This double-blind placebo-controlled study (2007; n=9) investigated state and trait anxiety, hopelessness, and panic under the acute influence of ayahuasca in long-term users. Results show decreases in hopelessness and panic, but no change in anxiety.
Abstract of Effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety, panic-like and hopelessness in Santo Daime members
“The use of the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca, obtained from infusing the shredded stalk of the malpighiaceous plant Banisteriopsis caapi with the leaves of other plants such as Psychotria viridis, is growing in urban centers of Europe, South and North America in the last several decades. Despite this diffusion, little is known about its effects on emotional states. The present study investigated the effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety, panic-like and hopelessness in members of the Santo Daime, an ayahuasca-using religion. Standard questionnaires were used to evaluate state-anxiety (STAI-state), trait-anxiety (STAI-trait), panic-like (ASI-R) and hopelessness (BHS) in participants that ingested ayahuasca for at least 10 consecutive years. The study was done in the Santo Daime church, where the questionnaires were administered 1 h after the ingestion of the brew, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled procedure. While under the acute effects of ayahuasca, participants scored lower on the scales for panic and hopelessness related states. Ayahuasca ingestion did not modify state- or trait-anxiety. The results are discussed in terms of the possible use of ayahuasca in alleviating signs of hopelessness and panic-like related symptoms.”
Authors: Rafael G. Dos Santos, Jesus Landeira-Fernandez, Rick J. Strassman, V. Motta & A. P. M. Cruz
Summary of Effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety, panic-like and hopelessness in Santo Daime members
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive beverage made from the Banisteriopsis vine. It is used by more than 70 different indigenous groups spread along Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, and is highly syncretic, containing influences from popular Catholicism, European esoteric and spiritual beliefs, African cosmologies, and indigenous botanical knowledge.
Ayahuasca contains DMT and beta-carbolines, which are similar to serotonin and have high affinity for serotonin receptors, especially the 5-HT2 receptor subtype. DMT is inactive following oral administration at doses up to 1000 mg, but becomes active when combined with inhibitors of the MAO enzymes.
Ayahuasca’s beta-carbolines are more active against MAO-A than MAO-B, and have a low affinity for liver MAO compared to brain MAO. They may also inhibit serotonin reuptake, resulting in elevated levels of brain serotonin. There are few studies that have examined the use of ayahuasca with rigorous methodologies, but a biomedical study conducted by Grob et al. (1996) found that long-term users were more reflective, confident, gregarious and optimistic compared to a control group. The most interesting findings were that all participants with psychiatric diagnoses remitted following entry into the religion, and that there was a significant improvement in interpersonal, work, and family interactions.
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2007.04.012
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Cite this paper (APA)
Santos, R. D., Landeira-Fernandez, J., Strassman, R. J., Motta, V., & Cruz, A. P. M. (2007). Effects of ayahuasca on psychometric measures of anxiety, panic-like and hopelessness in Santo Daime members. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 112(3), 507-513.
Study details
Compounds studied
Ayahuasca
Topics studied
Depression
Study characteristics
Placebo-Controlled
Double-Blind
Participants
9
Humans
Authors
Authors associated with this publication with profiles on Blossom
Rafael dos SantosRafael dos Santos is a postdoctoral fellow at the Graduate Program in Mental Health at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (FMRP-USP), where he also works as an accredited advisor.