Many mothers who microdose say they find it energizing, and they say that it improves their ability to cope with the everyday drudgery of motherhood—laundry, bathtime, temper tantrums. It has also helped them appreciate the good times, they tell me. Some even claim that it has enabled them to reduce or completely stop their antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications.

The emergence of this phenomenon coincides with the resurgence of scientific interest in microdosing mushroom capsules, after decades of minimal research. Researchers are investigating a variety of potential therapeutic uses for lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), dimethyltryptamine (DMT) ingested with monoamine oxidase inhibitors and mushrooms in the Psilocybe genus, which contain the psychoactive compound psilocybin.

Microdosing Mushroom Capsules: Dosage, Benefits, and Tips

These drugs remain Schedule 1 Drugs under the United Nations Convention and Class A under Britain’s Misuse of Drugs Act, meaning that only scientists working on approved clinical trials are allowed to obtain them. This makes it difficult to carry out consistent research. One of the difficulties is that the potency of these substances can vary from one batch to the next, so it’s difficult to know what dose is being taken unless a highly sensitive test kit is used. Another difficulty is that a precise definition of microdosing hasn’t been established, so it’s hard to compare results between studies.

A small study by a researcher at Bristol University found that participants who microdosed psilocybin saw reductions in standardised measures of mental health, including depression and anxiety. It also found a trend toward a decrease in Involuntariness and an increase in Effortlessness, suggesting that microdosing influenced the way in which participants’ actions felt more internally generated and spontaneous.