Sitting with It: Examining the Relationship Between Mindfulness, Sustained Attention, and Boredom

Concentrating on a stimulus or an activity seems like a trivial ability. Sustaining attention for extended periods of time, however, is a challenging experience which becomes increasingly difficult with time. When sustaining attention on an easy task, with the increase in difficulty, one also begins experiencing negative affect such as boredom and discomfort. Increased negative affect during the task is related to poorer performance on the task. This paper integrates and examines formulations derived from two distinct literatures, namely boredom and mindfulness. The present research both replicates and extends previous findings from the coming together of mindfulness and boredom research in the context of sustained attention. In extending past literature, this paper hypothesizes that trait mindfulness would be positively correlated with the ability to sustain attention. Furthermore, this paper argues that this relationship is a function of enhanced affect regulation and not due to enhanced cognitive capacity. While only replicating some findings in the literature, the results provide support for our novel hypotheses, linking mindfulness to sustained attention through enhanced affective regulation

Psychedelics and neonihilism: connectedness in a meaningless world

The resurgence of psychedelic research explicitly targets treating mental health conditions largely through psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy. Current theories about mechanisms of change in psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy focus on mystical experiences as the main driver of symptom improvement. During these mystical experiences, participants report an enhanced sense of salience, connectedness, and meaning. Simultaneously, a growing psychedelic culture is also cultivating the use of psychedelics as medicine for relieving symptoms of anxiety and depression and promoting cognitive functions. We argue that an integral part of the excitement around the resurgence in psychedelics is in response to a meaning and alienation crisis that correlates with rising rates of anxiety and depression. Framing the absence of meaning as neonihilism, a contemporary correlate to the 19th-century phenomenon with unique features present in a neoliberal cultural context, we explore whether psychedelics combined with group therapy can provide answers to modern experiences of meaninglessness. Based on this exploration, we suggest concrete next steps both in the theory and practice of psychedelic psychotherapy toward what we are calling neonihilistic psychedelic group psychotherapy

Manifest Your Desires: Psychedelics and the Self-Help Industry

A psychedelic industrial complex is emerging as new research on these substances and their effects are being approved. These substances show promise, but much remains unknown about their potential for both benefit and harm. Despite the paucity of reliable mechanistic evidence, some entrepreneurs have already begun to market psychedelic advice. We draw on some critiques of the self-help industry to propose potential parallels in the psychedelic industry. Overstated claims, cultural lore, for-profit organizations, and spiritual gurus come with the territory of both industries aimed at selling solutions for mental health disorders. We offer some guidelines for responsible research, therapy, and policy to temper these concerns, focusing on evidence-based practices, decriminalization, and rigorous therapist training

Demography of Microdosing Community Survey

Demography of Microdosing Community Surve

Replication of Metronome Response Task (MRT)

The Metronome Response Task for Measuring Mind Wandering: Replication attempt and extension of three studies by Seli et al

Global Drug Survey

Background: Microdosing psychedelics – the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of substances like LSD or psilocybin-containing mushrooms – is becoming increasingly popular. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the effects of this practice. Aims: This research had three main aims. First, we attempted to replicate previous findings regarding the subjective benefits and challenges reported for microdosing. Second, we assessed whether people who microdose test their substances for purity before consumption. Third, we examined whether having an approach-intention to microdosing was predictive of more reported benefits. Methods: The Global Drug Survey (GDS) runs the world’s largest drug survey. Participants who reported last year use of LSD or psilocybin in GDS2019 were offered the opportunity to answer a sub-section on microdosing. Results: Data from 6,753 people who reported microdosing at least once in the last 12 months were used for analyses. Our results suggest a partial replication of previously reported benefits and challenges among the present sample often reporting enhanced mood, creativity, focus, and sociability. Counter to our prediction, the most common challenge participants associated with microdosing was “none”. As predicted, most participants reported not testing their substances. Counter to our hypothesis, approach-intention – microdosing in order to approach a desired goal – predicted less rather than more benefits when microdosing. We discuss alternate theoretical frameworks that may better capture the reasons people microdose. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the benefits associated with microdosing greatly outweigh the challenges. Microdosing may have utility for a variety of uses while having minimal side-effects. However, double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments are still required in order to substantiate these reports

Microdosing psychedelics: subjective benefits and challenges, substance testing behavior, and the relevance of intention

Background: Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of taking small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Despite its surging popularity, little is known about the specific intentions to start microdosing and the effects of this practice. Aims: First, we aimed to replicate previous findings regarding the subjective benefits and challenges reported for microdosing. Second, we assessed whether people who microdose test their substances before consumption. Third, we examined whether having an approach-intention to microdosing was predictive of more reported benefits. Methods: The Global Drug Survey runs the world’s largest online drug survey. Participants who reported last year use of lysergic acid diethylamide or psilocybin in the Global Drug Survey 2019 were offered the opportunity to answer a sub-section on microdosing. Results: Data from 6753 people who reported microdosing at least once in the last 12 months were used for analyses. Our results suggest a partial replication of previously reported benefits and challenges among the present sample often reporting enhanced mood, creativity, focus and sociability. Counter to our prediction, the most common challenge participants associated with microdosing was ‘None’. As predicted, most participants reported not testing their substances. Counter to our hypothesis, approach-intention – microdosing to approach a desired goal – predicted less rather than more benefits. We discuss alternate frameworks that may better capture the reasons people microdose. Conclusion: Our results suggest the perceived benefits associated with microdosing greatly outweigh the challenges. Microdosing may have utility for a variety of uses while having minimal side effects. Double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments are required to substantiate these reports

Psychedelic microdosing benefits and challenges: an empirical codebook

Abstract Background Microdosing psychedelics is the practice of consuming very low, sub-hallucinogenic doses of a psychedelic substance, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or psilocybin-containing mushrooms. According to media reports, microdosing has grown in popularity, yet the scientific literature contains minimal research on this practice. There has been limited reporting on adverse events associated with microdosing, and the experiences of microdosers in community samples have not been categorized. Methods In the present study, we develop a codebook of microdosing benefits and challenges (MDBC) based on the qualitative reports of a real-world sample of 278 microdosers. Results We describe novel findings, both in terms of beneficial outcomes, such as improved mood (26.6%) and focus (14.8%), and in terms of challenging outcomes, such as physiological discomfort (18.0%) and increased anxiety (6.7%). We also show parallels between benefits and drawbacks and discuss the implications of these results. We probe for substance-dependent differences, finding that psilocybin-only users report the benefits of microdosing were more important than other users report. Conclusions These mixed-methods results help summarize and frame the experiences reported by an active microdosing community as high-potential avenues for future scientific research. The MDBC taxonomy reported here informs future research, leveraging participant reports to distil the highest-potential intervention targets so research funding can be efficiently allocated. Microdosing research complements the full-dose literature as clinical treatments are developed and neuropharmacological mechanisms are sought. This framework aims to inform researchers and clinicians as experimental microdosing research begins in earnest in the years to come

The Bright and Dark Side of Psychedelics

This study aims to explore psychedelic use among the general population, segmenting responses into user profiles and examining their relationship with social desirability, explanatory depth, pursuit of complexity and intention constructs, among others. The results will ultimately inform decisions about which questions and measures to retain in the main study, and will additionally be used to identify participants for re-recruitment