Themes that recur when people describe their own trips and microdosing, drawn from published studies of Reddit communities (r/microdosing, r/Psychonaut, r/LSD) and user surveys. Anecdotal and self-selected, not clinical evidence.
Nearly 2,000 people describing their single worst psilocybin experience.
called it the most difficult experience of their life
sought medical help during the trip
still said they benefited from it
Carbonaro et al. 2016, Journal of Psychopharmacology (n=1,993, online survey).
MindBio phase 2a (open label) and 2b (placebo-controlled), LSD microdosing for depression, 2025. Szigeti et al. 2021 eLife (n=191) found placebo matched microdosing on wellbeing.
Reddit sources: Pop et al. 2024, Social Science & Medicine (r/microdosing topic model); Anderson et al. 2019, Harm Reduction Journal; Lea et al. (r/microdosing content analysis); r/LSD and r/Psychonaut qualitative studies. Word size is an editorial reading of how often a theme appears across these studies, not a count.