Abstract Background Latin America and the Caribbean region are currently faced with the challenges of drug and substance use leading to violence and crime, especially among the younger populations. The complex nature of substance use disorder (SUD), the cost and adverse effects of conventional therapies, the deeply rooted cultural practices of medicinal plants usage, and the abundance of...
June 16, 2025Alejandro Marín Valencia, Luis Fernando Agreda Muchavisoy
This chapter reflects on the cultural uses of yajé (ayahuasca) within the ethnomedical system of the Kamëntsá Biyá people in southern Colombia, the expanded states of consciousness produced by the entheogenic mixture, and its relationship with symbolic healing processes. We analyze these phenomena within the cultural history of the Kamëntsá and their eco-cosmology and the elements of mythopoeic...
Currently, the most actively investigated rapidly acting antidepressants, anxiolytics and/or anti PTSD agents, include psychedelics e.g. psilocybin, LSD, N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca; non‐hallucinogenic entactogens, e.g. MDMA; psychoplastogens which rapidly promote neuroplasticity, e.g. ibogaine, ketamine and esketamine; and other atypicals e.g. dextromorphan/bupropion, esmethadone....
Over the past decade, research with psychedelics has gained new momentum, leading to a psychedelic renaissance in both basic and clinical research. Among these substances is ayahuasca, an Amazonian plant medicine used for millennia by indigenous people for ritualistic and healing practices, which has recently entered research labs in the Americas and Europe. Preliminary findings indicate its...
Growing evidence suggests that the race and ethnic minority population may experience fewer protective effects of psychedelics on mental health. The minority diminished psychedelic returns theory proposes that racism, manifested in socioeconomic inequality, could partially account for the smaller health gains observed. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether socioeconomic inequality...
Abstract Background & aims This conceptual paper explores the intersection of attachment theory, psychedelic research, and enculturation dynamics. We aim to understand how both attachment patterns and psychedelic use may jointly influence worldview transformations and enculturation processes. Methods We synthesize theoretical perspectives and empirical findings from multiple fields, including...
New methods that capture the public's perception of controversial topics may be valuable. This study investigates public sentiments toward psychedelics and other substances through analyzes of Reddit discussions, using Google's cloud-based Natural Language Processing (NLP) infrastructure. Our findings indicate that illicit substances such as heroin and methamphetamine are associated with highly...
Objectives: This study was conducted to bring psychedelic and biofield science into interdisciplinary dialogue and encourage scientific investigations of psychedelic therapy as a form of energy medicine. In thinking these two sites together, important resonances between both forms of therapy were highlighted which can help elucidate clearer therapeutic mechanisms across both therapies....
O uso terapêutico de psicodélicos tem ganhado crescente interesse na psiquiatria, principalmente no tratamento de transtornos mentais resistentes a terapias convencionais, como a depressão resistente e a ansiedade. Este artigo de revisão aborda os fundamentos bioquímicos, a segurança e as indicações emergentes de psicodélicos, como ayahuasca, DMT, psilocibina e LSD, com foco nos mecanismos...
Abstract Musico-healing practices play a key role in indigenous and mestizo traditional medicine in the Amazon. The curative songs or icaros used by the curanderos (traditional healers) of the Peruvian Upper Amazon are administered alongside the psychoactive plant decoction ayahuasca in ritual settings. This Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis examines musical experiences of 6 participants...