These lower levels of depression persisted for 4 weeks after the ceremony. Other research supports this evidence, suggesting that a single dose of ayahuasca may produce a rapid antidepressant effect in people with treatment-resistant depression. This antidepressant effect persists for several weeks. Ayahuasca may also help treat anxiety and mood disorders, according to a review of six studies. A research paper suggests that ayahuasca may be beneficial for people with PTSD.
It helps with the retrieval of repressed memories, which paves the way for the brain to reprogram or extinguish the associated fear response. However, more research in this area is necessary to establish the safety and effectiveness of ayahuasca for people experiencing PTSD. Ayahuasca may also be beneficial for people with substance use disorders, according to several studies. A small study involving 12 people with psychological and behavioral issues arising from substance misuse took part in two ayahuasca ceremonies as part of a 4 day treatment program.
After 6 months, the participants continued to report positive and lasting changes. They also showed improvements in their overall quality-of-life scores, mindfulness, and sense of empowerment and hope. The participants also reported a significant reduction in their use of alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine, but the use of cannabis and opiates did not change. Supporting this idea, further evidence also suggests that there are beneficial effects of ayahuasca for those with tobacco and alcohol dependence.
Nonetheless, the reviewers call for further research into this area. A study suggests that lifetime psychedelic use can lower levels of suicidal ideation. The study reports that ayahuasca shows promise as a form of treatment for a wide range of mental health issues that may contribute to suicidal ideation. Ayahuasca might, therefore, have potential in suicide intervention, but more research is necessary to confirm this.
While some research highlights the potential benefits of ayahuasca, it is important to note that most of these studies were small scale, and some took place in animals or test tubes. Researchers also carefully prepare and control the brews of ayahuasca that they use, but this is not always the case outside of clinical trials. There are some serious side effects of ayahuasca use, including death. People may experience temporary symptoms shortly after drinking the brew, including:.
Ayahuasca can also interact with several medications, herbs, and medical conditions, and these effects can sometimes be severe. People should not use ayahuasca if they are taking:. People with schizophrenia or other mental health disorders should also avoid taking ayahuasca. The brew may increase heart rate and blood pressure , which could be problematic for individuals with heart problems. In some cases , drinking ayahuasca has resulted in death. Often, this has been because the drink contained other substances.
If an untrained person prepares the brew, this may increase the risk of serious adverse outcomes. It is important that people with mental health disorders seek treatment only from a qualified medical professional.
While both ayahuasca and magic mushrooms have hallucinogenic properties, there are differences between the two substances. Perhaps most crucially, the psychoactive ingredients are different. Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin rather than the DMT and beta-carbolines in ayahuasca brews. Many people describe the effects of both substances as similar but not the same. Each person will react differently, however. In one survey , users indicated that ayahuasca had a stronger effect than magic mushrooms but also that its negative effects were higher.
However, users rated the comedown of ayahuasca as less than that of magic mushrooms. Ayahuasca users also reported less of an urge for repeat use in comparison with magic mushroom users. It is important to note that the potential health benefits of ayahuasca result from the effects of its active ingredients. Tobacco smoke is used prior to and throughout the ayahuasca ceremony to aid in the healing and purification process. Tobacco leaves are a common admixture to ayahuasca.
When the B. The interpreter relayed this information to the shamans, who then smiled and nodded. The interpreter told me they said the ayahuasca was good for me, and that I should participate in another ceremony.
Most of the participants expressed similar concerns. They were not expecting such a violent purging. Actually, few people ever admit to having a pleasant experience with ayahuasca. Later I was to learn that the reason people submit themselves to this harsh experience is the relevance of the hallucinations for personal growth Kensinger, From their staccato banter of the shamans, I recognized another word — frio — cold.
I accompanied Don Jose in the jungle as he gathered the vine. I was told to drink a small glass of the tincture each morning and evening, followed immediately by a shower. However, the shamans said drinking the chirisanango would prevent me from taking ayahuasca again for the next few days.
