MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Winter / Spring 2018

86 MLCM WINTER/SPRING 2018 words :: Sarah Paschall, MSc illustrations :: Dave Barnes Natalie (not her real name) stared at the mountains of paperwork before her. The previous few days had been mind-numbing, filled with roadblocks and problems with her new Sea to Sky business. Today, however, things were flowing much more smoothly. Though she faced the same hurdles, solutions seemed to pop up before problems. Noting her good mood, increased creativity, and noticeably more efficient flow, Natalie wondered, was she just having a really good day? Or was the microdose of LSD she’d taken that morning playing a role? These days, more and more health care professionals are considering the latter. Psychedelic microdosing is defined as taking a sub-threshold dose (i.e.: 1/20 th to 1/10 th of a standard recreational amount) of a substance to achieve beneficial results. In contrast to recreational amounts, microdoses are sub-perceptual, meaning that the effects of the hallucinogenic substances shouldn’t really be felt on the dose day, but rather over the days/weeks/months after. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was first synthesized by Albert Hofmann in 1938. After accidentally ingesting a few drops during re-examination in 1943 and discovering its powerful effects, he took the first intentional dose of LSD a few days later, reporting that it made for “an interesting bicycle ride home.” “Microdosing turns out to be a totally different world,” says Dr. James Fadiman, who presented the first data on microdosing at the 2017 Psychedelic Science Conference. “The rocks don’t glow, even a little bit, but what many people are reporting is, at the end of the day, they say, ‘That was a really good day.’” Dr. Fadiman runs an ongoing study that now includes over 1,500 people who’ve signed up through his website to receive a self-study, month- long protocol. Presenting results from his initial 418 volunteers, Fadiman reports that in general, participants functioned normally in their work and relationships, but with increased focus, creativity, and emotional clarity. WELL NESS A REALLY GOOD DAY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS ARE, AGAIN, EXAMINING THE BENEFITS OF MICRODOSING LSD AND MAGIC MUSHROOMS