The original scale has high internal consistency (coefficient alpha ranging from 0.79 to 0.89) and good test-retest correlations (up to 0.84 with one-month interval; Diener et al., 1985). “The anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues were dragging me down. Some believe that ayahuasca may effectively treat social or mental disorders and addiction. It can also be a valuable tool in psychotherapy to improve your mental health and overall well-being. Besides certain drug interactions, others also blame poor shamanistic supervision. Some people tend to stray or experience adverse reactions that can potentially lead to harm during the ceremony.
That said, it could also be that highly motivated people with a positive attitude were attracted to participate, hence generalisation towards the general population is difficult for this type of studies. For instance, future placebo-controlled experimental studies could investigate potential non-pharmacological influences, while future longitudinal naturalistic research could further investigate the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs. The primary aim of the present study was to assess sub-acute and long-term impact of ayahuasca use on affect and cognitive thinking style. A total of 57 visitors of ayahuasca ceremonies in Colombia and the Netherlands consented to participate in this observational study and were asked to complete subjective questionnaires and a creative thinking task prior to an ayahuasca ceremony, the day after, and about 4 weeks later.
Baseline and sub-acute assessments were conducted on-site whereas the 4-week follow-up was conducted online. Relative to baseline, ratings of depression and stress significantly decreased after the ayahuasca ceremony and these changes persisted for at least 4 weeks. Likewise, convergent thinking improved after the ayahuasca ceremony even at the 4-week follow-up. Satisfaction with life and several aspects of mindfulness increased the day after the ceremony, but these changes failed to reach significance 4 weeks after.
Personal intakes were done by a naturopathic doctor that screened participants for their motivation, medicine use, and medical and psychological history. Participants on antidepressant medication or with an anxiety disorder were not allowed to participate. Only 2.3% of participants reported physical adverse events required medical attention for this issue. Among all participants, 55% also reported adverse mental health effects, including hearing or seeing things (28.5%), feeling disconnected or alone (21.0%), and having nightmares or disturbing thoughts (19.2%). Overall, acute physical health adverse effects were reported in the ayahuasca dangers study by 69.9% of the sample, with the most common effects being vomiting and nausea (68.2% of participants), headache (17.8%) and abdominal pain (12.8%).
Ayahuasca may also be beneficial for people with substance use disorders, according to several studies. The findings of a 2017 study in mice suggest that harmine, the primary beta-carboline in ayahuasca, may have neuroprotective and cognitive-enhancing effects because it reduces inflammation and oxidative stress. They use it to treat physical issues and mental problems, as well as to deal with spiritual crises.
Associations between adverse physical effects, history of use, and clinical variables
None of the participants were currently on any medication that could affect their ayahuasca intake. In total, 11 participants reported they had no experience with ayahuasca (40.7%). Nineteen participants (70.4%) reported having had experience with other entheogenic drugs in the past.
Ayahuasca drug practices can hardly be assessed with the same parameters used for prescription medicines – since most ayahuasca dangers include challenging experiences that are intrinsic to the experience, some of which are considered as part of its ‘healing process’. Additionally, Ayahuasca can be dangerous if it’s taken with other substances like antidepressants, psychiatric medications, drugs for Parkinson’s disease, cough medicines, weight loss medications, and more. People with mental disorders or a history of mental illness like schizophrenia should avoid using Ayahuasca, as it can worsen symptoms and cause mania.
Dangers of Ayahuasca: Bad Side Effects
Other research supports this evidence, suggesting that a single dose of ayahuasca may produce a rapid antidepressant effect in people with treatment-resistant depression. People in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil have used ayahuasca as a healing medicine or as part of religious ceremonies or tribal rituals for thousands of years. Traditional healers in several South American countries use the tea for its reported healing properties. We would like to thank the ceremony organizers for allowing us to collect data at their ceremonies, and all participants for their time and effort.
Sample characteristics
Bias is commonly reflected in these kinds of studies in answers regarding positive effects, but this seems not to be the case in this study based on the high prevalence of adverse effects reported. Another limitation is the unknown combination of the plant materials used in ayahuasca brews consumed by the sample, meaning that it is not possible to consider the impact of this variable on adverse effects. Finally, although the sample included participants from more than 20 countries, the participants from twelve steps of alcoholics anonymous Latin American countries, including Brazil especially, were over-represented, which could affect the results. However, the sample could also be considered a real representation of ayahuasca users’ global distribution.
Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being
- It should be noted that ayahuasca-induced changes in mindfulness were much smaller than changes in symptoms of depression and stress.
- While there is a high rate of adverse physical effects and challenging psychological effects from using ayahuasca, they are not generally severe, and most ayahuasca ceremony attendees continue to attend ceremonies, suggesting they perceive the benefits as outweighing any adverse effects.
- This study found a relationship between using ayahuasca in non-religious settings and experiencing adverse effects, however, this could be due to the characteristics of users in each context.
- The number of correctly detected associations increased with 9% sub-acutely and with 29% at the 4-week follow-up.
Jesse Gould, an Army Ranger who did three combat deployments in Afghanistan, was dealing with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The U.S. Controlled Substances Act classified DMT as a Schedule I drug in 1970. Schedule I drugs have no medicinal value, carry a high potential for abuse, and are highly illegal.
Both the alignment process and the strengthening of social ties are aspects that allow non-native users, when they attend ayahuasca ceremonies, to find better health as a result [10, 11]. While there is a high rate of adverse physical famous people who died from alcoholism effects and challenging psychological effects from using ayahuasca, they are not generally severe, and most ayahuasca ceremony attendees continue to attend ceremonies, suggesting they perceive the benefits as outweighing any adverse effects. Knowing what variables might predict eventual adverse effects may serve in screening of, or providing additional support for, vulnerable subjects. Improved understanding of the ayahuasca risk/benefit balance can also assist policy makers in decisions regarding potential regulation and public health responses. Subjective ratings of stress and depression significantly decreased by 36 and 46% respectively during the day after the ayahuasca ceremony. Ratings of stress and depression remained significantly lower throughout the following month, suggesting that a single ayahuasca ceremony can bring about changes in affect that last for a prolonged period of time.
Multifaceted Empathy Test
Ayahuasca experience ratings were analyzed separately using a one-sample t-test comparing the scores on each VAS after ceremony to a zero distribution since previous studies have shown that placebo scores are low, not rising above a 0 in a scale from 0 to 100 (Valle et al., 2016). In the context of such experiences, it is not surprising otc xanax that a process of psychological integration and assimilation may be required. Furthermore, ayahuasca is not considered just a psychotherapeutic practice, but also a spiritual one. According to some spiritual traditions, the gaining of such spiritual insight will also involve initiates facing certain challenges. The duration of these effects depends on the dose taken or how potent the brew is.
We did not collect data regarding how long the reported physical adverse events lasted nor the degree of severity. For the subsample of those participants who had drunk ayahuasca only once, although the frequency of each adverse effect was lower, the pattern of the adverse effects’ frequency observed was quite similar to the observed in all the sample. However, 2.3% of participants reportedly required medical attention for the physical adverse effects experienced. These results are consistent with previous studies, with regular users reporting that most adverse physical effects seem to not be serious and do not compromise health [52, 57]. Acute adverse physical health effects were obtained via a checkbox question with 10 specified options, plus “other”, asking if any of these physical health issues had ever been experienced “during or soon after an ayahuasca ceremony/session”. Individuals selecting any physical health issue were then asked if medical attention was required for that issue.