Ayahuasca Addiction Treatment

            For this week’s blog post I chose an article regarding the use of ayahuasca for treating other drug addictions.  Ayahuasca is a brew of extremely potent psychoactive ingredients that include the banisteriopsis caapi vine and leaves that contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT).  For over four thousand years the indigenous people of the Amazon rain forest have used this drug for healing and spiritual purposes.  When ayahuasca is consumed it creates one of the most intense psychedelic experiences known to man.  Having said, thousands of people every year travel to South America seeking out this drug in attempts to overcome their various addictions such as heroin, alcohol, and cocaine.  The reason for success when treating addicts remains unknown, however researchers suggest that ayahuasca utilizes its anti-addictive properties by facilitating changes in four correlating mechanisms:  biochemical, physiological, psychological, and transcendent pathways.  During an ayahuasca trip, emotions of happiness and awe are greatly intensified which in turn leads to feelings of rejuvenation and new hope once the experience is over.  The physiological effects of ayahuasca can last anywhere between six and twelve hours, depending on the dosage.  Besides the period in which the user undergoes a purging process, the effects of ayahuasca occur in a state of lucidity without the loss of clarity so the user is able to remember the experience.  After the effects of ayahuasca wear off, users often report positive experiences described as transcendent.  “These aspects of the experience may include visions of a spiritual reality, an altered sense of space and time, ineffability, intuitive insights, out of body experiences, and feelings of oneness with the universe (Grob 2002).  Although there hasn’t been enough research to identify potential dangers of the drug, I strongly believe addicts in desperate need for recovery should consider ayahuasca.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=b4004804-cbb6-45c7-a74e-0a150551b45f%40sessionmgr4&vid=2&hid=24