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Mystical States achieved through Psychedelics: The Origins, Classical, and Contemporary Use of Psychedelics
Published in Andrew C. Papanicolaou, A Scientific Assessment of the Validity of Mystical Experiences, 2021
DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is yet another tryptamine alkaloid that has been used in South America for therapeutic and religious purposes for many centuries10. As mentioned above, it is one basic ingredient in ayahuasca which is made by plants that are rich in it as well as plants that contain monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MOIs—the familiar antidepressant medication.
Missed Opportunities? Beneficial Uses of Illicit Drugs
Published in Ross Coomber, The Control of Drugs and Drug Users, 2020
Lester Grinspoon, James B. Bakalar
There are about a half dozen natural psychedelic drugs and scores of synthetic ones, most of them variants on a few chemical structures. The best known natural psychedelics are mescaline, derived from the peyote cactus, and psilocybin, found in over a hundred species of mushrooms. Among synthetic psychedelics, the best known and most potent is lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), which is chemically related to certain alkaloids found in morning glory seeds, the lysergic acid amides. This class of drugs also includes the natural substances harmine, harmaline, ibogaine, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), as well as a large number of synthetic drugs that are chemically described as tryptamines or methoxylated amphetamines. A few of these are diethyltryptamine (DET), 3,4,-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM, also known as STP). Recently much attention has been focused on 3,4,-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
Hallucinogens
Published in G. Hussein Rassool, Alcohol and Drug Misuse, 2017
Hallucinogens are a diverse group of substances that have different chemical structures, mechanisms of action, and adverse effects. Unlike other psychoactive substances, hallucinogens induce subjective experiences that are qualitatively different from those experienced of normal consciousness. Most hallucinogenic drugs do not consistently cause hallucinations but are more likely to cause a modification of normal perception with changes in mood or in thought than actual hallucinations. Some less common drugs, such as Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and atropine, may cause hallucinations in the proper sense. Some hallucinogens, including Dextromethorphan (DXM), Ketamine, Phencyclidine (PCP) and Salvia divinorum (salvia) also may cause users to feel out of control or have “out of body” experiences. There is evidence to suggest that certain hallucinogens can be addictive (PCP) and that tolerance can be developed for certain hallucinogens (LSD); some hallucinogens also produce tolerance to other similar drugs (NIDA 2016).
Validation of a French Version of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire with Retrospective Reports of the Most Significant Psychedelic Experience among French Users
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2023
Baptiste Fauvel, Samuli Kangaslampi, Lana Strika-Bruneau, Bruno Roméo, Pascale Piolino
Psychedelic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), are a class of substances that act primarily as agonists of serotonin receptors (Vollenweider and Preller 2020), producing drastic transitory changes in sensory perception, emotion, and sense of self (Preller and Vollenweider 2018; Swanson 2018). Natural psychedelic compounds have been used in ceremonial settings to facilitate the occurrence of mystical experiences for centuries (Barrett and Griffiths 2018; Johnson et al. 2019). Recently, it has been proposed that mystical experiences triggered by psychedelics could be an important determinant of persisting therapeutic or beneficial effects. For instance, mystical experiences on psychedelics have been shown to correlate with reduction of addictive behavior (Bogenschutz et al. 2015; Garcia-Romeu, Griffiths, and Johnson 2014; Garcia-Romeu et al. 2019, 2020; Johnson, Garcia-Romeu, and Griffiths 2017; Johnson et al. 2017), and depression and anxiety in patients with major depressive disorder (Davis et al. 2021). Mystical experiences on psychedelics also predict long-term increases in general well-being and life satisfaction in healthy individuals (Schmid and Liechti 2018).
A Meta-Analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
Published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2020
Jason B. Luoma, Christina Chwyl, Geoff J. Bathje, Alan K. Davis, Rafael Lancelotta
We sought to identify all published randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of psychedelic-assisted therapy since the publishing of the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association 1994). Our systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Moher, Liberati, Tetzlaff and Altman 2009). Inclusion criteria were: a) original research published in a peer-reviewed journal, b) randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, and c) assesses the effect of MDMA, psilocybin, ayahuasca, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), or LSD on symptoms of a diagnosed psychiatric condition listed in either the DSM-IV or DSM-V (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Non-English language was an exclusion criterion. We searched PsycInfo, ERIC, Medline, Academic Search Premiere and CINHAL from January 1994 to March 2019 with terms specifying the active substance administered in the study (“psilocybin”, “MDMA”, “3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine”, “ayahuasca”, “DMT”, “5-MeO-DMT”, “Banisteriopsis caapi”, or “LSD”) in pairwise combination with terms specifying the trial’s clinical focus (“depressive”, “depression”, “anxiety”, “distress”, “trauma”, “post-traumatic stress disorder”, “obsessive compulsive disorder”, “PTSD”, “OCD”, “alcohol”, “drinking”, “nicotine”, “smoking”, “cigarette”, “marijuana”, “cocaine”, “stimulant”, “opiate”, “heroin”, “methamphetamine”, “depressant”, “inhalant” or “injection”).
Syrian rue seeds interacted with acacia tree bark in an herbal stew resulted in N,N-dimethyltryptamine poisoning
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2019
Chuan-Huai Liu, Wei-Lan Chu, Shu-Chen Liao, Chen-Chang Yang, Chih-Chuan Lin
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a tryptamine with sympathomimetic effects and is an active ingredient of an ancient hallucinogenic beverage called “ayahuasca”, which is frequently used by adolescents and young adults [1]. DMT is commonly taken orally for recreation purpose. It is a challenge to confirm a diagnosis of DMT overdose in an acute situation. Commercially available urine drug test using enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) does not detect DMT. However, DMT may cross-react with sympathomimetic agents resulting in a false positive for amphetamine [2]. Harmaline, a plant alkaloid from the group of harmala alkaloids and beta-carbolines, is a central nervous system stimulant as well as a reversible monoamine oxidase-A inhibitor (MAO-A inhibitor) [3].