Microdosers in a large app survey reported slightly less depression and anxiety than non-microdosers
A survey of 4,050 self-selected microdosers and 4,653 non-microdosers in a phone app. Among those with mental health concerns, microdosers reported lower depression, anxiety and stress. Effects were small; the design cannot show cause.
Suggestive but preliminary. Not settled. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: Cross-sectional, self-selected app users recruited through psychedelic-friendly venues, with small effects; the app maker's founders and a patent holder are co-authors. Randomised trials (Meshkat 2026) find no clear effect.
The kind of evidence the "microdosing works" side points to, from one of the largest samples collected.
Significant findings
Rootman and colleagues recruited 4,050 microdosers and 4,653 non-microdosers through the Quantified Citizen phone app. Psilocybin was the most common microdose substance (85%). More than half of microdosers "stacked" it with other things such as Lion's Mane mushrooms, chocolate or niacin.
Microdosers were similar to non-microdosers in demographics but "more likely to report a history of mental health concerns". Among people reporting such concerns, "microdosers exhibited lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress across gender." Health and wellness were the main reasons given for microdosing.
The other direction
The authors are plain about the limits. "The cross-sectional design of this study precludes causal inference." The differences "were in the range of effects typically characterized as small." They name "response bias related to participant self-selection, and recruitment through venues that are favorable toward psychedelic use." The app ran only on Apple devices at the time.
Placebo-controlled trials point the other way. The 2026 meta-analysis in this library found no clear effect of microdosing on depression, anxiety or stress in randomised trials, and credits observational findings like these to expectancy and lifestyle.
Disclosures
The data platform was the authors' own company's app. Two authors are founders of Quantified Citizen; one is an investor who has pending patents on combining psilocybin, Lion's Mane and niacin; others advise psychedelic companies. All of this is declared in the paper.
What this does not show
It cannot show that microdosing caused lower symptoms; people who feel better may be the ones who keep microdosing and answer surveys. Nothing here says anyone should try, continue or stop microdosing, or change a prescribed medication.
Worth asking
How do surveys of people who chose to microdose compare with trials where no one knew whether they got the drug?
Source
Adults who microdose psychedelics report health related motivations and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to non-microdosers — Rootman JM, Kryskow P, Harvey K, Stamets P, Santos-Brault E, Kuypers KPC, Polito V, Bourzat F, Walsh Z (2021)
Reputable peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01811-4
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01811-4
How this was scored
- Study design
- Cross-sectional study / survey
- Funding
- Mixed public and industry funding
- Published in
- Reputable peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- 8,703
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- Yes
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published October 2, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "early signal". Suggestive but preliminary. Not settled. It scores 51 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: Cross-sectional, self-selected app users recruited through psychedelic-friendly venues, with small effects; the app maker's founders and a patent holder are co-authors. Randomised trials (Meshkat 2026) find no clear effect. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Adults who microdose psychedelics report health related motivations and lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to non-microdosers — Rootman JM, Kryskow P, Harvey K, Stamets P, Santos-Brault E, Kuypers KPC, Polito V, Bourzat F, Walsh Z (2021). Published in: Reputable peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01811-4. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Cross-sectional study / survey. Funding: Mixed public and industry funding. Independence from the proponent is not recorded. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.