A really good day: how microdosing made a mega difference in my mood, my marriage, and my life book cover

A really good day Summary

how microdosing made a mega difference in my mood, my marriage, and my life

Ayelet Waldman
3.96(5131 Reviews)

A really good day Summary Overview

When a Harvard-trained lawyer microdoses LSD for 30 days, her depression lifts and her marriage transforms. Praised by The New York Times as "genuinely brave," Waldman's radical experiment sparked a national conversation about psychedelics' untapped potential for mental health treatment.

Key Themes in A really good day Summary

  • psychedelic microdosing
  • mood disorder management
  • alternative mental health
  • drug policy reform
  • hormonal health

Best Quotes from A really good day Summary

  • She simply felt... good.

  • Desperate for what microdosers consistently reported: increased focus.

  • It was, indeed, a really good day.

  • Transition Days consistently emerged as the golden period of her experiment.

  • The effects felt natural rather than forced.

Characters in A really good day Summary

  • Ayelet WaldmanAuthor and subject of the microdosing experiment
  • James FadimanPsychologist who developed the microdosing protocol
  • Lewis CarrollPseudonym for the source who provided the LSD

About the Author

About the Author of A really good day

Ayelet Waldman, bestselling author of A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, is an Israeli-American novelist and essayist renowned for her candid explorations of mental health, motherhood, and societal norms.

A former federal public defender and UC Berkeley adjunct law professor, Waldman intertwines her legal expertise and personal experiences into works like the memoir Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace and the novels Love and Treasure and Red Hook Road.

Her co-created Netflix series Unbelievable, a Peabody and Emmy-nominated adaptation, underscores her narrative authority. Waldman’s books, published globally in over a dozen languages, often challenge conventions—A Really Good Day chronicles her radical experiment with microdosing LSD to treat mood disorders, merging memoir with investigative journalism.

For readers of her other works, explore our summaries of Kingdom of Olives and Ash and Love and Other Impossible Pursuits.

Download Summary of A really good day

Get the A really good day summary as a free PDF or EPUB. Print it or read offline anytime.

FAQs About A really good day Summary

From Columbia University alumni | built in San Francisco

BeFreed Brings Together A Global Community Of Curious Minds

4.7

avg rating

7.84k+ App Rating

BeFreed Community

Seriously I haven’t even explored this app fully yet but from using it the last few days I am so impressed... BeFreed is on a different level from any other learning app I have used. This makes it ultra engaging and can actually improve your concentration which is great for all the doom scrollers!

@ladyInfinity

I bought BeFreed exactly 23 days ago, and I have used it every single day since. It has completely embedded itself into my daily workflow and learning habit.

@jayallen

The truth is, the app has exceeded all my expectations. I can ask it to generate audio on any topic, whatever it may be, and the result is impressive. My professional field is a specialization in psychotherapy and it is multidisciplinary; however, the answers are very accurate.

@Raguipa

What I appreciate most is how much it's reduced my scrolling – I'm spending less time searching and more time absorbing information. The combination of full audiobooks, podcasts, the learning plans are brilliant.

@colonyofcreatorsNGO

I have been a PhotoReading Accelerated Learning Instructor for the past 24 years... books and reading and learning are my thing, and BeFreed has done a great job in providing an innovative approach to disseminating and delivering information in an easy to consume way.

@BeFreed user

It is not just a book summary app, I have used the 'fun reading' option and it's a much better summary and way to grasp ideas the traditional way, that alone is worth this deal.

@austinakon

I love this app. Used it for several days and I cannot stop listening. Such a great way to start.

@jcrules328

I really like the program; I have already tested it for around one month, and I feel that it's an amazing gem. It works so well because I can use BeFreed to create my own topics, and the voice is so good with unlimited choice of narrations.

@DanielCZ

I love the fact that I can get useful, condensed, information and ideas in a 8 - 15 minute podcast style audio. I'm not a general fan of podcasts because of all the fluff, but this cuts through all that.

@BeFreed user

I am finishing up my doctorate, and have to read a lot of unfamiliar material... With BeFreed, you simply enter a prompt, and the app finds source material for you and generates an audio podcast. I find the process in BeFreed to be more streamlined than NotebookLM.

@Brad

I often search YouTube for something to listen to whilst making breakfast, when I'm out walking, commuting, etc, and BeFreed has provided an even more targeted approach, without the adverts and the fluff!

@BeFreed user

The absolute best part about this platform is its versatility. There is literally no subject that is off-topic. It handles whatever you throw at it... It is rare to find an learning tool with zero limitations that actually delivers on its promises.

@jayallen

BeFreed is fantastic. The user-friendly design means I spend less time navigating and more time learning. The mix of audiobooks, podcasts, and learning plans is a genius combo that has completely changed my daily routine.

@BeFreed user

At the start I needed a while to understand how to create podcasts in italian language and boom! It is so great! I can ask to explain every argument and it does so well and so smartly!

@matteo77

BeFreed has become my daily app for audio books tools... What I like the most is the way you put your text and come with an audio that you can listen on the go.

@kotanzu1

Start your learning journey, now