This anonymous online survey study (n=2561) investigated the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes that people attributed to experiences they reported of an encounter with a seemingly autonomous being or entity after taking a vaporized or smoked dose of DMT. These experiences were markedly similar to encounters with God or ultimate reality in response to DMT, in that the majority of participants reported two-way extrasensory and visual communication with the entity, to which they associated mental attributes (e.g. consciousness, intelligence, benevolence), which they rated as more real than everyday normal consciousness. There was also a reduction in the percentage of people identifying as an atheist after the encounter, while the majority of the people reported d high rates of persisting positive effects on life-satisfaction and well-being.

Abstract

“Background: Experiences of having an encounter with seemingly autonomous entities are sometimes reported after inhaling N,N-dimethyltryptamine.

Aim: The study characterized the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes that people attribute to N,N-dimethyltryptamine-occasioned entity encounter experiences.

Methods: Two thousand, five hundred and sixty-one individuals (mean age 32 years; 77% male) completed an online survey about their single most memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine.

Results: Respondents reported the primary senses involved in the encounter were visual and extrasensory (e.g. telepathic). The most common descriptive labels for the entity were being, guide, spirit, alien, and helper. Although 41% of respondents reported fear during the encounter, the most prominent emotions both in the respondent and attributed to the entity were love, kindness, and joy. Most respondents endorsed that the entity had the attributes of being conscious, intelligent, and benevolent, existed in some real but different dimension of reality, and continued to exist after the encounter. Respondents endorsed receiving a message (69%) or a prediction about the future (19%) from the experience. More than half of those who identified as atheist before the experience no longer identified as atheist afterwards. The experiences were rated as among the most meaningful, spiritual, and psychologically insightful lifetime experiences, with persisting positive changes in life satisfaction, purpose, and meaning attributed to the experiences.

Conclusion: N,N-dimethyltryptamine-occasioned entity encounter experiences have many similarities to non-drug entity encounter experiences such as those described in religious, alien abduction, and near-death contexts. Aspects of the experience and its interpretation produced profound and enduring ontological changes in worldview.”

Authors: Alan K. Davis, John M. Clifton, Eric G. Weaver, Ethan S. Hurwitz, Matthew W. Johnson & Roland R. Griffiths

Summary – version 1

Introduction

DMT, an active ingredient in ayahuasca, produces intense subjective effects, including vivid mental imagery, perceptual and time distortions, changes in thought patterns, and heightened emotional states. DMT is a Schedule I compound in the US Controlled Substance Act of 1970.

DMT effects are varied and complex, with a primary role for serotonin 2A receptors, but also other serotonergic and glutaminergic receptors, trace-amine associated receptors, sigma-1 receptors, and additional interactions with dopamine and acetylcholine functioning.

People have reported encounters with seemingly autonomous entities after inhaling N,N-dimethyltryptamine.

It has been speculated that DMT may play a role in nonordinary states of consciousness, including dreaming, psychosis, spiritual experiences, encounters with non-human intelligence, extrasensory perception, out-of-body experiences, and near-death experiences.

There are numerous anecdotal reports of vaporized or smoked DMT use, but empirical research detailing prevalence, patterns of use, and other characteristics of such DMT use is scarce.

People who take a high dose of DMT report encounters with seemingly autonomous entities or beings. The nature of the entities, details of the experiences, and meaning attributed to the experiences vary widely.

A study was conducted on an international sample of people who had taken DMT and reported having experienced an encounter with a seemingly autonomous being or entity.

Procedure

This study recruited participants by posting advertisements on several websites and sending email announcements. Participants had to endorse being at least 18 years old, being able to read, write and speak fluent English, and having taken a breakthrough dose of DMT.

Study recruitment flow

Respondents were recruited from February to December 2018. Of those, 10,308 consented to participate, and 4610 completed the survey, of which 1839 were excluded because they had a prior diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, or had administered DMT via a route other than smoking or vaporizing.

We assessed data quality by removing duplicates, reviewing open-ended responses, examining completion times, and identifying poor responders. We included 2561 respondents, and excluded 176 who had used multiple substances, a psychoactive substance other than DMT, or changa.

Entity survey

The questionnaire was modified from one used to assess God encounter experiences in non-drug and psychedelic drug users, and asked respondents to provide a brief written description of their experience. Respondents were asked to provide open-ended written responses to questions about the details of their entity encounter experience, including the senses involved, type of communication, best descriptive labels to describe the entity, respondent and entity emotions during the encounter, and metaphysical implications.

Data analyses

Quantitative analyses included frequency counts and descriptive calculations for all questionnaire responses. A qualitative analysis included a content analysis of open-ended text box responses to questions about entity encounter experiences, which included messages, tasks, missions, purposes, or insights, and predictions about the future.

Themes were identified from the responses to the open-ended questions and were assigned numerical codes. A random selection of 20% of responses from each open-ended item were then coded independently by an author previously not involved in coding to assess interrater reliability.

