Someone sent me this, and it seemed interesting. Published in August of 2015, this may be a sign of increasing awareness, and scrutiny, of what we do here on The Nexus.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26166234

"Abstract
BACKGROUND:

N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A and 1A receptor agonist that exhibits potent psychoactive properties in humans. Recreational use of this drug has increased precipitously and is likely to result in an increase in patients presenting with substance-induced psychoses. The present case provides an early example of substance-induced psychosis attributable to repeated use of DMT.
CASE:

A 42-year-old white man, with no significant past psychiatric history, was brought to the emergency department by the police and was found to exhibit disinhibited behavior, elevated affect, disorganized thought process, and delusions of reference. Laboratory studies revealed elevated creatinine kinase level indicative of rhabdomyolysis. The patient endorsed recent and repeated use of DMT, as well as long-term Cannabis (marijuana) use. Over the course of the next 3 weeks, the patient was successfully treated with quetiapine for psychosis, divalproex sodium (Depakote) for impulsivity, gabapentin for anxiety, and hydroxyzine for sleep, which resulted in the resolution of his symptoms and development of reasonable insight and judgment. Approximately 6 months after discharge, the patient remained treatment compliant, as well as drug and symptom free.
CONCLUSIONS:

This case report illustrates an important example of substance-induced psychosis that resolved with antipsychotic treatment in a 42-year-old white man with no past psychiatric history likely attributable to the use of DMT. Given the increasing use of this substance, the emergency department, primary care, and inpatient services are likely to see a significant increase in similar cases."

EDIT: Two posts below this one, I posted the full text.

Blessings
~ND

Thanks for sharing this ND.

I would love to see the full paper in order to get more information on the exact mode of 'repeated' use of DMT and I also note that long-term cannabis use is mentioned.

I do not doubt that DMT has the ability to precipitate a psychosis but one must consider the possibility that the combination of cannabis use (which is likely to have varying concentrations of psychoactives from one batch to the next) with DMT may have been the straw which broke the camels mind in the case cited.

With this all said, DMT is not and never will be a compound without a degree of inherent risk associated with it.

Your wish is my command, Corpus

Blessings
~ND

I agree Corpus Callosum, the need for more detailed information is needed.

Even everyday things have some degree of inherent risks, eat- risk of choking, walk- risk of falling down. I understand they are talking about compounds and not everyday tasks, but it seems they were quick to push it off towards DMT though not giving details as to his frequency of use and possible past use of other substances that might have contributed.

They also said no history of psychosis, well that's if they have a history as recorded by the medical community. It may be that this was slowly persisting through this man's life and never recognized it or had it treated thus no history of it. I guess it's just the should've, would've, could've speculation due to the lack of more facts or information regarding this particular case. I agree though, the whole case needs published instead of a stripped down version that's pointing the finger, leading others to think in a negative fashion. Anyways just my two cents.

No worries now due to the cocktail of meds...he's been reinserted back into the matrix

He only used DMT 10 times, and he obtained it from some random person on his street. That's certainly a cause for concern right there. I wonder what his dosage was and if that could have played a role at all?

I think it's also worth noting that he had several psychological stressors at the time, was underweight, and had a history of substance abuse, bipolar disorder, and violent behavior.

As far as cannabis maybe being involved:



This is definitely scary to think about, I personally think it has something to do with the shady source--but nonetheless like Corpus said DMT will always have inherent risk associated with it.

Thanks for sharing ND.

Praxis, where did you find this extra information?

Now it starts to make more sense, I'm curious as to why all of that was left out which are major factors in the way he may have been acting.

Anyway thanks Praxis for the extra tidbits.
And thanks ND for the original link.

Check my second post, in response to corpus

Blessings
~ND

Thanks ND, just totally overlooked it

"...had a history of substance abuse, bipolar disorder, and violent behavior."

Well, a dude like this who would say, do 10 high doses in a few weeks time, I can see that as a possibility...

I am surprised to hear so many of you saying that there is always a risk with DMT. Comparing the liklihood of psychosis from DMT or from Marijuana it is definately MJ that sends most in to paranoid delusions because of the dopamine pathways, same as meth and even scizophrenics they are labelling the root cause as irratic dopamine pathways. My understanding is that DMT is relatively well tolerated by most individuals as it is primarily works via serotonergic activity and if it is inclined to any style of psychosis it would be that of depersonalization/derealization which is very different to the man's symptoms in the hospital.

