Researchers at Imperial College London have published promising results from a clinical trial of DMT — dimethyltryptamine, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound — as a treatment for major depressive disorder. The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, add a significant new data point to the rapidly growing body of evidence for psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Roughly one in three people with depression does not respond adequately to conventional antidepressants, leaving millions of people worldwide without effective treatment. The study's 34 participants all had moderate-to-severe depression, and were randomly assigned to receive either a single intravenous dose of synthetic DMT alongside psychological support, or a placebo. Two weeks after treatment, those who had received the active compound showed meaningfully greater reductions in depression symptoms than the placebo group, as measured using a standard clinical questionnaire.
What makes DMT especially interesting in the psychedelic therapy landscape is its speed. Unlike psilocybin, which produces an experience lasting several hours, the DMT-induced psychedelic state lasted approximately 25 minutes — making it far more practical for clinical settings, and potentially more cost-effective. For some participants in the trial, the antidepressant effects persisted for up to six months after that single session.
Lead investigator Dr David Erritzoe from Imperial's Department of Brain Sciences described the results as holding "great promise" for DMT as a treatment, while stressing that larger trials are needed before the approach could be approved for clinical use. No serious adverse events were reported during the study.