Understanding the Healing Potential of Ibogaine through a Comparative and Interpretive Phenomenology of the Visionary Experience
Anthropology of Consciousness March 1, 2018 DOI: 10.1111/anoc.12088 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ibogaine |
| Topics | Ibogaine Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Appropriation Religious experience Phenomenology philosophy Legitimacy Aesthetics Psychoanalysis Epistemology Psychotherapist Politics Law |
| Citations | 20 |
| Key points | Argues that the visionary experience is central to ibogaine's healing, proposing it involves a culturally shaped creative journey to an imaginal unspoilt state. |
Abstract
Abstract Ibogaine is a hallucinogenic alkaloid, derived from Tabernanthe iboga, a plant unique to the rainforests of West Africa. Its traditional use as an epiphanic sacrament in local magico‐religious practice inspired its appropriation by Western drug addicts by whom it is now hailed as both a catalyst of psychospiritual insight and an effective alleviator of cravings and withdrawal. While scientific and early clinical studies confirm its role in reducing physical withdrawal and craving, debate continues concerning the significance of its “visionary” properties. An analysis of many addicts’ testimonies of recovery, however, places the visionary experience at center stage. I set out to understand mechanisms of transformation and healing, via a comparative phenomenological exploration of this experience, through the opposing lenses of psychoanalysis and cultural constructivism. I propose that at the heart of the healing encounter is a culturally shaped creative journey to an imaginal unspoilt state in personal or collective history. How this experience is recovered and integrated into life is critically considered. I argue a secular account is vital as the ibogaine scene strives toward social and medical legitimacy. If and how such a framework can sit alongside spontaneously emergent spiritual and religious idioms and experience will also be tentatively explored.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on ibogaine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biosynthesis of an Anti-Addiction Agent from the Iboga Plant. | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Bioinspired Collective Syntheses of Iboga-Type Indole Alkaloids. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Fatalities after taking ibogaine in addiction treatment could be related to sudden cardiac death caused by autonomic dysfunction. Humans | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Iboga Alkaloids. II.1 the Structures of Ibogaine, Ibogamine and Tabernanthine | 1957 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Ibogaine analogues. Synthesis and preliminary pharmacological evaluation of 7-heteroaryl-2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-enes. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 17
- Defining Transformative Experiences: A Conceptual Analysis Frontiers in Psychology June 24, 2022
- Ibogaine and Subjective Experience: Transformative States and Psychopharmacotherapy in the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2019
- Current Perspective on the Therapeutic Preset for Substance-Assisted Psychotherapy Frontiers in Psychology July 13, 2021
- A case report SPECT study and theoretical rationale for the sequential administration of ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Progress in Brain Research 2018
- Ibogaine/Noribogaine in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: ASystematic Review of the Current Literature Current Neuropharmacology October 20, 2022
and 12 more in the library
Cites 19
- Spirit Possession Revisited: Beyond Instrumentality Annual Review of Anthropology October 1, 1994
- Factor Analysis of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire: A Study of Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 2012
- Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns Neuroscience Letters July 27, 2006
- Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 1987
- Implications for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: functional magnetic resonance imaging study with psilocybin The British Journal of Psychiatry January 27, 2012
and 14 more in the library