance played a part. Perhaps my expectations, the circumstances or other changes in my life did. I probably cannot easily disentangle them. I want to stay honest about that.
What research can and cannot yet tell us
Microdosing differs from the supported psychedelic treatments using larger doses that are studied in scientific research. Findings from that research cannot simply be applied to microdosing.
Evidence that microdosing effectively reduces mental health symptoms remains limited and unconvincing. Two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies published in Neuropharmacology in 2026 found no reliable improvement beyond placebo in the cognitive and emotional outcomes studied. That research does not explain exactly what happened to me. Read the study.
Questions also remain about safety, especially with long-term use. Psilocybin can cause anxiety, nausea and increased heart rate or blood pressure, among other effects. Risks depend partly on a person's health, other substances and circumstances. The US NCCIH states that the safety and effectiveness of microdosing remain unclear. Information from NCCIH.
A personal account in Belgium
Psilocybin and psilocin are controlled psychotropic substances in Belgium. Recreational possession and acquisition without the required legal authorisation are prohibited. A small dose does not make these substances freely available. Belgian legal framework from FAMHP.
I do not offer substances, psychedelic sessions or treatments involving psilocybin. My individual body-oriented coaching takes place without psychedelic substances.
What can still matter
I do not believe in a universal solution. Not medication that solves everything for everyone, not psychedelics, and not one particular form of therapy either.
Certain experiences can still be valuable, even when they are temporary and we do not know exactly what their lasting effect might be. For me, relief, social contact and a few hours with a little more space are part of the quality of life too. My questions remain alongside that.