Their research is timely. Thousands of people from around the world travel to the Amazon every year to drink ayahuasca for mental health conditions including alcoholism, depression, anxiety, PTSD, eating disorders, and drug addiction. Standish, a professor at the Bastyr University Research Institute in Seattle, is one of several scientists hoping more governments around the…
The study by José Carlos Bouso and others examined the brains of 22 long-term users of Ayahuasca. When their brains were measured for thickness in the posterior cingulate cortex it was found that they had reduced levels of brain activity in that region. This isn’t as bad as it sounds; this part of the brain…
Combat-related PTSD is notoriously difficult to treat and in theory ayahuasca can work as a form of drug-assisted exposure therapy. When traumatised people repeatedly avoid fear-inducing situations this only serves to maintain and reinforce the deeply ingrained conditioning that underlies their illness. The idea is that by dredging up traumatic memories and exposing them to…
Among volunteers who take ayahuasca for studies, scientists have documented a rise in certain key traits that mirror those of experienced meditators. These changes include increases in openness, optimism, and a particularly powerful ability known as decentering. At the end of a dark earthen trail in the Peruvian Amazon stands a round structure with a…
Three years later, Ric Godfrey says he hasn’t had a single symptom of the shakes or night terror since he came back from the jungle. He’s relaxed and holding down a great job. “I’ve always been afraid that someone was out to get me, but I don’t have that fear anymore,” he says. “I still…
J. Hamilton Hudson, a lawyer based in the US, and ayahuasca advocate which is dedicated to protecting those who use the drug for religious reasons, and counsels those who are concerned about crackdowns. Ayahuasca can be used positively when it is used as a sacrament. That is, used for divine communion within the context of…
“Observational studies have also indicated that long-term members of Brazilian ayahuasca religions have apparently recovered from depression, anxiety, and drug dependence (especially alcohol and cocaine).” Recent preliminary, open-label studies, or non placebo-controlled trials, on patients diagnosed with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder have been promising. These studies, led by Jaime Hallak from the University of São…
“What’s often overlooked is that ayahuasca powers an entire micro-tourism industry that has sprung up in the Amazon. Opportunistic shaman prey on naive Westerners for cash and compete with each other by sometimes using dangerous ingredients to create ever-stronger brews that will reel in customers that want more bang for their buck. People have died…
“Jessica Nielson, a University of California, San Francisco, neuroscientist who is leading the study, became interested in the potion after trying it herself following a difficult divorce and doubts about her career trajectory….U.S. Army veteran Asa Barrett tried antidepressant drugs and therapy to overcome depression and bouts of anger. Nothing worked. But then, like many…
“For those of us who work in addiction, our existing treatments are not impressive, they’re disappointing, and at a minimum, why not give this a try?” said Peter Hendricks, an addictions psychologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He’s in the middle of running a double blind clinical trial treating cocaine users with therapy coupled…
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