What Is DMT? Details About Jay Alvarrez's 'Deep Mind Trance' Experiment
DMT: Deep Mind Trance or psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine?
instagram Self-made social media influencer Jay Alvarrez is trying something different, which, in a new Instagram post, he called a "Deep Mind Trance," or DMT. But what is DMT?
The 23-year-old Alvarrez dropped out of school when he was 11 and since then has gained millions of followers across his social media accounts. His Instagram alone has nearly six million followers who watch him travel around the world — often to beach havens similar to his native Hawaii — and model.
On Monday night he posted about a new adventure he’ll be embarking on: an adventure of the mind. The post consists of a close-up portrait of the star and four screenshots of text explaining his “self-experiment.”
Alvarrez explained he will be doing a meditation called “Deep Mind Trance," adding in a sneaky parenthetical that he will refer to it as “DMT for short.”
Many of his fans commented on the post saying they are on board with the experiment… but some questioned his word (or abbreviation) choice. One user commented, “After reading all you wrote, I still can’t tell if you’re doing a meditation or actual DMT. Excited to see what you come up with either way bro.” Another user said, “[Alvarrez] can’t explicitly talk about drug use with as many followers as he has. But he’s talking about DMT lol you can look thru the other comments it’s [very] obvious.”
Alvarrez never outright said he is doing the drug DMT. There are, however, hints in his replies in the comments. In reply to a user, he said, “100% HPPD [hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, in which someone who has used hallucinogens has flashbacks to that experience] can come and go over time and it has for me as well.”
What is DMT—the drug, and Alvarrez’s “Deep Mind Trance”? Here are the facts, and how the two match up.
1. DMT is a psychedelic drug.
Short for dimethyltryptamine, DMT is a naturally-occurring drug. It can be smoked or injected. Inhalation is usually how it’s taken, and works very quickly. Orally, DMT is often combined with an MAOI (or Monoamine oxidase inhibitor) to be effective. The high can take a while to kick in but can last for hours.
Like other psychedelic drugs, such as LSD, DMT can lead to spiritual experiences, euphoria, and hallucinations, along with fear and paranoia. Overall, it alters the user’s perception of reality.
"This state... cannot be described with words," a DMT user told Business Insider. "It's a state where you exist in your purest form, [a state] of deep peace and happiness. This world is beyond cool to look at, and it just so seems that this is the place where we all came from, which is awesome."
2. Alvarrez hopes to go deeper into the meaning of life.
Through his daily "meditation," Alvarrez wrote that he wants to discover more about huge human concepts. He plans on focusing on a topic each day and posting what he learns on Instagram. "I’ll be trying to destroy my ego and let DMT take control of my consciousness," the influencer wrote.
According to his description, the topics he's interested in include “who are we, what are we, what are we inside of, what is time, what is our purpose, Love & connections, trauma & ancestor trauma.” Alvarrez said he will have to censor his revelations a bit in his posts since the world is “very curated and sensitive to reality.”
3. DMT has a long history, starting in the Amazon basin.
Business Insider reported that research into the drug started with Hungarian chemist Stephen Szara in the 1950s. Not only was it found to exist in many plants, but also in mammals. That includes humans — according to research, DMT seems to be synthesized in the lungs, as well as the brain’s pineal gland. Research on the drug is limited, however, since it is illegal.
Recreational DMT use did not start in the 50s. It had been used for centuries in South America by indigenous people. Ayahuasca is a brew used as traditional medicine in ceremonies. It is made with a liana, B. caapi, which contains MAOIs, often along with a shrub, Psychotria viridis, which contains DMT.
4. Alvarrez is “in Peru,” where indigenous people consume DMT.
Though there is no evidence the world traveler is actually in Peru, Alvarrez set the location of the post in the South American country. He posted a picture of himself surfing on his personal account on Tuesday with no location set.
Perhaps, with the help of Jay Alvarrez, 2018 will end up being the year of realizing stuff.
Alison Cerri is an editorial intern at YourTango. When she's not writing, she can be found on a run or at rugby practice. Follow her on Instagram.