A growing number of young professionals insist that taking small doses of psychedelics simply makes them perform better at work – becoming more creative and focused. The practice, known as “microdosing”, involves taking minute quantities of drugs such as LSD, psilocybin (magic mushrooms) every few days.
LSD is the most well-known psychedelic since its popularity in the heyday of 1960s counterculture. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Silicon Valley also has a long history of psychedelic use to boost creativity: technology stars like Steve Jobs experimented with LSD.
At high doses, LSD powerfully alters perception, mood and a host of cognitive processes. LSD now appears to be one of the more commonly microdosed Psicodelics. A microdose of LSD consists of about a tenth of a recreational dose (usually 10-20 micrograms), which is usually not potent enough to cause hallucinations. Instead, it is reported to heighten alertness, energy and creativity.
Microdosing LSD enhances overall well-being, helping to reduce stress and anxiety while improving sleep and leading to healthier habits.
Psychedelics increase communication between parts of the brain that are less likely to communicate with one another, and decrease communication between areas that frequently do. This likely underlies the profound altered state of consciousness that people often describe during an LSD experience. It is also related to what people sometimes call “ego-dissolution”, in which the normal sense of self is broken down. People instead often report a sense of reconnection with themselves, others and the natural world.
