Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
A systematic review and meta-analysis published on August 13, 2026 in CNS Drugs finds no consistent immediate benefit of psychedelic microdosing for depressive symptoms, anxiety, or stress in healthy adults. The authors analyzed 24 studies with a total of 3,681 participants; six studies could be included in meta-analyzes.
The studies examined used subperceptual doses of psychedelic substances, particularly psilocybin and LSD. Randomized controlled trials did show subjective and neurophysiological effects. Clear and lasting improvements in cognition, creativity, or mood, however, could not be established. With psilocybin, changes in EEG activity and in speech were observed, among other findings, while LSD produced transient mood effects and minor physiological changes. Lasting changes in cognition or personality were not found.
For depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress, the meta-analysis of the randomized studies likewise found no statistically significant effects. For depressive symptoms the standardized mean difference was -0.19 (95% confidence interval -0.56 to 0.19), for anxiety -0.20 (-1.11 to 0.71), and for stress 0.02 (-0.39 to 0.43). Each of these confidence intervals includes zero.
Some observational studies produced different results, reporting improvements in mood and personality. The authors note, however, that such findings could be influenced by expectancy effects or by changes in lifestyle, among other factors. An exploratory pooled analysis across different study types pointed to possible reductions in depressive symptoms and stress; for anxiety the evidence remained unclear.
Two randomized studies with a total of 109 participants were available for the safety analysis. In these, the risks of adverse events did not differ clearly between microdosing and control conditions.
The authors emphasize that the randomized evidence so far is not sufficient to demonstrate a reliable benefit of microdosing in healthy adults. Observed improvements were not significantly distinguishable from placebo in the controlled studies. Larger and methodologically sound randomized trials are needed to better assess the efficacy and safety of microdosing. The results refer explicitly to healthy or non-clinical adults and therefore allow no direct conclusions about the treatment of people with diagnosed mental illness.
