Known for its high-intensity and short duration, N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is one of the most mysterious and potent psychoactive molecules in psychedelia. Called by many names, including, perhaps most famously, as “the spirit molecule”, this hallucinogenic tryptamine is demonstrating immense therapeutic potential in the treatment of various mental health conditions. From drinking the ancient Amazonian psychedelic brew, Ayahuasca, to smoking pure crystalline DMT, this psychedelic experience is unique and comes in many forms.
What is DMT?
DMT is a simple compound found throughout nature that has profound effects on human consciousness. One of the many unique properties of DMT is the simplicity of DMT’s chemical structure and its ubiquitous prevalence in nature. It is postulated by some that DMT is used as a sort of chemical messenger by nature itself—a way for plants to communicate with each other, for instance. If true, it could essentially be considered something like “nature’s neurotransmitter”. If that isn’t curious enough, the mysteries of DMT are just beginning to be unraveled.
What Does DMT Look Like?
DMT that is synthetically produced is often a white, crystalline powder or solid when in its pure form. However, when not in its purest form, it can also commonly appear to be yellow, orange, or pink. A brownish/green herbal mixture of various plant species that contains DMT is called ‘changa’ and is smoked. Ayahuasca is a brownish/red liquid that contains DMT and other compounds that allow it to be psychoactive in the body.
What Does DMT Feel Like? Exploring the Effects of Smoked DMT
As described above, the DMT experience is shorter and more intense than your average psychedelic journey. The drug can be smoked, vaporized, snorted, or even injected. From the rapid onset of effects, which many who manage to breakthrough describe as being “catapulted” into another dimension, the DMT trip is certainly something unique and special to the brilliant visuals it produces. In just minutes instead of hours, the drug DMT can produce a profoundly powerful mystical experience that rivals those produced by high doses of psilocybin and LSD.
What Does Ayahuasca Feel Like? Exploring the Effects of Oral DMT
As mentioned earlier, DMT is also the main psychoactive constituent in the Amazonian psychedelic brew, Ayahuasca. Unlike smoked DMT, this form is served as a tea, which is drunk and results in a markedly different experience. It is important to note that this tea also contains a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, or MAOI, that prevents the gut from breaking down the DMT, allowing it to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and induce its psychedelic effects. The onset of effect can vary from 30-60 minutes and last for up to 4 to 6 hours, on average. While peaks of the Ayahuasca journey have sometimes been described as equivalent in intensity to smoked DMT, the Ayahuasca trip is often characterized by “hills and valleys” insofar as the intensity of the trip and is said to contain more subtleties and nuances than smoked DMT.
The therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca is being fervently studied across the globe during this modern renaissance, and the results are promising. With today’s cutting-edge science validating what indigenous Amazonians knew for thousands of years, Ayahuasca is playing an important role in this modern psychedelic renaissance.
What Are the Therapeutic Benefits of DMT?
While the full extent of DMT’s beneficial effects on the body is not yet fully understood, we do know a few key benefits it has. New studies are exploring DMT’s effects on self-reported depression and anxiety, and are getting promising results. DMT has also been shown to promote neuroplasticity, which means it can facilitate structural changes to the brain that may explain the mechanism behind its beneficial effects. As scientists continue their research into this mysterious molecule, it will certainly be exciting to follow their latest developments.
What Are the Clinical Benefits of Using DMT?
DMT presents several clinical advantages over other longer-acting psychedelic compounds. Its ability to produce a powerful and meaningful mystical experience in minutes instead of hours makes it a more realistic tool to use at scale in psychedelic-assisted therapy. Routes of DMT administration can also be modulated. Some companies are working towards using intravenous DMT infusions over other ROA’s. Another unique twist when it comes to exploring this particular psychedelic compound.
Exploring Endogenous DMT Production & Its Impact in Our Perception of Reality
Unlike other psychedelics, DMT has been proven to be endogenously produced in the mammalian brain. Dr. Chavez, in this fascinating podcast, discusses how DMT is produced in equivalent concentrations to serotonin in human brains. As such, he states that to some extent, the perception of our conscious reality itself is “simulated” or “hallucinated”. As if that wasn’t interesting enough, advocates of certain types of breathwork and meditation claim this endogenous DMT production can be consciously manipulated.
Techniques such as holotropic breathwork can potentially trigger endogenous DMT release in larger, more “psychedelic” quantities. As such, such techniques are being touted as effective adjuncts to the psychedelic experience (i.e. integration), as well as outright alternatives to consuming the drug itself. As research into both endogenous and exogenous psychedelics and their effects on the body and mind continue, this is one area of research in this biologist is particularly interested in.
A Note About 5-MeO-DMT
Another psychedelic tryptamine commonly associated with N, N-DMT is 5-MeO-DMT. Found in the secretions of the Sonoran desert toad (Bufo Alvarius) and produced synthetically, this potent psychoactive compound has some notable parallels and differences compared to N, N-DMT. I had the pleasure of connecting with my dear friend Joël Brierre, an acclaimed 5-MeO-DMT practitioner, to get his take on this fascinating compound.
“As an explorer of consciousness, there are few things more exciting to me than 5-MeO-DMT. There has never been a more direct way of experiencing pure, non-individual awareness than this. If the human condition is what ails us, then this is the medicine humanity has been waiting for since the mystery schools of Ulysses.” – Joël Brierre
Closing Thoughts on “The Spirit Molecule”
DMT is rapidly emerging as an industry favorite when it comes to psychedelic molecules. From its short-acting yet powerful effects to its therapeutic potential in the treatment of mental illness, it is showing several advantages over traditional psychedelic compounds. As this renaissance continues to unfold, it will certainly be exciting to see the influential role DMT continues to play in it.