One person’s recreational drug trip might be another’s mental health boost. Research out today finds that dimethyltryptamine, better known as DMT, could be effective at treating people’s depression.
Researchers in the UK conducted a small, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of people with major depression. Compared to controls, people on DMT experienced a rapid drop in their depressive symptoms, one that lasted at least 12 weeks later. Though larger studies are warranted, the findings suggest that DMT could very well become the next psychedelic drug rechristened as psychiatric medicine.
“A single dose of DMT with psychotherapeutic support produced a rapid, significant reduction in depressive symptoms, sustained up to 3 months,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published Monday in Nature Medicine.
Psychedelic medicine
Psychedelic drugs have garnered lots of scientific attention as of late for their potential to treat various mental health conditions, usually in conjunction with other forms of therapy. Drugs like LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have shown promise in small trials for anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Other studies have suggested these drugs can rewire the brains of people with these conditions in positive ways.
Compared to these drugs, DMT has received less attention. Yet the researchers behind the study argue that it may have its unique advantages, namely time. Typically, the drug’s most profound effects fade away much quicker than other psychedelics, with a half life of around five minutes. (That said, DMT is also one of the ingredients in the psychedelic brew ayahuasca, which has a much longer duration). This limited duration could then allow for shorter, more convenient, and likely less costly sessions of therapy to be paired with it—provided the drug can work as hoped.
The researchers’ new Phase IIa trial involved 34 volunteers diagnosed with moderate to severe depression. Half of the volunteers were randomized to receive an infusion of DMT plus therapy right at the start of the study, followed by a second dose two weeks later; the other half received a placebo infusion, followed by an actual dose of DMT two weeks later. This design ensured that all the participants could obtain a potentially beneficial treatment, while still enabling researchers to have a placebo control group for comparison—at least for the immediate, short term effects of the drug.
On average, people who took DMT at the study’s start reported significantly fewer depression symptoms compared to the delayed treatment group. And once the second group took DMT, they also reported a reduction of their depression. Though two doses of DMT didn’t seem to be more effective than one dose, both groups experienced a similar level of improvement that was sustained for at least three months, and even up to six months for some participants. By the three month mark, 47% of participants (across both groups) had improved enough to be considered in remission.
DMT also appeared to be safe and well-tolerated. No serious adverse events were reported, and the most common events linked to the drug were infusion site pain, nausea, and transient anxiety.
The future of DMT therapy
These results are still based on a very small sample size, so it’s far from definitive proof that DMT should become widely used to treat depression. At the very least, though, the results do justify more research.
“Longer and larger trials, including comparisons with existing treatments, are needed to further evaluate the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of DMT in the treatment of depression,” the study authors wrote.
Some research teams and companies are already moving ahead with larger trials of DMT for depression and other mental health conditions, including versions of DMT that last relatively longer in the body. But there’s still a long way to go before psychedelics like DMT could become a routine psychiatric treatment.
In 2024, the FDA rejected Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, stating that further positive Phase III data was needed to secure approval (the company rebranded as Resilient Therapeutics last year, though the current status of its application is unclear). And though the Trump administration has encouraged further psychedelic research at times, senior officials last week rejected the FDA’s plan to speed along the regulatory review process of Compass Pathways’ psilocybin-based treatment for severe depression.
The era of psychedelic medicine may yet come, but not without some bumps along the way.
