I don't believe any of these substances will ever be approved for legal medical use. They just seem to unpredictable and can cause as much harm as healing.
If these things are unpredictable it’s likely because they simply haven’t been studied in a medical context. At the very least it’s reasonably clear that long-term and debilitating side effects are generally exceedingly rare.
More people than you probably expect die from tylenol.
Getting out of depression or other severe conditions is hard, whether using psychedelics or SSRI. Take care of yourself so you don't get there in the first place.
Sorry but this is a very ignorant perspective in my opinion. Psychedelics are wildly ubpredictable in their effects, even those that have been extensively studied, like LSD. You cannot predict how an individual will respond.
This is also true of many prescription meds.
I’m assuming that you’re talking about NN-DMT. It can definitely shake up the foundations of your world view, especially if not taken with the right set and setting.
I don’t think it’s as common with the pure form, but there is a slight possibility of it revealing some underlying emotional issues. There are plenty of functional professionals who carry some significant childhood traumas and issues that may bubble up to the surface through these experiences.
From what I gather, this person took the DMT in a therapeutic set/setting.
But I doubt that DMT alone would cause the problems in your friend, as NN-DMT is endogenous, it's created in your pineal gland and is thought to have a role in REM sleep. If it was smoked instead of ingested (ayahuasca) then it's metabolized quite rapidly and the trip lasts only about 10 minutes. I'd probably never do the ayahuasca form, as it's a far longer trip and can be difficult to handle (so I've heard). Smoked DMT is really easy in comparison, but can also be very intense.
Modern medicine is irreplacable but relying solely on medication is a pitfall of modern treatment. It turns out, for example, that chronic pain and depression are interlinked. A messed up neurochemical balance contributes to the erroneous interpretation of signals by the brain as pain (even when no bodily damage exists anymore). So what I'm saying is that while it may seem pointless initially to do that which falls flat in the estimation of a depressed mind (say due to anhedonia) those brief but regular walks in the park contribute to re-stabilization of neurotransmitters along with the medication.