Effects of DMT on mental health outcomes in healthy volunteers
In healthy volunteers, intravenous DMT produced significant reductions in depressive symptoms one to two weeks after administration in both placebo-controlled and prospective samples, with trait neuroticism reduced only in the placebo-controlled group and symptom change correlated with the intensity of acute "oceanic boundlessness" peak experiences. The authors suggest IV DMT’s short, controllable action may alleviate depressive symptomatology via induced peak experiences and warrants further clinical investigation.
Authors
- Richard Zeifman
- Robin Carhart-Harris
- David Nutt
Published
Abstract
Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic, is being increasingly researched in clinical studies for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. The relatively lengthy duration of oral psilocybin’s acute effects (4–6 h) may have pragmatic and cost-effectiveness limitations. Here, we explored the effects of intravenous (IV) N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a closely related, but faster-acting psychedelic intervention, on mental health outcomes in healthy volunteers. Data is reported from two separate analyses: (1) A comparison of mental health-related variables 1 week after 7, 14, 18, and 20 mg of IV DMT versus IV saline placebo (n = 13) and, (2) A prospective dataset assessing effects before versus 2 weeks after 20 mg of IV DMT (n = 17). Mental health outcomes included measures of depression severity (QIDS-SR16), trait anxiety (STAI-T), Neuroticism (NEO-FFI), wellbeing (WHO-5), meaning in life (MLQ), optimism (LOT-R), and gratitude (GQ-6). In both the prospective and placebo-controlled datasets, significant improvements in scores of depression were found 1–2 weeks after DMT administration. Significant reductions in trait Neuroticism were only found for the placebo-controlled sample. Finally, changes in depression and trait anxiety correlated with acute peak experiences (assessed via ‘Oceanic Boundlessness’). While the use of two separate cohorts in pooled analysis limits the generalizability of these correlational findings, these results suggest that DMT may reduce depressive symptomatology by inducing peak experiences. The short half-life of IV DMT and its potential for flexible dosing via controlled infusions makes it an appealing candidate for psychedelic medicine. Further research in clinical samples is needed to corroborate the therapeutic potential of DMT.
Research Summary of 'Effects of DMT on mental health outcomes in healthy volunteers'
Introduction
Earlier research has established that classic serotonergic psychedelics can improve a range of mental health outcomes, with most clinical work to date focusing on psilocybin, LSD and ayahuasca. N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) differs from these compounds in producing an especially intense but very short-lived acute experience when administered intravenously or smoked, and prior human work on DMT monotherapy is limited to very small samples or studies in which DMT is a component of ayahuasca. These features—short duration, distinctive phenomenology and limited human monotherapy data—mean that the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of IV DMT remain uncertain. Timmermann and colleagues set out to examine whether IV DMT alters negative psychological factors implicated in psychiatric disorders (depressive symptomatology, trait anxiety, and trait Neuroticism) and positive psychological factors (well-being, optimism, nature-relatedness, gratitude and meaning in life) in psychedelic‑experienced healthy volunteers. The paper reports two related datasets: a small single‑blind, placebo‑controlled study with fixed-order placebo then DMT, and a larger prospective dataset in which participants received DMT as part of an EEG–fMRI protocol. The investigators also tested whether the quality of the acute experience—measured as Oceanic Boundlessness—was associated with subsequent changes in depression and anxiety.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Compounds
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- APA Citation
Timmermann, C., Zeifman, R. J., Erritzoe, D., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2024). Effects of DMT on mental health outcomes in healthy volunteers. Scientific Reports, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53363-y
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