CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 142Psychedelics and Drug StudiesReligion, Spirituality, and PsychologyParanormal Experiences and Beliefs

5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used in a naturalistic group setting is associated with unintended improvements in depression and anxiety

Open access
Davis, Alan K., So, Sara, Lancelotta, Rafael, Barsuglia, Joseph P., Griffiths, Roland R.·2019·The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
DOI 10.1080/00952990.2018.1545024PMC PMC6430661
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A recent epidemiological study suggested that 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used for spiritual and recreational reasons is associated with subjective improvement in depression and anxiety. Further exploration of the potential psychotherapeutic effects of 5-MeO-DMT could inform future clinical trials. OBJECTIVES: We examined self-reported improvement in depression and anxiety among people who use 5-MeO-DMT in a group setting with structured procedures guiding dose and administration of 5-MeO-DMT. Such procedures also include activities for the preparation of, and support during/following sessions, which are similar to procedures used in clinical trials of hallucinogen administration. Next, we examined whether depression or anxiety were improved following use, and whether the acute subjective effects (mystical/challenging) or beliefs about the 5-MeO-DMT experience were associated with improvements in these conditions. METHODS: = 47.7; Male = 55%; White/Caucasian = 84%) completed an anonymous web-based survey. RESULTS: Of those reporting having been diagnosed with depression (41%) or anxiety (48%), most reported these conditions were improved (depression = 80%; anxiety = 79%) following 5-MeO-DMT use, and fewer reported they were unchanged (depression = 17%; anxiety = 19%) or worsened (depression = 3%; anxiety = 2%). Improvement in depression/anxiety conditions were associated with greater intensity of mystical experiences and higher ratings of the spiritual significance and personal meaning of the 5-MeO-DMT experience. There were no associations between depression or anxiety improvement and the intensity of acute challenging physical/psychological effects during the 5-MeO-DMT experience. CONCLUSIONS: Future prospective controlled clinical pharmacology studies should examine the safety and efficacy of 5-MeO-DMT administration for relieving depression and anxiety.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/00952990.2018.1545024

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Greater acute effects of psychedelics on measures of mystical experiences are associated with positive effects in multiple domains including attitudes, prosocial behavior, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life in healthy individuals.

    “Greater acute effects of psychedelics on measures of mystical experiences are associated with positive effects in multiple domains including attitudes, prosocial behavior, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life in healthy individuals (Davis et al. 2019;Griffiths et al. 2018Griffiths et al. , 2011;;Uthaug et al. 2019).”

    From Psychedelic Microdosing, Mindfulness, and Anxiety: A Cross-Sectional Mediation Study (2023) · cites this paper as Davis et al. 2019

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that more intense acute mystical effects of 5-MeO-DMT were associated with self-reported improvements in depression and anxiety. The Results also report higher ratings of well-being/life satisfaction among those whose depression or anxiety improved, but do not establish the claimed direct association with mystical effects. This study does not establish effects on attitudes or prosocial behavior, and its depression/anxiety findings concern respondents who reported those conditions, not healthy individuals. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • 5-MeO-DMT has an acceptable physiological safety profile in naturalistic settings.

    “it appears that 5-MeO-DMT has an acceptable physiological safety profile in naturalistic settings (Davis et al. 2018; Davis et al. 2019)”

    From Prospective examination of synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine inhalation: effects on salivary IL-6, cortisol levels, affect, and non-judgment (2020) · cites this paper as Davis et al. 2019

  • The present findings are in line with previous research on use of synthetic 5-MeO-DMT in ceremonial settings (Davis et al. 2019), as well as a naturalistic observational study investigating the effects following use of toad secretion containing 5-MeO-DMT (Uthaug et al. 2019).

    “However, the present findings are in line with previous research on use of synthetic 5-MeO-DMT in ceremonial settings (Davis et al. 2019), as well as a naturalistic observational study investigating the effects following use of toad secretion containing 5-MeO-DMT (Uthaug et al. 2019).”

    From Prospective examination of synthetic 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine inhalation: effects on salivary IL-6, cortisol levels, affect, and non-judgment (2020) · cites this paper as Davis et al. 2019

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 43 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Davis, A. K., So, S., Lancelotta, R., Barsuglia, J. P., & Griffiths, R. R.
Affiliations
  • Johns Hopkins University (US)
  • University of Wyoming (US)
  • New School Research, LLC, North Hollywood, CA, USA
Corresponding author
Davis, Alan K.
ORCID
Venue
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2019-03-01
Volume
45
Issue
2
Pages
161-169
ISSN
  • 0095-2990 (ISSN-L)
  • 1097-9891
DOI
10.1080/00952990.2018.1545024
PMC
PMC6430661
OpenAlex
W2919995896
Cited by
142
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 1
FWCI
16.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA007747)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA003889, DA007209)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
Keywords
5-MeO-DMT, depression, anxiety, psychedelics, mystical experience, challenging experiences, spiritual meaning, group settings, recreational drug use, subjective improvement, hallucinogens
MeSH terms
Adult, Depressive Disorder, Female, Hallucinogens, Humans, Male, Methoxydimethyltryptamines, Middle Aged, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Internet, Self Report

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review