Either way, this doesn't help our case. He didn't even need to mention DMT, only that his symptoms existed and then he would have been treated in the same way, which is to shuv a whole load of anti-psychotics and benzos down his throat to suppress extatic, aberrational and for this individual 'unwanted' neural actvitity that may have cleared up on their own in a nights sleep or a week. Why would anyone blatantly admit to being a criminal when it is not necessary to do so? He could have just gone to the doctor and got prescribed some anti-psychotics and this paper would never have existed.

I feel the risks of episodes of psychosis are fairly low with the majority of people. It's easy to point the finger at something like a psychedelic as the cause of this but it takes far more courage to broaden your view and look at what may have been an underlying condition which was simply triggered by the substance in question.

I understand your point of view sleepermustawaken but I'm sure he was honest because he was very afraid (or not completely coherent) and had them breathing down his neck asking him what illicit substances he has consumed recently. If you're afraid you're going to die or become very ill physically or mentally you tend to just want someone to help you and if telling them what it is you were smoking, and that helps them help you, it's a simple choice. He may have handled it differently, more discreetly, but having experienced some drug-induced psychosis myself it can be incredibly terrifying.

One culture's psychosis is another's spiritual crisis. One is seen as sickness and another as an opportunity for growth and transcendence.

Half baked eggs should stay clear of pepper.
So easy to blame the pepper.

This

DMT effects are very powerful. It's only logical that some people, specially with pre-existing conditions, won't be able to handle it. In terms of statistics, what are the numbers of people using psychedelics like dmt and having serious lasting conditions? It seems very very low, all published data seems to indicate that. Specially doing a pre-screening (either by professionals or simply experienced trippers) and taking care of set and setting. Does anything in life have 0 risk?

How many people go psychotic after a relationship ending? It's pretty much the same in that sense, a strong experience that some people aren't able to handle.

The problem with these publications is if the authors are biased and make big leaps in their conclusions, and if this somehow sways public opinion even more against these substances in an unreasonable way. That being said, I haven't read this full paper so I don't know if that is the case (edit: just saw it was posted further above, gonna read it now). Also, it's important that we do get to hear of the cases where things went wrong, we can't ignore that, it's good to look at and learn from it if we can to avoid in the future.

I'm guessing if they had just kept him sober for 3 weeks he would have felt better....

The basic DSM diagnostic criteria are interesting, which he, according to the report, satisfied.

In this case we only have delusions, so the psychosis is not full bore "seeing and hearing" things.

Key for me is also the Rhabdomyolysis.

There are case histories of Rhabdomyolysis due to Mania, which is another word for what this guy had.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih....pmc/articles/PMC3039417/

Rhabd can be pretty serious, and can lead to renal failure. So, overall, not bad that he was treated.

Another interesting note is the fact that DMT cannot be urine screened, and can only be "reported" by the patient. Hmmm. How do the doctors deal with that.

So, overall, we have a delusional, manic episode in a troubled man. He has been diagnosed with OCD I see, which implicitly has a risk of mania.

Was the mania caused by DMT? Well the risk factor has to already be there. The personality with latent psychosis and delusional defenses has to already be there. The lack of care has already been there.

I feel for the guy and for the doctors who are probably not well trained when it comes to diagnosing personality disorder. They are more likely trained in some basic pharmacological psychiatry. Hence they search in the streetlight of "DMT" for the cause.

Maybe we could say that whatever it was that he smoked and the manic episode he went into led him to the distraught state he was in. I'm suspicious about the report that he bought it in the street, however. That does not make sense. There is no street DMT, is there?

He could have made it all up for all we know. A problem for the doctors if they cannot urine screen for a chemical. How do they know he smoked anything at all? He is delusional.

"the patient remained treatment compliant, as well as drug and symptom free...."

Ah yes, except for his quetiapine for psychosis, divalproex sodium (Depakote) for impulsivity, gabapentin for anxiety, and hydroxyzine for sleep! Go pharma, go!

Yup, we have a cure for psychedelic metanoia right here, it'll knock that ennui right outta ya!