Ayahuasca use and reported effects on depression and anxiety symptoms: An international cross-sectional study of 11,912 consumers

Sarris, Jerome; Perkins, Daniel; Cribb, Lachlan; Schubert, Violeta; Opaleye, Emérita Sátiro; Bouso, José Carlos; Scheidegger, Milan; Aicher, Helena; Šimonová, Hana; Horák, Miroslav; Galvão-Coelho, Nicole Leite; Tófoli, Luís Fernando

doi:10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100098

Cited by 45 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…We also include several demographic and ayahuasca drinking history variables, as covariates to attempt to reduce confounding. Other research, for example, has identified the number of times ayahuasca has been consumed as one of the strongest predictors of improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes (Sarris et al, 2021).…”

Section: Analysis Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Context and Setting on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes of Ayahuasca Drinkers: Results of a Large International Survey

Perkins

Schubert

Šimonová³

et al. 2021

Front. Pharmacol.

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Ayahuasca is a traditional plant decoction containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and various β-carbolines including harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine, which has been used ceremonially by Amazonian Indigenous groups for healing and spiritual purposes. Use of the brew has now spread far beyond its original context of consumption to North America, Europe, and Australia in neo-shamanic settings as well as Christian syncretic churches. While these groups have established their own rituals and protocols to guide use, it remains unknown the extent to which the use of traditional or non-traditional practices may affect drinkers’ acute experiences, and longer term wellbeing and mental health outcomes. Hence, this study aimed to provide the first detailed assessment of associations between ceremony/ritual characteristics, additional support practices, motivations for drinking, and mental health and wellbeing outcomes. The paper uses data from a large cross-sectional study of ayahuasca drinkers in more than 40 countries who had used ayahuasca in various contexts (n = 6,877). It captured detailed information about participant demographics, patterns and history of ayahuasca drinking, the setting of consumption, and ritualistic practices employed. Current mental health status was captured via the Kessler 10 psychological distress scale and the mental health component score of the SF-12 Health Questionnaire, while reported change in prior clinically diagnosed anxiety or depression (n = 1276) was evaluated using a (PGIC) Patient Global Impression of Change tool. Various intermediate outcomes were also assessed including perceived change in psychological wellbeing, number of personal self-insights attained, and subjective spiritual experience measured via the spirituality dimension of the Persisting Effects Questionnaire (PEQ) and Short Index of Mystical Orientation. Regression models identified a range of significant associations between set and setting variables, and intermediate and final mental health and wellbeing outcomes. A generalized structural equation model (GSEM) was then used to verify relationships and associations between endogenous, mediating and final outcome variables concurrently. The present study sheds new light on the influence of ceremonial practices, additional supports and motivations on the therapeutic effects of ayahuasca for mental health and wellbeing, and ways in which such factors can be optimized in naturalistic settings and clinical studies.

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Section: Analysis Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Context and Setting on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes of Ayahuasca Drinkers: Results of a Large International Survey

Perkins

Schubert

Šimonová³

et al. 2021

Front. Pharmacol.

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“…Studies have shown that ayahuasca could be helpful in the treatment of psychopathologies (Barbosa et al, 2005;Palhano-Fontes et al, 2021;Sarris et al, 2021). To get a better understanding of ayahuasca's full potential, one way is to study its effects on mental and cognitive processes that are generally compromised in stress-related psychopathologies, like flexible thinking, empathy, metacognitive awareness, and wellbeing (Tull and Roemer, 2007;Aldao and Nolen-Hoeksema, 2010;Parlar et al, 2014;Morrison et al, 2016;Mason et al, 2019;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being

