Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41967021›Full record

SynthesisJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2026

Efficacy of N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) psychedelic therapy for substance misuse: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Lisa M Wallace, Andrea Bujor, Gustavo Sudre, Mark Kennedy, Diana-Elena Bahnareanu, Khushi Mittal

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Lisa M WallaceInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0009-0001-5432-0689
Andrea BujorInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0009-0003-3359-6146
Gustavo SudreDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5949-5413
Mark KennedyDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0545-8315
Diana-Elena BahnareanuInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0009-0003-6398-617X
Khushi MittalInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0009-0001-3875-4487

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundConventional psychological and pharmacological substance abuse treatments are limited to moderate effect sizes and fail to magnify outcomes when combined. Analog psychedelic agents N, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) show therapeutic potential for treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders including substance addictions.

methodsThis systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized DMT intervention studies (1960-2024) across PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and EBSCO databases, calculating pooled effects for substance use reduction. Subgroup sensitivity analyses examined the impacts of psychotherapy, population type, and treatment design on outcomes.

resultsDMT yielded a large overall effect size for substance abuse reduction (

conclusionWhen combined, available studies demonstrate DMT's potentially substantial post-treatment efficacy for substance misuse, particularly with psychotherapy. Effect magnitudes vary by abused substances. Included studies had substantial methodological limitations and high risk of bias. Reported effects should therefore be interpreted as preliminary rather than indicative of established efficacy. Furthermore, the use of exploratory subgroup analyses in this review can only conclude that DMT efficacy for treating alcohol and substance abuse disorders is highly heterogeneous, depending on study and treatment design. If sustained positive results are clearly demonstrated in future research, it might position DMT-assisted psychotherapy as an effective, economical alternative to conventional treatments.

Indexed as

HallucinogensN,N-DimethyltryptamineSubstance-Related DisordersHumansPsychotherapyTreatment OutcomeHallucinogensN,N-Dimethyltryptamine5-MeO-DMT5-methoxy-Naddictionalcohol use disordercannabis use disordercocaine use disorderDMTNN-dimethyltryptaminepsychedelicpsychedelic-assisted psychotherapypsychedelic-assisted therapypsychotherapysubstance abusesubstance use disorder

Identifiers

PMID41967021
PMCPMC13415906

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.