An encounter with the self: A thematic and content analysis of the DMT experience from a naturalistic field study

Abstract

IntroductionN,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in an experience that have significant implications for consciousness and its neural correlates, especially given the “disconnected consciousness” suggested by the “breakthrough” DMT state. Its increasing usage and clinical trial indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of the experience's qualitative content, over and above the phenomenological structure. This is particularly in light of the intensely pervasive effects of DMT occasions in all dimensions of the self, which are often ontologically challenging yet potentially transformative.MethodsThis is the second report on the first naturalistic field study of DMT use exploring its qualitative analysis. Screened, healthy, anonymized, and experienced DMT users were observed during their non-clinical use of the drug at home (40–75-mg inhaled). In-depth semi-structured interviews, inspired by the micro-phenomenological technique, were employed immediately after their experience. This study reports on the thematic and content analysis of one major domain of the breakthrough experiences elicited, the “self”; where analyses of the “other” were previously reported. A total of 36 post-DMT experience interviews with mostly Caucasian (83%) men (eight women) of a mean of 37 years were predominantly inductively coded.ResultsInvariably, profound and highly intense experiences occurred. The first overarching category comprised the onset of effects, encompassing super-ordinate themes including sensory, emotion and body, and space-time shifts; the second category comprised bodily effects, encompassing themes including pleasurable, neutral/both, and uncomfortable; the third category comprised the sensorial effects, encompassing open-eye, visual, and cross-modal and other; the fourth comprised the psychological effects, encompassing memory and language, awareness and sense of self, and time distortions; and the fifth comprised the emotional effects, encompassing positive, neither/both, and challenging experiences. Many further subthemes also illuminate the rich content of the DMT experience.DiscussionThe present study provides a systematic and nuanced analysis of the content of the breakthrough DMT state pertaining to one's personal and self-referential experiences of the body, senses, psychology, and emotions. The resonances both with previous DMT studies and other types of extraordinary experiences, such as the alien abduction, shamanic and near-death experiences, are also elaborated upon. Putative neural mechanisms and their promise as a psychotherapeutic agent, especially owing to deep emotional impact, are discussed.

Ayahuasca: A review of historical, pharmacological, and therapeutic aspects

“…44,139,140 Phenomenological analyses suggest that LSD, DMT, ayahuasca and psilocybin can elicit alterations in perception, whether visual, auditory, or tactile. 115,117,141,142 In addition, these compounds have been reported to induce feelings of happiness, 141,142 help process difficult memories, 117,143,144 alter the capacity for memory recollection, 117,142 and change time perception. 117 Various classical psychedelics tend to produce similar subjective experiences.…”

“…[164][165][166] Supportive entities have been reported anecdotally in psilocybin and LSD sessions, but are more commonly associated with ayahuasca and DMT. 115,136,167,168 This phenomenon is a distinctive aspect of traditional ayahuasca use and sets it apart from Western psychedelicassisted therapy. 136,169 However, it is worth mentioning that such occurrences are rarely described in Western psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy sessions and nondrug-assisted psychotherapy.…”

“…44 DMT experiences share similarities with near‐death experiences (NDEs) and folkloric, shamanic, and alien abduction experiences. 46 , 115 NDEs often involve reviewing past life events, travelling through a tunnel toward a light, and out‐of‐body experiences. 116 …”

This is your brain on death: a comparative analysis of a near-death experience and subsequent 5-Methoxy-DMT experience

“…The pharmacologically analogous N,N-DMT (hereafter, DMT) experience has been rigorously associated with the NDE (Timmermann et al, 2018), as have many other classical or atypical psychedelics (ketamine: Corazza, 2008;Martial et al, 2019). Prior analyses of the DMT experience from a field study have referenced comparability with the NDE (Michael et al, 2021(Michael et al, , 2023 and systematically compared the qualitative content of the DMT experience and the NDE [Michael et al, (in submission)]. However, no prior studies have examined the relationship between the 5-MeO-DMT experience and the NDE.…”