Michael Pascal, Luke David, Robinson Oliver
Centre for Mental Health, School of Human Sciences, Old Royal Naval College, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.
Department of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2023 Mar 27;14:1083356. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1083356. eCollection 2023.
,-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.
This 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.
Invariably, 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.
The 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.
N,N - 二甲基色胺（DMT）是一种内源性血清素能致幻剂，能够在体验中产生根本性的转变，这对意识及其神经关联具有重大意义，特别是考虑到DMT“突破”状态所暗示的“脱节意识”。其使用的增加和临床试验表明，全面阐明体验的质性内容的重要性日益凸显，这超越了现象学结构。鉴于DMT体验在自我的各个维度上都具有强烈的普遍影响，这些影响往往在本体论上具有挑战性，但也可能具有变革性，情况尤其如此。
这是关于DMT使用的首次自然主义实地研究的第二份报告，探讨其质性分析。在筛选出的、健康的、匿名的且有DMT使用经验的使用者在家中（吸入40 - 75毫克）非临床使用该药物期间进行观察。在他们体验后立即采用受微观现象学技术启发的深入半结构化访谈。本研究报告了所引发的突破体验的一个主要领域“自我”的主题和内容分析；之前已报告了“他者”的分析。总共对36名DMT体验后的使用者进行了访谈，他们大多是平均年龄为37岁的白人（83%）男性（8名女性），访谈主要采用归纳编码。
无一例外，都发生了深刻且强烈的体验。第一个总体类别包括效果的发作，涵盖感觉、情感和身体以及时空转变等上位主题；第二个类别包括身体效果，涵盖愉悦、中性/两者皆有以及不适等主题；第三个类别包括感官效果，涵盖睁眼、视觉、跨模态及其他；第四个类别包括心理效果，涵盖记忆和语言、意识和自我感以及时间扭曲；第五个类别包括情感效果，涵盖积极、既不/两者皆有以及具有挑战性的体验。许多进一步的子主题也阐明了DMT体验的丰富内容。
本研究对与个人身体、感官、心理和情感的自我参照体验相关的DMT突破状态的内容进行了系统而细致入微的分析。还阐述了与先前DMT研究以及其他类型的非凡体验（如外星人绑架、萨满教和濒死体验）的共鸣。讨论了假定的神经机制及其作为一种心理治疗剂的前景，特别是由于其深刻的情感影响。
