Ayahuasca — a psychedelic medicine traditionally used by Indigenous communities in South America — has become fashionable, with celebrities like the musician Sting, actress Lindsay Lohan, and NFL quarterback Aaron Rogers drinking it to take a trip into their subconscious minds.
When used to treat mental health, some studies have shown that the psychedelic can be effective. An article in the journal PLOS Mental Health that examines what conditions are most likely to lead to a positive outcome report that making such determinations can be tricky.
Revisiting Ayahuasca Experiences
An earlier survey of 10,836 ayahuasca ceremony participants found that over half reported adverse mental states after ayahuasca use. Many experienced visual distortions, hallucinations, “feeling down, depressed, or hopeless,” “feeling disconnected or alone,” and “feeling energetically attacked,” according to the earlier study.
The new study dove deeper into a subset of the same participant pool — 5,400 who had the most complete data — to determine what factors most likely lead to either adverse effects or a positive experience. Among those users, 14.2 percent reported a previous anxiety disorder and 19.7 experienced a prior depressive disorder.
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Mental Health and Ayahuasca’s Impact
The researchers found that the drug’s long-term effects depend, in part, on each recipient’s mental health history, as well as a variety of factors related to the setting in which the drug is ingested. Using the drug among people with experience both taking and administering it seemed to prove beneficial, according to the study.
“What stood out most to us was the significant difference in mental health outcomes between users who had supportive environments [during their use] and those who didn’t,” José Carlos Bouso, from the International Centre for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Services (ICEERS) and an author of the study, said in a press release. “This emphasizes the importance of a responsible and well-prepared setting for those seeking healing through ayahuasca.”
Experienced Guidance
The authors recommend that further ayahuasca research be conducted in a group or community setting, rather than a clinical one. Such work could identify participants with previous mental health issues and assign someone experienced to guide them.
Also complicating matters, some participants who initially — or even long term — had some negative experiences said they ultimately benefited from ingesting it.
“Our study reveals that the post-ayahuasca mental states, traditionally seen as adverse, can contribute to improved mental health, especially in individuals with previous anxiety, and depressive disorders,” Bouso said. “This suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of these states as potentially beneficial experiences.”
So, even a bad trip could eventually be good.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
