I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. After many years of taking more psychedelics than I can keep track of, I have never ever felt like my "soul has been sucked dry" afterwards (except after one traumatic trip, but that was because I'd put myself through hell). On the contrary, many of my trips have left me with an afterglow, a sense of refreshment or rejuvenation. And I'm talking about non-DMT compounds.
Just because Rick Strassman made the wild claim that DMT is the "spirit molecule", doesn't mean that it is. And it's insane to think that it's the only psychedelic which can catalyze positive changes in you. Psychedelics are psychedelics. Any other fanciful notions we attach to them are just in our minds.
I used to get afterglows, but these days I'm just depressed after coming off. Might very well be due to the fact that the few instances in which I've still used long lasting psychedelics have either been unintentional doses (don't ask), or have happened towards the tail end of my episode of massive psychedelics abuse. I've had times when I tripped daily for weeks. Skeletal muscle hypertension got increasingly worse throughout those years and these days my body jsut feels violated as soon as effects begin to faded. I tried all kinds of stretching exercises, free-flowing yoga type stuff etc. Tried to work it out on a fucntional level somehow, but never had much success and like I said, it just got worse and worse up to a point where I can't take the stuff anymore without feeling brutally violated for days. Same goes for the psychological level, though I suspect this would be different if I was actually opening myself for change when I trip. I'd still love to have a full-blown "change-inducing" experience every now and then, but it's not gonna happen before I'm in that mindspace where the time is right for change. Otherwise, depreshing crushes me as soon as I come off. The afterglow used to last weeks at first, especially after my first acid trips, but also during my mushroom honeymoon phase it'd still be very desirable and lasting several days. Eventually this came to an end and only mescaline managed to bring back such an afterglow a couple of times.
Now your overall tone seems very offensive if I may say so. You are making assumptions that seem to be emit solely from your own mind's expectations.
A I've never read any books or papers by Strassman. Not a single one.
B I've never said other psychedelic cannot induce change. Though ultimately I don't think any drug induces real change in itself. DMT doesn't and neither does any other psychedelic. We are the ones that bring change into our lives.
That being said, DMT still holds a very special position amongst psychedelics. Not only to me in a sentimental fashion, which surely is the case, but also because of it's occurence in nature, and it's most remarkable pharmacologic profile (which really shouldn't be debated in this thread I guess, but the fact that all evidence seems to suggest it's the most important endogenous ligand for the sigma-1 receptor alone should be noteworthy). Oh right and a growing religious community utilizes it and has received permission in numerous nations to do so. I don't see why DMT should be looked at in the same way as other psychedelics IF that was what you were trying to suggest. Each substance deserves some attention in itself and should never be assumed to have an identitcal activity pharmacologic profile as another of course, but in the case of DMT... I don't even look at my occasional DMT use as problematic opposed to all other recreational/performance enhancing drugs I use or abuse. For me personally, it just takes a very special place, because it makes me feel refreshed and healthy on every level imaginable and other psychedelics don't. Simple as that, was all I was saying. I don't make that statement by choice, it's not forced, but it's describing exactly what I've experienced over and over and over again.