This qualitative empirical study explores the ritual use of ayahuasca in the treatment of addictions. Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychedelic plant compound created from an admixture of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the bush Psychotria viridis. The study included interviews with 13 therapists who apply ayahuasca professionally in the treatment of addictions (four indigenous healers and nine...
Substances known as psychedelics, hallucinogens and entheogens have been employed in ethnomedical traditions for thousands of years, but after promising uses in the 1950's and 1960's they were largely prohibited in medical treatment and human research starting in the 1970's as part of the fallout from the war on drugs. Nonetheless, there are a number of studies which suggest that these...
Ayahuasca é o nome genérico de uma bebida milenar utilizada em rituais ligados à espiritualidade, sendo o termo de origem quéchua, cuja etimologia é dada por Luna (1986, p. 73) como: aya – persona, alma, espíritu muerto; wasca – cuerda, enradadera, parra, liana. A denominação, segundo esse antropólogo, é uma das mais usadas para designar a bebida, podendo ser traduzida para o português como...
A ayahuasca é uma bebida psicoativa utilizada por diversos grupos indígenas por toda a Amazônia, assim como por xamãs mestiços (chamados "vegetalistas") e por religiões e grupos independentes no Brasil. Desde a década de 1990 esta bebida vem sendo empregada no tratamento da dependência. Existem atualmente alguns centros espalhados pela América do Sul que realizam este tipo de tratamento....
The internationalisation of the ayahuasca phenomenon provides those with an interest in drug use, supply and policy with a fascinating opportunity to reflect critically on the state of contemporary...
BackgroundAyahuasca, a South American psychotropic plant tea containing the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine, has been shown to increase regional cerebral blood flow in prefrontal brain regions after acute administration to humans. Despite interactions at this level, neuropsychological studies have not found cognitive deficits in abstinent long-term...
This form of ayahuasca-assisted therapy appears to be associated with statistically significant improvements in several factors related to problematic substance use among a rural aboriginal population. These findings suggest participants may have experienced positive psychological and behavioral changes in response to this therapeutic approach, and that more rigorous research of...
AbstractAbstractAyahuasca is a psychoactive traditional plant medicine preparation used by the indigenous tribes of the Upper Amazon in their shamanic traditions. Its use has become popular amongst Westerners seeking alternative means of healing, and the medicine has now spread across the globe via syncretic spiritual healing traditions such as the Santo Daime Church. Despite the increased use...