I was not sure why at the time, but I waited to drink the chirisanango until later. Instead, I decided to try ayahuasca again. My experiences were similar to the first time, although not as intense. The day after an ayahuasca ceremony, the participants normally sit together with the shamans to talk about their experiences. It is here that the shaman tells what he saw in your body or spirit during the ceremony, and offers help, suggestions, or more healing.
Interestingly, the shamans respond to the questions and descriptions of each ayahuasca journey with surprisingly practical answers. I learned from my ayahuasca experiences and my survey of other ayahuasca pilgrims that North Americans and Europeans often ask questions of a personal growth or spiritual nature. The shamans on my trip struggled with these questions, as they were accustomed to providing answers to more practical matters such as illness, money, and relationship problems.
Finding people who made the journey to the Amazon for ayahuasca was difficult. After over six weeks, I connected with only twelve people willing to speak about their ayahuasca experiences in the jungle. I connected with the remaining ten people by networking through a local friend, Ed Lilly. Ed and I had worked together, and were in the same group when I first experienced ayahuasca in the jungle. Ed has been to the Amazon five times and participated in at least eighteen ayahuasca ceremonies, so he was able to put me in contact with a few people who were willing to speak about their experiences.
It is important to keep in mind this is not large sample. The information presented represents the opinions and data given me by people who were willing and eager to speak of their experiences. Not represented in this survey were people who went to the Amazon strictly on their own as did the early researchers and some educated curiosity seekers.
Many of these people went on to write about their experiences and several are cited in this paper. The growing demand for finding new and exotic drug experiences in foreign lands, known as drug tourism, leads people in increasing numbers to ayahuasca Dobkin de Rios, According to one trip leader, most of these people are disappointed with the physically demanding ayahuasca experience, and usually do not repeat the experience.
Charlatans — self-proclaimed healers using ayahuasca without having undergone an apprenticeship and often without scruples — abound in cities near the Amazon. Some ayahuasceros usually mestizos practicing ayahuasca shamanism fall into this category, charging tourists hefty sums of money and giving them ayahuasca without proper preparation or guidance Bear, At least one trip leader from the United States falls into this category, advertising trips to the Amazon to sample various hallucinogenic plants and substances.
Interviewing these people would be difficult due to their reasons for trying ayahuasca, and therefore they are difficult to locate. As for the ayahuasca analogue users, they do not meet the purpose of this paper — to answer questions on why people go to the Amazon to do ayahuasca. According to my interview with trip leader Jaya Bear, there is at least one drug addiction treatment facility in Peru using ayahuasca to help get people off highly addictive drugs Bear, Below is a sample of the response form used to collect data from the people I contacted.
Of course, many more questions could have been posed, but not within the scope of this paper. The results are laid out in a table format similar to the response form, followed by discussion on relevant answers to the questions posed initially. The question is stated, followed by the response, and then the number of people giving that response. The four main reasons given by respondents to my survey were the same as my own reasons for making this journey: self-exploration and spiritual growth, curiosity, physical and emotional healing, and the desire for a vacation to an exotic location.
The yearning for personal growth and healing appears to be the central motivation for most people who participated in ayahuasca ceremonies. They learned about ayahuasca by word of mouth, usually through an acquaintance stating positive results from their experiences, and became intrigued and curious. An interest in shamanism appeared in two responses.
One respondent said he was in training to become a shaman, and spent over five months studying under a shaman in the Peruvian Amazon. The results were overwhelmingly positive with respondents claiming many beneficial changes in their lives after taking ayahuasca. Two respondents claimed no results since they were not goal oriented. For them, ayahuasca is a process or journey, not a destination.
That may explain the greater number of times they choose to do ayahuasca. Everyone was satisfied with the results, with everyone planning to do it again and half having definite plans to repeat the experiences in the Amazon in the near future.
Based on this, perhaps ayahuasca is a process for all of the respondents. It is important to note again that the original name for the harmaline and harmine alkaloids found in the B. I mentioned the vision to the other participants on the day after the ceremony, and they were able to describe the woman before I finished! Apparently, we all saw the same woman, who the shamans later told us was the female spirit known as ayahuasca.
