Based on between adverse effects correlations, the factorial analysis performed regarding the ayahuasca adverse physical effects was performed using g6pd food to avoid a varimax rotation procedure, and the mental health adverse effects was performed using a promax rotation procedure. Only one subject met some criteria for a new psychiatric diagnostic, specifically for GAD, after using ayahuasca for the first time. There are several reports regarding adverse effects of ayahuasca, leading some of them to psychiatric diagnoses29.
Ayahuasca and Public Health II: Health Status in a Large Sample of Ayahuasca-Ceremony Participants in the Netherlands
The highest completed level of education was higher vocational education (70%), high school (16.7%), a scientific education (10%), or elementary school (3.3%). None of the participants were currently on any medication that could have affected their ayahuasca intake. In total, 13 participants reported they had no previous experience with ayahuasca (43.3%). Twenty participants (66.7%) reported having had experience with other entheogenic drugs in the past, whereas 10 participants (33.3%) reported they had no experience with other entheogenic drugs. The ayahuasca ceremonies in the Netherlands were held in a tipi outside or in a fetal alcohol syndrome celebrities big hotel room.
- Thus, the study of the indirect effects and mediation structures between the studied variables could help us to improve our knowledge about the ayahuasca adverse effects and their relationships with context variables.
- We furthermore expected that ayahuasca-induced changes would still be present 4 weeks after the ceremony as compared to baseline.
- Although ayahuasca is considered a hallucinogen, traditional cultures have used it throughout history not to escape from reality, but to better adapt to it 6, 7.
- The participants were not affiliated to any ayahuasca religion (e.g., União do Vegetal, or Santo Daime).
Acute antidepressant effect of ayahuasca in juvenile non-human primate model of depression
Increments in convergent thinking may therefore coincide with improvements in mindfulness that were observed in the present sample of ayahuasca users. 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. Antidepressant properties of ayahuasca are not unexpected given that ayahuasca brews contain β-carboline alkaloids that act as MAO-A inhibitors which are known for their antidepressant actions (Finberg and Rabey 2016).
No other subjects met the criteria for a psychiatric disorder, as only 3 subjects met the criteria at the 6-months follow-up. Overall, adverse health effects were reported by nearly 70% of participants with the most common effects maverick sober living being vomiting and nausea, headache, and abdominal pain. About 2% of participants who reported adverse physical events required medical attention.
A subgroup analysis was conducted involving only the sub-study 1 subjects who met psychiatric diagnostic criteria and comparing them with the sub-study 2 sample. The interview and questionnaires were administered before ayahuasca-naïve subjects attended their first ayahuasca ceremony. One-month and 6-months follow-up were conducted in order to observe potential changes in variables assessed. However, of all respondents identifying these mental health effects, 87.6% believed they were completely or somewhat part of a positive growth process. Of the more than 10,000 people who completed the Global Ayahuasca Survey, about 70% of the participants experienced physical side effects while using the substance, with nausea and vomiting being the most common (and, frankly, expected) symptom.
Mental adverse effects
The researchers also identified several factors that predispose people to the adverse physical events, including older age, having a physical health condition or substance use disorder, lifetime ayahuasca use and taking ayahuasca in a non-supervised context. Before the study analysis, a preliminary analysis was performed to reduce the number of analysis of the study. As both, the physical and mental adverse effects identified are heterogeneous a principal component analyses were performed with each adverse effect types to study the adverse effect factor structure.
The PCT was composed of stimuli from the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Each stimulus contains between 4 and 12 color pictures shown in two or three rows. The participants are instructed to find an association between one of the pictures of each row. They are asked to provide the correct solution as there is only one correct answer. To assess divergent thinking, participants were asked to provide as many alternative associations as possible by sticking to the rule; one item per row. This is the regular instruction included in measures of divergent thinking, and it is used to calculate several parameters, i.e., originality, fluency, and the ratio of both, which reflect quantity and quality of divergent thinking.
About 55% of participants reported adverse mental health effects ranging from hearing and seeing things to feeling disconnected to nightmares. The acclaimed benefits of ayahuasca are both spiritual and psychotherapeutic (Trichter 2010) and may be due to a symbiotic action between pharmacology and an altered state of consciousness (Re et al. 2016). Interviews with healthy ayahuasca users suggest that ayahuasca elicits spiritual insights, changed worldviews, and a new, more positive orientation towards life (Bouso et al. 2012; Grob et al. 1996; Halpern et al. 2008). Adolescents who regularly consume ayahuasca show less signs of anxiety and are more optimistic, self-confident, insistent, and emotionally mature than their peers (Da Silveira et al. 2005). Taken together, evidence suggests that ayahuasca may be a useful additive to psychotherapy to promote personal reflection and insights about attitude and belief (Trichter et al. 2009).
The goal of the ceremony was to relieve psychological or physical issues, increase well-being, or to gain personal insights. In each ceremony, there were at least two or more experienced ayahuasca facilitators with a background in healing and/or coaching. 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. The, growing interest in ayahuasca also points to weaknesses in Western medicine, therapeutic and healing regimes.
Ayahuasca: Psychoactive Drink Can Ease Mental Health Issues But There Are Side Effects
There were no significant differences nor notable tendencies between subjects who quit and those who remained until the last follow-up regarding any variable. This finding suggests that people with a high degree of distress may feel better after ayahuasca use and, subsequently, be more motivated to collaborate with researchers. 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%). Twenty-seven volunteers (33.3% males, 66.7% females) from several locations in Colombia (Bogota, Bucaramanga, and Cali) completed the test battery. Most participants were from South America (70.4%) while the rest of participants were from Africa (11.1%) and North America (18.5%). Their reported motivation for ayahuasca use included understanding myself (40.7%), solving issues (18.5%), curiosity (3.7%), and other (37.0%).
