Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects (Patreon)

The results of perhaps the largest vaped DMT survey ever conducted have recently been published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.  4,610 people completed the survey, but after heavy exclusions (details in the paper) 2,561 were accepted (average participant age was 32 years, 77% male, 85% caucasian, 64% lived in the USA). These researchers were specifically only interested in accounts related to "most memorable entity encounter" on vaped DMT (i.e. the DMT user interacted with some being during their experience).  

The senses involved in the reported encounters were visual (92%), extrasensory (e.g. telepathic; 85%), auditory (54%), touch (34%), smell (9%) and taste (6%).  Most respondents indicated that some form of communication occurred in the encounter, with 49% reporting the communication was one-way (from entity to respondent) and 40% two-way, and the type of communication was mostly telepathic (74%) but also verbal (26%) and through gestures (40%) and touch (17%) or some combination of these methods.

The most common description of the entity was just a “being,” (60%), others used the terms: “guide,” (43%) “spirit,” (39%) “alien,” (39%) or “helper” (34%). Other labels selected by small proportions of respondents (range 10–16%), included the terms “angel,” “elf,” “religious personage,” or “plant spirit,” and very few (range 1–5%) reporting the terms “gnome,” “monster,” or a “deceased” person. 

Most respondents reported having had an emotional response to the experience (99%). Respondents reported experiencing joy (65%), trust (63%), surprise (61%), love (59%), kindness (56%), friendship (48%), and fear (41%) during the encounter experience, with smaller proportions reporting emotions such as sadness (13%), distrust (10%), disgust (4%), or anger (3%).  Love (21%) was the single most prominent emotion experienced during the encounter. Over one-half (58%) reported that the entity also had an emotional reaction to the encounter. The single most prominent emotion that the entity appeared to have was love (17%), kindness (11%), or joy (10%), with low rates (⩽2%) of emotions with a negative valence (e.g. anger, fear, distrust, disgust, sadness).

Only 9% of respondents felt the entity existed “completely within myself” (in other words, the majority believe these entities are "real" and actually exist somewhere outside of their own mind in some capacity). 80% said the experience altered their fundamental conception of reality.  A majority of the sample reported that the entity was conscious (96%), intelligent (96%), benevolent (78%), sacred (70%), had agency in the world (54%), and was positively judgmental (52%). Fewer reported that the entity was petitionable (23% Gordo: Not sure if this means in most cases people could not request anything from the entity? Or they just didn't try to request anything), negatively judgmental (16%), or malicious (11%).

Here's in interesting tidbit from the result: 64% of people who self identified as "atheists" before their DMT entity encounter no longer identified as atheists AFTER their DMT entity encounter!  Likewise 40% of agnostics were no longer agnostic.  Also, before these encounters, only 36% of participants believed in God ("belief in ultimate reality, higher power, God, or universal divinity") but after their experiences, 58% reported such a belief system!

Over one-half (range 54–65%) of the sample reported that the entity encounter was one of the top five or single most personally meaningful, spiritually significant, or psychologically insightful experiences of their lives.  But 32% reported that the encounter was one of the top five or single most psychologically challenging lifetime experiences.   Most respondents reported persisting positive and desirable changes that they attributed to the encounter experience, including well-being and life satisfaction (89%), life’s purpose (82%), life’s meaning (81%), social relationships (70%), attitudes about life (88%) and self (84%), mood (67%), and behavior (71%). In contrast, only 1–5% of the sample reported any negative and undesirable changes in the above domains of functioning.

69% said they received a message, task, mission, purpose, or insight as part of their most memorable entity encounter experience.  Themes included “Idiosyncratic information” (27%), “Personal insight” (22%), “Love” (16%), “Task” (11%), “Safety/reassurance” (10%), “Interconnectedness” (7%), “Death” (7%), “Knowledge” (6%), “Greeting, valediction, or reprimand” (4%), “Prediction” (4%), “Divinity” (3%), and “Veridicality of DMT space” (2%).

19% reported that they received a prediction about the future.  These predictions involved a: “Personal life event” (6%), “Transpersonal, interdimensional, or extraterrestrial event” (2%), “Negative state of the world” (2%), “Idiosyncratic prediction” (2%), “Afterlife” (2%), “Positive state of the world” (1%), “Safety/reassurance” (1%), “Dying/timing of death” (1%), and “Meeting again” (1%)

POTENTIAL HARM

Although only a very small percentage (1–5%) of the sample in this study reported enduring negative attributions to their entity encounter experiences, the potential for harm was not specifically addressed by the survey.  Because of the way they recruited volunteers to complete the survey, it is LIKELY that the data is skewed toward the positive.  People who had negative experiences are less likely to have seen the recruitment ads for the survey, and the survey was specifically asking about one's "most memorable" experience which would be less likely to include negative experiences.  Likewise, the profound changes in worldview reported by participants could be interpreted as positive or negative depending on one's perspective.  And the so called personal insights and predictions of the future could be considered alarming to some especially if these might lead to physical or psychological harm.  

Gordo: While this survey highlights the fantastic potential of vaped DMT and its mostly beneficial effects (during AND after the experience), and the results are overall very positive... a skeptic could view DMT as taking people further away from truth or reality.  There are very few documented cases of psychosis associated with DMT but it is a slight possibility, especially for people with a personal or family history of psychological disorders (like bipolar disorder).  But there is also at least some potential for a person to embrace misguided ideas (delusions) that lead to poor life decisions like quitting a job or getting themselves fired or hurting relationships due to erratic behavior.  I read one article a few years ago (unable to track it down) about a man who was vaping DMT regularly and fully believed he was communicating with real aliens and they were giving him important messages for the world - this led him into significant life troubles but thankfully he eventually realized he was behaving irrationally and had allowed himself to become deluded.  I think it's important that these dangers are discussed regularly so people can make informed choices and protect themselves.