So, as this forum contains an endless supply of knowledge, I'd like to ask from more experienced travellers:

How easily do you think DMT could induce psychosis or tearing apart of one's psyche, especially persons with about zero amount of experience with psychedelic drugs?
See, FOAF has a girlfriend who is extremely curious about this spirit molecule and would like to try it, and if I understand right, this girl has had a problem with anxiety attacks in her teenage years, and since we are not toying with recreational have-fun-dont-worry drugs here Im a bit worried a bad trip could end up destroying this girls life.

Of course the wisest way here would be "when in doubt, use no amount", but I think I will have a long conversation with this person, an interview if you will, about possible dangers of playing with one's mind and if she still wants to go through with it, I shall put it under a thorough consideration.


Now, please friends, give me your insights, it would help me alot.

Recommended reading:

What to do with my teen?
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=14597

Farewell DMT
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=14485

thanks cellux, Ive read the Farewell DMT -topic previously, but the other thread had a lot of good information. But just to clarify, this girl is way past her teenage years now, but still, knowing that she has had mental problems in the past, were they serious or mild, still makes me worried.

I've had anxiety problems for years before smoking DMT and it did not make it surface so far. Weed on the other hand, makes me panic easily. So there never is a guaranty - especially true for psychedelics.

If she decides to do it, i would start slow so she can see if the bodily sensations make her feel uncomfortable.

I'll echo what obli said. I had a psychotic episode 10 years ago, long before I touched DMT. It scared me, and I stayed away from psychedelics for a long time, coming back to them slowly. Weed probably is what I can least handle. In the past years I've sometimes felt some pseudo-psychotic elements during trips, and I've seen familiar themes in different forms, but I've always been careful enough not to fall too deeply into it. Now I feel as though I've mostly mapped it out, it doesn't scare me anymore. That being said, I'm also more mature, and very healthy and balanced. Also, for me, DMT is so utterly otherworldly that it is so far completely devoid of any of my "classical" themes. This is something I like about it. I don't sense the same danger as with LSD, for example, no danger of insanity, but there is still a danger felt at times. It's more real, existential and profound, less about the petty personal mythology I still have kicking around somewhere.

Also, if there's one tip I can offer, it's that in my short experience, a practice of meditation or yoga or relaxation techniques goes really well with DMT. You want to be able to go "beyond" some of the very uncomfortable (to me) bodily sensations without freaking out. Beyond them lies hyperspace

Agree with obliguhl. Start slow. Give her a tiny, small dose, just to start "feeling" the molecule, not to breakthrough. Give her the choice to build up slowly but just take some days before each try, to assimilate, to think about, to prepare herself for the next step.

Pay special attention to set. For a person with a background of anxiety disorder this is specially important (btw, this is important to everybody). Choose a familiar ambient, remove all anxiety sources like be caught by family or by cops, strange people, unconfortable ambient, too wide or to close, suffocant ambient and so on. Also, avoid the "bad" days (work conflicts, colleague discussions).

Finally, try to know something about the root or the simptons of her anxiety. Generally anxiety is characterized by some respiratory disconfort (for some psychological schools, anxiety is just a synonym for serious respiratory disfunctions). That's why sometimes one who suffers from anxiety feels so bad when smoking, specially weed which imposes a "profound" aspiration in order to be absorbed. A good way to deal with anxiety and respiratory disfunctions is through meditation, yoga and relaxation techniques as suggested by Shayku.

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts, you've helped me alot

If she wants to go through with this experience (which im quite sure she does), then maybe we shall start with dosages below 10mg in a quiet distraction-free environment and ease up to it. Only thing that worries me is the intensivity of the blast off, as you all know it can be very confusing and scary, especially for a person who doesnt have much, if any experience with these type of substances.

but anyway, thank you all

Good luck start low and be careful .When i was 17 years swim abused ayahuasca he drinked it almost 5 or so days straight and after that he changed so much as person that he barely could live with new my himself he got hppd witch he still have almost a year from last session of ayahuasca but he got ussed to it now that was distressing at that time he was thinking that he damaged his brain or gone insane or something he had anxiety attacks .He was changed alot but he learned alot of good lesson from those events that occured

The experience of the individual doesn't seem to affect whether or not a trip has psychotic elements or aftereffects; it simply depends on the trip....

A lot of first-timers in the psychedelic world, including myself, handled DMT without any serious freaking out. I mean, it was serious, but it was "What the fuck?" serious and not "My sanity!! NOES!" serious. And even extensive experience with the molecule didn't prevent bad trips turning into short-lived psychotic episodes. As mentioned above, weed has much more potential to be harsh to the mind, methinks.

If you start off with small doses, it's always worth noting that small doses tend to have more unpleasant feelings with them than moderate ones. The weird body high, or the, as my friend put it, "feeling of being trapped between two worlds". If your friend doesn't know this, she may just assume that DMT isn't for her based on low-dose experiences.

I agree with Banana's last paragraph very much. For me the scariest part of DMT is the ride between here and hyperspace, and low doses are often all ride, no arrival. My first experience was the scariest, eyes open, unweighted low dose - just a really alien body high with a lot of sketchy swirling and psychedelia. I certainly got the flavour of the molecule, but it was impossible to imagine at that point the finess of what lay beyond.

Set, setting, support, and intention are EVERYTHING.

I have been working with Aya and DMT to deal with a lifetime's worth of crippling, debilitating anxiety and it has worked MIRACLES. I have literally been given a second shot at life because I no longer struggle with these problems.

HOWEVER, these medicines also offer an opportunity to "sort through" the problems. I did not receive my benefits without deeply exploring some very dark and painful places in my mind.

I had a panic once--but, stimulants were involved. For my body, stimulants always result in anxiety so I can literally have none.

The only time I really dealt with an extreme panic, I had initially a phone sitter (worked wonders), and some friends come over to visit, which grounded me completely. The antidote for all the suffering in the world was a simple hand on my head.

In over 300 journeys, the other two times I have called for a sitter, all that was required of the sitter was to sit beside me and hold my hand. In retrospect, they were some of the most healing and transformative experiences of my life.

If she is willing to go there, FULL understanding of what depths may be plunged and FULL safety, support, and comfort must be applied. The results can be extremely positive, but set/setting/intention are EVERYTHING.

Moments of psychosis are also to be expected; coming up can sometimes be rough, and, especially if unacquainted with traveling so fully to the other side, moments of, "AHH! MY MIND IS RIPPING APART!" are very normal. They pass, just like many of the other insane thoughts we all have on a daily basis. Calm detachment, breath, mantra, or other human support are all key to getting through this.

Disclaimer: this is all my personal experience.