[Solved] 5-MeO-DMT vs psilocybin vs DMT

You cannot answer the question so easily without specifying which dosage and form of administration you are referring to. Smoked or vaped DMT and 5-MeO-DMT are both short-lived and potent. Oral DMT in ayahuasca, on the other hand, has a much longer duration of action because the MAO inhibition makes DMT orally active. In science, a single dose of ayahuasca is described as an experience that often lasts 4 to 6 hours, whereas inhaled or bolus DMT (injection or infusion) typically peaks within minutes and usually wears off largely after about 30 minutes.

So is 5-MeO-DMT really “stronger” than DMT and psilocybin?

Not necessarily. What is usually meant is that 5-MeO-DMT is very potent per milligram and often causes a rapid, very radical dissolution of the sense of self. However, that does not automatically mean that it is always “deeper” than a high dose of psilocybin or a heavy ayahuasca experience. With 5-MeO-DMT, the combination of very rapid onset, high intensity, and often less substantive or visual complexity plays a major role in why people perceive it as extreme. As a result, 5-MeO-DMT is also more often seen as relatively strong when it comes to ego dissolution, whereas DMT is more often described as rich in images, entities, and complex visionary content.

A high dose of psilocybin has a long-lasting effect.

Psilocybin can increase the likelihood of ego-death experiences and mystical intensity in a dose-dependent manner. High doses can therefore certainly lead to an ego-death that subjectively feels just as overwhelming or even deeper than short-acting tryptamines, only the build-up is different. Instead of an explosive launch, you are more likely to experience a prolonged dismantling of the ordinary self, with much more time spent in the self-state. Classic dose-effect studies with psilocybin also show that higher dosages much more frequently induce full mystical or self-boundary-dissolving experiences. Dosage therefore plays an important role.

And ayahuasca can go just as deep.

As soon as DMT is made orally active through MAO inhibition, not only the duration but often the form of the experience changes as well. DMT then becomes less of a brief lightning strike and more of a longer process, which in some cases actually provides more room for the complete disintegration of the sense of self. This means that a deep ayahuasca experience can fall absolutely in the same order as a high dose of psilocybin in terms of ego death, only with a different physical and pharmacological profile.

So what works 'best''

If you ask for the most abrupt and starkest form of ego death in a short time, vaped 5-MeO-DMT likely remains the strongest candidate. If you ask for the longest and possibly equally powerful, or sometimes even heavier, ego dissolution, high-dose psilocybin and ayahuasca can certainly come alongside or surpass it, precisely because you stay in it much longer. And if you ask for a very deep breakthrough with a lot of visual and phenomenological content, DMT is often a better fit than 5-MeO-DMT.

The conclusion

5-MeO-DMT is not simply “the strongest” in an absolute sense, but it is often the fastest build-up to an egoless state. Psilocybin and ayahuasca can go just as deep at higher doses or with a strong response, but they last much longer and therefore produce a different kind of ego death. So the best substance for ego death depends less on a ranking and more on whether you are looking for sudden annihilation, prolonged dissolution, or a visionary breakthrough.

One more important nuance

Subjective intensity is determined not only by the substance and dose, but also by set, setting, breathing, surrender, prior experience, expectations, and individual sensitivity. Consequently, someone on a high dose of psilocybin can “disappear” further than another person on 5-MeO-DMT. This makes a universal answer virtually impossible. The best formulation is therefore: different substances can cause ego death, but they do so through different dynamics.