The microdosing movement just hit a wall. A rigorous Phase 2B trial by Melbourne-based MindBio Therapeutics found that tiny doses of LSD performed worse than a caffeine pill in treating major depressive disorder, suggesting the wellness trend embraced by Silicon Valley execs and creative professionals may be riding almost entirely on placebo effects. The findings mark a potential turning point for the psychedelic therapy industry, which has bet big on microdosing's clinical promise.
For nearly a decade, microdosing psychedelics has been Silicon Valley's worst-kept wellness secret. CEOs, programmers, and novelists have evangelized taking sub-perceptual amounts of LSD or psilocybin mushrooms—roughly 5-10% of a full dose—claiming everything from laser focus to elevated mood without the full hallucinogenic experience. The practice became so normalized that WIRED and other outlets chronicled its spread through tech culture as both productivity hack and mental health intervention.
But a new clinical trial is throwing cold water on the entire phenomenon. Melbourne-based MindBio Therapeutics just wrapped an eight-week Phase 2B study of 89 adults with major depressive disorder, and the results are brutal for believers: LSD microdoses didn't just fail to outperform a placebo. They actually did worse.
CEO Justin Hanka shared the top-line data on LinkedIn last week, calling it "the most vigorous placebo controlled trial ever performed in microdosing." Patients received between 4 and 20 micrograms of LSD—well below the 100-200μg threshold for a full trip—while others got caffeine pills or were told they might receive methylphenidate (Ritalin). Depression symptoms were tracked using the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, a standard clinical assessment tool.
The caffeine group showed better MADRS scores than the LSD group. Translation: A decent cup of coffee appears more effective at treating clinical depression than tiny doses of acid. "It's probably a nail in the coffin of using microdosing to treat clinical depression," Hanka told . "It probably improves the way depressed people feel—just not enough to be clinically significant or statistically meaningful."