The alien connection to ayahuasca is commonly reported by people who already believe in extraterrestrial life, and Terrence McKenna tells of a UFO sighting in his book True Hallucinations.
The shamans leading the ayahuasca ceremonies in which I participated said they had traveled in alien space ships and spoke with aliens during their ayahuasca journeys. Although not among the responses to my survey, there are many anecdotal stories of physical healing through ayahuasca with cancer remissions being the most common. One of the people answering my questions claimed partial relief from a lingering illness, while another said the stress in his life had disappeared for a while after returning.
Several people spoke of internal cleansing through the cathartic action of ayahuasca. As mentioned earlier, intense purging may help rid the body of internal parasites. Reports of the loss of pride and ego after facing intense personal fears are common, and two respondents mentioned these results.
I faced the terrifying fear of dying more than once during ayahuasca experiences. Shaman Don Augustin Rivas says that he has died many times during ayahuasca ceremonies. This may explain the some of the major paradigm shifts experienced by most ayahuasca users. Due to the limited sample and the difficulty in getting in touch with people who have tried ayahuasca, this data is difficult to interpret.
Some of the data appears to have no pattern or correlation. Location, marital status, and religion did not appear to show any significance. I expected educational levels to be high, but almost half the respondents had only high school diplomas. I must add here that these apparently intelligent individuals were well educated in other ways, with one studying to become a shaman, and the others self- employed. I expected most people answering my survey questions would be leading alternative lifestyles and would be involved in unusual work.
Instead, I found them to be quite ordinary people in areas such as occupation and marital status. Although I found more males attended ayahuasca ceremonies at one time the ceremonies were limited to males , half of trip leaders are female. In my interview with two of these leaders, they saw increasing numbers of females coming to the ceremonies. Several responses appear to have some significance. Most ayahuasca participants surveyed are: between 31 and 60 years of age, white, of Scots Irish, English, or Northern European extraction, and earn at least a middle income.
Most of them are involved in some kind of self-help or personal growth, they have previous experience with hallucinogenic plants, and most practice some kind of meditation.
All respondents said they no longer strictly adhere to the religious affiliation of their upbringing, and often described their belief system as one of their own creation. This may be one of the reasons they use ayahuasca, and do not seek spiritual growth through traditional religions. Although almost half of the respondents claimed to have some Native American ancestry, there were no African Americans, Asians, or Hispanics in my sample.
I asked several people interviewed, including two trip leaders, if they knew of anyone in either if these categories who went to the Amazon to do ayahuasca. Only two Hispanics were known to have participated in ayahuasca ceremonies, with one of these being a trip leader and shaman himself.
What does this mean? I asked two trip leaders this question. One was not sure, and the other said that at this time in history some groups of people were too busy with other important issues such freedom and equality.
Ayahuasca and the ayahuasca ceremony have been described as means to contact the spirit world for guidance, healing, and personal growth. Although the chemical action of some of the components of ayahuasca are understood it is through the synergistic actions of the plants, the shamans, and what the individuals bring to the ceremony that results in the ayahuasca experience. The survey seems to indicate mostly white, middle class, middle aged people with some knowledge or experience of hallucinogenic plants and non-traditional religious views are going to the Amazon to participate in Ayahuasca ceremonies.
From these pilgrimages, they are able to achieve paradigm shifts allowing healing at the spiritual, emotional, and physical level. But why ayahuasca? Why not psychotherapy, church, alcohol, or Prozac? Although I did not ask the respondents if they had tried these approaches, I suspect they have rejected them.
Combined with an explorative curiosity, a strong desire for personal growth, and a fair amount of courage they are attracted to the ayahuasca experience. Malcolm B, Lee K. Ayahuasca: An ancient sacrament for treatment of contemporary psychiatric illness? Mental Health Clinician. Ayahuasca, an ancient substance with traditional and contemporary use in neuropsychiatry and neuroscience. Long-term use of psychedelic drugs is associated with differences in brain structure and personality in humans.
European neuropharmacology. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. Assessment of addiction severity among ritual users of ayahuasca. Drug and alcohol dependence. More at the ADF Library. View the Drug Wheel. Last updated: 10 Nov
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