Short-Term Treatment Effects of a Substance Use Disorder Therapy Involving Traditional Amazonian Medicine.
Ilana Berlowitz, Heinrich Walt, Christian Ghasarian, Fernando Mendive, Chantal Martin-Soelch
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 2019 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2019.1607956 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 36 |
| Population | Male patients with substance use disorder admitted to the Takiwasi Center |
| Intervention | Amazonian medicine combined with psychotherapy |
| Topics | Addiction Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Amazonian medicine Addiction treatment Alternative medicine Drug abuse |
| Citations | 70 |
| Key findings | The Amazonian medicine-based treatment program significantly reduced addiction severity, emotional distress, and substance craving while increasing quality of life in male patients with substance use disorder. |
Abstract
Chronic illness management today commonly involves alternative medicines. Substance use disorder (SUD), as a chronic psychosomatic illness, might benefit from a similar approach. The accredited Takiwasi Center offers such an SUD treatment program involving Amazonian medicine combined with psychotherapy. The current study assessed this integrative program's short-term therapeutic effects. We measured baseline data from 53 dependence-diagnosed males admitted to treatment (T1) and repeated clinical outcome variables at treatment completion (T2). Paired samples t-tests were used to assess changes between T1 and T2 (n = 36). Nearly all participants (age M= 30.86, SD= 8.17) were dependent on multiple substances, most prominently cannabis, alcohol, and cocaine-related drugs. A significant decrease (T1 to T2) was found for addiction severity outcomes drug use (p < .001), alcohol use (p < .001), psychiatric status (p < .001), and social/familial relationships (p < .001). Emotional distress also diminished significantly (p < .001), as did substance craving (p < .001). Quality of life increased significantly from T1 to T2 (p < .001). Our results provide first indications for significantly improved SUD symptoms after the Amazonian medicine-based treatment. These findings are preliminary given the design, but strongly encourage further investigation of this therapy, which in the long term may open new therapeutic avenues for SUDs.