Respondent characteristics

The most memorable entity encounter experience for most participants was their first experience with DMT. However, 56% reported having had other such DMT-associated entity encounters either before or after the experience they described in the survey.

Details of the most memorable entity encounter

21% of respondents reported going into the experience with the intention of having an encounter experience, and most reported that the entity initiated the encounter. Most respondents reported some form of communication occurred in the encounter.

Most respondents reported experiencing joy, trust, surprise, love, kindness, friendship, and fear during the encounter experience, with smaller proportions reporting emotions such as sadness, distrust, disgust, or anger.

When asked about the attributes of the entity, most respondents reported that the entity was conscious, intelligent, benevolent, sacred, had agency in the world, and was positively judgmental. Fewer reported that the entity was petitionable, negatively judgmental, or malicious.

Comparison to other lifetime experiences and persisting changes attributed to the experience

Over one-half of the respondents 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.

Ascertaining a message and predictions about the future

Sixty-nine percent of respondents endorsed that their most memorable entity encounter experience included ascertaining a message, task, mission, purpose, or insight.

Over one-half of respondents reported that the entity also had an emotional reaction to the encounter.

Additional details of the most memorable encounter experience and its interpretation having metaphysical implications

Respondents reported that their most memorable entity encounter experience was quite unfamiliar, yet their memories were between “clear” and “very clear”. They also reported that the experience seemed more real than normal reality during and after the encounter.

Discussion

This Internet survey study asked people about their experiences after taking DMT. 67% of respondents answered the survey based on their first DMT-occasioned entity encounter experience.

encounter experiences

The results of the current survey of DMT-occasioned entity encounter experiences are similar to those of a survey of DMT-occasioned encounter experiences most frequently interpreted as an encounter with “God”, “ultimate reality”, or “higher power”. Both surveys included a minority of respondents who had the intention to have an encounter experience.

Although the study is too small to statistically compare all identically worded questions across the two surveys, it is notable that ratings of the personal meaning, spiritual significance, and positive enduring effects attributed to the DMT encounter experience were significantly higher in the God/ultimate reality encounter survey than the entity encounter survey.

In the absence of DMT or other psychedelics, many people have reported experiencing entity encounters. These experiences have been described as God encounter experiences, religious prophecy, alien abduction experiences, near-death experiences, and UFO experiences.

The descriptions of entities in the DMT entity encounter survey are similar to those in the non-drug alien encounter and abduction literature, with the exception that non-drug alien encounter experiences are more commonly described as “greys” and involve being taken into some kind of alien space craft.

Positive and negative emotional responses during the encounter

Almost all respondents reported having had an emotional response during the encounter, and most reported that the entity also had an emotional response. Some respondents reported feeling fear or distrust during the encounter, but these emotions were rarely rated as the most prominent emotions.

Entity encounter experiences frequently result in ontological changes in worldview including the belief in the reality of such entities

The current survey provides strong evidence that experiences with entities, whether occasioned by DMT, nondrug alien encounter and abduction experiences, near-death experiences, religious prophecy experiences, or naturally occurring God encounter experiences, often result in changes in world view including the belief in the reality of such entities.

Attributions of positive enduring effects

In a survey of individuals who reported having God encounter experiences, similar positive changes were noted in subjective well-being, life satisfaction, life purpose and meaning, social relationships, attitudes about life and self, mood, behavior, spirituality, and attitudes about death.

Recent research suggests that psychological flexibility is increased by psychedelic use, and that this psychological flexibility may be a mechanism for therapeutic changes in mental health in clinical trials with psychedelics.

Ascertaining messages or predictions about the future

More than two-thirds of respondents reported receiving a message, task, mission, purpose, or insight from an entity encounter experience. Some of these messages involved positively valanced messages about love and safety/reassurance, suggesting that these experiences may have therapeutic potential.

About 20% of the respondents in this study made predictions about the future. These predictions were mostly about personal life events, but were less frequently about transpersonal, interdimensional, or extraterrestrial events, or about afterlife or post-death states of consciousness.

Potential harms

Although only a small percentage of participants reported enduring negative attributions to their entity encounter experiences, it is important to acknowledge that this survey may have underestimated the rates of harmful attributions. DMT-occasioned beliefs in a higher power, God, or universal divinity may be viewed as positive outcomes by some, but as negative outcomes by others. These beliefs may lead to self-destructive or other harmful behavior, or the onset of significant psychiatric illness.

Study limitations

This study used a retrospective Internet-based survey to assess the prevalence of DMT-occasioned entity encounter experiences among DMT users. However, the study has several limitations, including the use of a cross-sectional assessment and the inability to determine whether the sample is representative of the entire population of DMT users.

Conclusion

The present survey study provides detailed information about subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes attributed to experiences people report having after inhaling DMT. Most respondents indicated that the experiences had metaphysical implications for their fundamental understanding of the nature of reality. Although more research is needed to determine causality and mechanisms, it is possible that the psychological and biological nature of encounters with nonhuman entities may play an important role in the enduring positive life changes attributed to these experiences.