Will Microdosing Mushrooms Help With Depression?

How tiny doses can create big shifts when you feel stuck

Will microdosing mushrooms help with depression?

You’re not alone in asking.

An estimated 3.8% of the world's population lives with depression, which is approximately 280 million people. It is a leading cause of disability worldwide (WHO, 2023).

When SSRIs leave you flat, therapy stalls, and your inner light feels dim, you start looking for something that actually moves the needle.

Here’s the headline: the big, classic studies on psilocybin show powerful antidepressant effects, and a growing number of medical centers and regulators are opening doors to bring it into clinical care.

New Mexico just passed a law allowing it to be used in the clinical model. 

That momentum is real.

And while the strongest data so far come from guided, higher-dose psilocybin therapy...

A wave of self-reports and early research suggests microdosing can help many people feel:

• brighter, 
• steadier, and 
• more connected

-often without the intensity of a full psychedelic session.

Let’s start with the science most people agree on

In 2016, the top of the top Johns Hopkins launched modern research with landmark trials showing that a single, supported psilocybin session could relieve depression and anxiety in people with life-threatening cancer, with benefits lasting months.

In 2020, their team reported large, rapid, and sustained reductions in major depressive symptoms after two supported psilocybin sessions lasting 4 weeks.

In 2022, they found the same people to still be in remission from depression after a year. 

That’s huge.

It tells us psilocybin can reset mood at a depth standard meds often don’t reach.

I can speak from personal experience that I've never felt the mood-boosting and fog-lifting benefits microdosing mushrooms gives me with any anti-depressant pharmaceutical. 

Now, what about microdosing

—the tiny, sub‑perceptual amounts people take a few times a week?

In answering your question, "Will microdosing mushrooms help with depression?"

The honest answer: randomized studies are still catching up, and results are mixed.

Some placebo‑controlled trials see small or no differences; others hint at real, measurable gains.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people have shared consistent self‑reports:

• less rumination 
• more energy
• less anxiety 
• better emotional balance, and 
• fewer “stuck” days. 

If you’re thinking, “But is that just placebo?”

—placebo is powerful, yes, and yet the pattern of benefits, the dose‑sensitivity some people notice, and emerging brain findings suggest there may be more going on than positive thinking alone.

My teacher, Francoise Bourzat, always stood on the side of the argument, if mushrooms are a shortcut, which she believed they were, what is wrong with a shortcut? 

So how does it work? 

Will microdosing mushrooms help with depression? 

Here’s a simple way to picture it.

Depression often locks the brain into rigid loops—like your default mode network (the “doom scroll” of your mind) running the same sad playlist.

Psilocybin interacts with serotonin 2A receptors, temporarily loosening those loops and sparking neuroplasticity—your brain’s ability to rewire.

Rewiring new thought patterns and pathways to heal. 

High‑dose sessions can feel like a spring cleaning for the soul.

Microdoses may act more like gentle daily stretching:

• subtle 
• cumulative, and 
• easier to fit into normal life.

Microdosing is also more appealing to people with a history of PTSD and trauma...it's like dipping your toe in the water of psilocybin healing. 

With my history of PTSD and trauma, I have done the majority, if not all of my healing, with microdosing over large doses.

You might not “feel it,” (the exact point of microdosing), but over weeks, you might notice more openness, less reactivity, and a kinder inner voice.

That’s not magic.

It’s biology giving you room to heal. 

So, will microdosing mushrooms help with depression?

 For many people, yes—especially when you combine it with things that already help:

• good nutrition
• meditation 
• sleep 
• sunlight 
• movement, and 
• professional support especially with a history of trauma.

Journalling is the best practice to supplement your microdosing mushrooms practice with. 

Learn how to start microdosing here. 

Don’t drive or operate machinery if you feel altered.

Don’t mix with alcohol or unknown substances.

If you take antidepressants or have a personal/family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, talk to a licensed clinician first.

And never, ever, ever just stop taking your anti-depressants cold turkey. 

This is information, not medical advice—your health team matters.

Let’s talk legality

Because that anxiety is real! 

Psilocybin is still illegal in many places.

Some cities and states have decriminalized personal possession (too many cities and states in the US to keep up with!)

Australia now allows psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin for treatment‑resistant depression under strict rules...

Health Canada permits access through special programs; and

...the U.S. FDA has granted “Breakthrough Therapy” status to psilocybin‑assisted therapy for major depression—signals that the medical world is taking this seriously and building clinical protocols.

But laws vary widely. Don’t assume.

Check current regulations where you live, and never travel with or mail illegal substances.

Your safety—and freedom—come first.

Growing your own is the best medicine

If it’s legal where you are, growing your own can be the most affordable and the most meaningful path.

There’s something deeply grounding about tending to your fungi—watching mycelium knit itself like cosmic lace, then harvesting with gratitude.

You guide them, and they guide you...

Our ancestors honored mushrooms as teachers, not just tools.

I've always said home cultivation turns healing into a relationship, not a transaction.

So, will microdosing mushrooms help with depression?

If you’re feeling that hopeful desperation, here’s a grounded answer: for many, yes—sometimes quietly, sometimes profoundly.

There are no guarantees, I guess, but I do know that everyone in my orbit who microdoses reports feeling the relentless grip of depression loosen....significantly.

But the direction of the science, the clinical momentum, and the overwhelming self‑report point to a real, workable path forward.

If it’s legal for you, explore it carefully. If not, consider legal avenues, clinical trials, or non‑psychoactive supports while you wait.

You deserve relief. You deserve agency.

Keep your curiosity. Keep your courage. You’re closer than you think.

Follow me and spread the spores!

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