4 Things You Need To Know About DMT
Most people with a passing interest in psychedelic therapy will be familiar with terms such as LSD, psilocybin and MDMA. But how many have heard of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine or as it’s most commonly known, DMT?
In this article we’ll explore 4 essential facts about the little cousin of psychedelic substances.
1. You can find DMT in plants and mammals
DMT is classified as a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug and is a naturally occuring substance in nature. You can find it in plants such as the Psychotria viridis (sometimes referred to as Chacruna) and even our own bodies produce it. Very little about the mechanism is known but the theory is it has something to do with the pineal gland in our brains.
2. It is an important ingredient in ayahuasca
DMT plays an important role in indigenous religions and cultures in the Americas. When Spanish colonizers first arrived in Trinidad they found evidence that it had been practiced for thousands of years. And of course, the most well known psychedelic ritual practiced in South America, ayahuasca.
The substance is brewed in a tea by boiling the banisteriopsis caapi vine and leaves of the psychotria viridis shrub. Those who ingest the concoction experience euphoria along with intense visual and auditory hallucinations. Side effects include temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate.
Traditionally shamans use it as a catalyst for spiritual healing journeys and to cure illnesses. It’s this unique experience that contributed to its popularity.
3. It can make you believe in God
People who have partook in ayahuasca rituals often report encounters with beings of higher power or otherworldly creatures. Some of them are described appearing as featureless figures, humanoids, and alien-like creatures.
In a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers interviewed 36 participants who were regular DMT users and found that 94% of them confirmed that they have met beings that seem to be from a higher plane of existence.
One participant described their encounter as: “a lot of very strange clowns…mechanical entities. Very cartoonistic. And again trying to show me something… It was like a toy …continuously moving and changing shapes and colors… [they would] push them in my face… and I could see every single detail.”
In another study, this one published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, participants said that their encounters with these ‘aliens, spirits, angels, demons, gnomes and fairies’ have altered their belief and fundamental concept of reality.
“It’s possible that the metaphysical shock from questioning one’s worldview occasioned by these vivid, unusual experiences may play an important role in the enduring positive life changes in attitudes, moods and behavior they inspire,” wrote Alan K. Davis, the study’s lead author. “We need to do more research in order to understand how these entity encounters exert positive changes in people’s lives.”
Although we currently have no insight into the mechanisms that are going on in our brains, one theory suggests that it’s DMT’s ability to induce a near-death experience coupled with the augmented reality that makes us into believers. And that’s why you’ll sometimes see it being referred to by its nicknames, the ‘spirit molecule’ or ‘god molecule’.
4. Its effects are fairly short
For all its intensity, DMT’s effects are fairly short. A dosage of 40 to 50 mg when smoked can take effect almost immediately after 2 to 5 minutes and dissipate after 30 minutes. A typical ayahuasca brew however contains between 0.6—0.85 mg for every kilogram of liquid. When consumed in this form the hallucinogenic experience only starts after 60 minutes, peaks at 90 minutes and starts to mellow after 4 hours.
It’s for this reason that DMT is sometimes referred to as a ‘forty-five-minute psychosis’. Other notable slang terms include ‘dimitri’, ‘businessman’s trip’ and ‘businessman’s special’.
