The smallest dose, and the biggest question.
Thousands of veterans are already microdosing on their own. Here's what it is, what the research actually shows, and the study documenting what veterans have lived.
What microdosing is
A microdose is a sub-perceptual dose — roughly a tenth of a recreational dose — small enough that you can work, parent, and function normally, with no "trip." With LSD that's often around 5–15 micrograms; with psilocybin, a fraction of a gram of dried mushrooms.
Most people follow a protocol rather than dosing daily. The best known is the Fadiman protocol — one day on, two days off — developed by Dr. James Fadiman, who advises the Microdosing Vets study. The idea is a steady, low-level nudge rather than an acute experience.
For a lot of veterans the appeal is practical: it's self-directed, discreet, doesn't require taking a day offline, and can be approached deliberately. That same self-directed nature is also why so much of what's known lives in lived experience rather than in clinical files.
What the evidence shows
Microdosing has the largest gap between how many people swear by it and how much controlled science backs it up. Worth knowing before you weigh it.
Observational and survey studies — where people know they're taking something — consistently report improvements in mood, focus, and wellbeing. But several placebo-controlled studies have found that once you blind people to whether they got a microdose or a placebo, much of the benefit tracks expectation rather than the compound. The controlled evidence to date is mixed and mostly in general (non-veteran) samples.
That gap is the point. It doesn't mean nothing is happening — it means the lived experience of veterans hasn't been carefully documented yet. Closing that gap is exactly what the study below is for.
See the controlled microdosing literature in the research library →, or the broader psychedelic evidence on the Research page.
Microdosing Vets
One of our studies — and the one built specifically around microdosing.
Combat veterans & microdosed LSD for PTSD
Microdosing Vets is the first qualitative study documenting what U.S. combat veterans have actually experienced microdosing LSD (with or without psilocybin) for PTSD and related symptoms — the conversation that has, until now, happened almost entirely outside clinical settings. Led by an OIF combat veteran and CIIS doctoral candidate. Remote, de-identified, and confidential. A second study, focused on psilocybin, is planned to follow.
Learn the protocols & the science
Independent guides and our own briefs — assess each on its own merits; these aren't endorsements.
Microdosing & PTSD brief
Our brief on what the microdosing research says for trauma — a good first read.
Read the brief →Microdosing research library
The peer-reviewed microdosing literature, cited and kept current.
View the studies →Microdosing Institute
Substance-specific protocol guides, a coaches directory, and a community. Free guides alongside paid programs.
microdosinginstitute.com →The Third Wave
Independent psychedelics & microdosing education — free guides, a podcast, and a vetted directory.
thethirdwave.co →Microdosed LSD as a combat vet? Your experience is the data.
The study can only document what veterans are willing to share. Five-minute screening — and you'll hear back from a fellow combat veteran.
Take the screening →