What is abundently clear is that the protocol is highly effective but also difficult to administer correctly. More properly it should be administered in incremental doses through a series of sessions allowing the body and the mind to adjust and the shaman to observe the response.
This is super careful but we also know of no cumulative effects so this is safe enough. It is also likely to produce optimal results as well.
It takes time for the conscious mind to assimilate an experience like this.
.
Ayahuasca’s Medical Power Is Well Known. Now Science Can Back it Up
Gary, a London-based ayahuasca user, believes that ayahuasca
can alleviate depression. Before he started taking the South American
plant-based brew, he suffered from intense bouts of anxiety and panic
attacks.
“[Ayahuasca] is a very potent tool that shakes your
psyche up and puts it back together again [...] The first time I took it
I felt like I was dying,” said Gary, who requested his surname remain
anonymous. “It’s a radical means to fast-forward your self-development.”
Ayahuasca,
or “spirit vine” in Native American or Quechuan languages, is a brew
made out of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and DMT-containing leafs from
the Psychotria viridis bush, making it illegal in the UK and many other
countries. For centuries, shamans in South America have used it as a
religious sacrament. It is known for its ability to alter people’s
states of mind—inducing hallucinations and, sometimes, resurfacing
traumatic memories.
Over the years, many have touted ayahuasca for its abilities to cure everything from anxiety and depression to PTSD.
But until Brazilian researchers published a study
in the journal Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria (the Brazilian Journal
of Psychiatry) in March 2015, there was little clinical research to
support ayahuasca’s potential to alleviate mental illnesses such as
depression.
”Ayahuasca has been used therapeutically, in a broad
sense, by the indigenous and mestizo populations of Northwestern
Amazonia for centuries,” Rafael Guimarães dos Santos, a researcher from
the study, told me in an email. “Moreover, people around the world are
searching for ayahuasca rituals to improve their health.”
So far, observational studies of ayahuasca have been conducted in the field, and limited to deducing its effects on the brain using neural imaging.
Guimarães dos Santos explained that his research group aimed to support
the observational studies conducted on ayahuasca’s healing potential.
For
their study, the researchers administered ayahuasca to six volunteers
who suffered from depression, and who were not responding to
conventional pharmacotherapy treatments.
“In this small group of
patients, we observed fast-acting (starting in minutes/hours) and
enduring (until 21 days later) antidepressant and anxiolytic
[anxiety-inhibiting] effects associated with the administration of a
single ayahuasca dose,” explained Guimarães dos Santos. “We were
surprised to observe this rapid and possibly enduring anti-depressive
response with a single dose, and that most volunteers did not experience
intense psychedelic effects.”
The pilot study has been criticised for the lack of a placebo group
and the limited number of volunteers. However, Brian T. Anderson, a
physician and ayahuasca researcher in the department of psychiatry at
the University of California, said that though the study was small, it
marked an important step in scientifically exploring the plant brew’s
potential as a medical treatment.
“The idea of testing a substance
like ayahuasca to see if it can help with depression is something that
needs to be done using objective measures, and using the standardization
that comes with a biomedical study,” said Anderson.
The
suggestions of ayahuasca’s therapeutic potential is exciting. However,
both Anderson and Guimarães dos Santos said that it would be a long time
yet before it might become generally available.
Despite the
paucity in scientific research backing up the claims of ayahuasca’s
curative potentials, interest around the plant-brew continues to grow.
“The
motivation for people to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies is very
different from the general use of other drugs. People aren’t seeking a
novel experience, the whole seeking of ayahuasca is related to improving
their health and life,” said Benjamin De Loenen, the executive director
of the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research &
Service ICEERS, a non-profit dedicated to the safe use of traditional
plants. “We try and have all the information available to them, so that
they can make responsible decisions.”
UK government site Talk to Frank, which gives out confidential drug advice, warns people who have a history of mental health issues against the plant brew.
“DMT
could have serious implications for somebody who has a history of
mental health problems. It may also be responsible for triggering such a
problem in someone predisposed but unaware of this,” states the website.
At
present, Draulio de Araujo, a researcher from the Brain Institute of
the Federal University of Rio Grande, is conducting a larger, ongoing
clinical study with a group of 17 people on ayahuasca’s effects on
depression.
Meanwhile, some people are continuing to experiment
on their own. For Gary, who has taken ayahuasca hundreds of times since
1991, safe and well-informed consumption of the plant brew and its
surrounding cultural practices is key.
“I don’t think everybody
should be forcibly fed ayahuasca. You’ve got to be brave enough to do
it, and therefore, you’ve got to need it badly enough,” said Gary, who
experienced violent vomiting, and deeply introspective sessions on
ayahuasca. “I would like to see it made available all over the world,
but made available in the right contexts.”
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