Scientific reports
May 24, 2022
David Wyndham Lawrence, Robin Carhart-Harris, Roland Griffiths et al.
64 citations
An analysis of over 3,700 naturalistic experiences with inhaled N,N-DMT posted to Reddit over a decade reveals common themes. Somatic effects like body sensations (37.5%) and auditory ringing (15.4%) were frequent, while visualizations often involved fractals, shapes, and vivid colors. Entity encounters occurred in 45.5% of experiences, most commonly with a feminine phenotype, deities, aliens, and creature-based beings. Interactions were predominantly positive or pedagogical. Descriptions of alternate dimensions, rooms including a 'waiting room,' and tunnels were common. Mystical and ego-dissolution features were frequent, along with rewarding aspects like reduced fear of death. Challenging responses were less common.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
June 23, 2022
David Wyndham Lawrence
5 citations
Inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) temporarily raised heart rate immediately after use in a healthy 31-year-old man, and his average daily heart rate variability (HRV) was markedly higher the day after each of three naturalistic experiences. The duration of the experience shortened across the three sessions even though the DMT dose remained similar. Because low HRV is linked to stress, psychiatric conditions, and poor mental health, these preliminary findings suggest that psychedelics may influence cardiac autonomic regulation and warrant further study.
Journal of psychoactive drugs
January 1, 2024
David Wyndham Lawrence, Alex P DiBattista, Christopher Timmermann
3 citations
Among 227 naturalistic DMT experiences that felt familiar, the familiarity was not attributed to a prior psychedelic experience. Most (97.4%) included features of a mystical experience, 16.3% involved ego-dissolution, and 11.0% a profound sense of death. A new questionnaire identified five themes of familiarity: feeling or knowledge gained; place or environment; the act of going through the experience; transcendent features; and familiarity imparted by an entity encounter. Two stable participant classes emerged: one class more often reported familiarity from an entity encounter and from the feeling or knowledge gained. The sense of familiarity during DMT appears non-referential to past psychedelic use.