Introduction

Microdosing is defined as the ingestion of sub-threshold doses of psychedelic drugs in an attempt to enhance cognitive tasks, to boost physical energy levels, to promote emotional balance, and to treat anxiety, depression and addiction. In the present project, we examine how the microdosing practice manifests itself among the student population at a Dutch university.

Methods

We invited 20 students from any background, who already have experience in microdosing psychedelics, for a single interview of around 60 minutes. During the interview, we explored their motivations and the effects that the practice of microdosing has had on their life. Our observation is that at this moment there is little that we know about the subjective experience with this practice and that the accounts in the media are highly polarized, between very positive to very negative. We aim to provide an impartial account of the experience of microdosing and enable the voices of those engaged in this practice to be heard.

Conclusion

The microdosing practice reflects specific institutional pressures linked mainly to the academic life, e.g., performance / workload pressures. Such pressures play a role in the pursue of methods to enhance cognitive performance, and microdosing is one of such methods. Next, this practice reflects general a societal discourse around the concepts of “self-work”, “growth” and “healing”. Subsequently, this project directly links to the general topics of pharmaceuticalization and therapeuticalization in the specific type of a context, the university. Funding This was was supported by University Fund, TiU.