et al. 2021

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Background: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies have suggested that ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian beverage, could be helpful in the treatment of psychopathologies like depression and anxiety disorders by changing otherwise disturbed cognitive and emotional processes. To better understand its full therapeutic potential, one way is to study the effects on processes like flexible thinking, empathy, and well-being, which are normally compromised in stress-related psychopathologies.Materials and Methods: Volunteers attending ayahuasca ceremonies were asked to complete a test battery at three separate occasions: baseline, the morning after, and 1 week after the ceremony. We included the constructs of creative thinking (measured by Picture Concept Test), empathy (Multifaceted Empathy Test), satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale), decentering (Experiences Questionnaire), and personality (Big Five Inventory) into the test battery. Additionally, the psychedelic experience was quantified with the Persisting Effects Questionnaire, the Ego Dissolution Scale, and Visual Analogue Scales.Results: In total, 43 attendees (males = 22; females = 21) completed parts of the baseline assessment, 20 (males = 12; females = 8) completed assessments in the morning after the ceremony, and 19 (males = 14; females = 5) completed assessments at the 1-week follow-up. At one and 7 days post-ceremony, cognitive empathy, satisfaction with life, and decentering increased, while divergent thinking (Fluency corrected for Originality) decreased, when compared to baseline. Implicit emotional empathy increased at 1-week follow-up, whereas ratings of the trait neuroticism decreased.Conclusion: The study suggests that a single ingestion of ayahuasca in a social setting is associated with enhancement of subjective well-being, an enhanced ability to take an objective and non-judging stance towards the self (decentering), and the ability to correctly recognize emotions in others, compared to baseline, lasting up to 1 week post-ceremony. To understand the therapeutic potential related to these effects, further research with clinical populations is needed in which these effects can be assessed, including its link with therapeutic outcomes. Together, this will increase our understanding of the effectiveness and breadth of future therapeutic options.

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“…Using that same validated protocol, some male and female juvenile marmosets (male; female) were treated with a single dose of ayahuasca . Ayahuasca is a psychedelic decoction made from combining two plants from the Amazon rainforest: Psychotria viridis and Banisteriopsis caapi, which has shown promising fast antidepressant effects in humans (Palhano-Fontes et al, 2014, 2021Perkins et al, 2021;Sarris et al, 2021). Thus, we observed a fast recovery in the decreased cortisol levels (hypocortisolemic state) and the bodyweight of depressive-like marmosets to the baseline values 24 h after an acute dose of Ayahuasca, and not after the vehicle, as well as reductions in anxiety-like stereotypic behaviors.…”

Section: The Common Marmoset As An Animal Model To Study Psychopathologies Associated With Chronic Stressmentioning

confidence: 62%

Natural and Experimental Evidence Drives Marmosets for Research on Psychiatric Disorders Related to Stress

Sousa

Grilo

Galvão-Coelho

2021

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Knowledge of the behavioral ecology of marmosets carried out in their natural habitat associated with the advent of a non-invasive technique for measuring steroid hormones in feces has made a significant contribution to understanding their social relationships and sexual strategies. These studies showed that they are mainly monogamous, live in relatively stable social groups according to a social hierarchy in which females compete and males cooperate, and form social bonds similar to humans, which makes this species a potential animal model to study disorders related to social stress. In addition, laboratory studies observed the expression of behaviors similar to those in nature and deepened the descriptions of their social and reproductive strategies. They also characterized their responses to the challenge using behavioral, cognitive, physiological, and genetic approaches that were sexually dimorphic and influenced by age and social context. These findings, added to some advantages which indicate good adaptation to captivity and the benefits of the birth of twins, small size, and life cycle in comparison to primates of the Old World, led to their use as animal models for validating psychiatric diseases such as major depression. Juvenile marmosets have recently been used to develop a depression model and to test a psychedelic brew called Ayahuasca from the Amazon rainforest as an alternative treatment for major depression, for which positive results have been found which encourage further studies in adolescents. Therefore, we will review the experimental evidence obtained so far and discuss the extension of the marmoset as an animal model for depression.

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Ayahuasca use and reported effects on depression and anxiety symptoms: An international cross-sectional study of 11,912 consumers

Cited by 45 publications

References 27 publications

Influence of Context and Setting on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes of Ayahuasca Drinkers: Results of a Large International Survey

Influence of Context and Setting on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes of Ayahuasca Drinkers: Results of a Large International Survey

Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being

Natural and Experimental Evidence Drives Marmosets for Research on Psychiatric Disorders Related to Stress

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