Pilot Evaluation of a Residential Drug Addiction Treatment Combining Traditional Amazonian Medicine, Ayahuasca and Psychotherapy on Depression and Anxiety
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs – August 04, 2020
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Ayahuasca shows promising results in reducing anxiety and depression among male patients in addiction treatment. In a study involving 31 participants, anxiety scores dropped from 20.8 to 11.6 and depression scores decreased from 18.7 to 7.5 after integrating ayahuasca with psychotherapy. Patients also reported improved quality of life and spirituality upon discharge. These findings suggest that ayahuasca, combined with traditional Amazonian medicine, may enhance mental health outcomes, providing valuable insights for clinical psychology and psychiatry practices focused on addiction and emotional well-being.
Abstract
Recent research highlighted the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant brew used ritually in traditional Amazonian medicine (TAM). The present study evaluates the impact of integrating ayahuasca and TAM with psychotherapy on depression and anxiety in an inpatient addiction treatment program. Male patients (N = 31) were evaluated pre and post treatment using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, motivation, quality of life, spirituality, and treatment satisfaction were also measured and analyzed by means of two tailed t-test, one way ANOVA and Spearman test. From pre- to post-treatment, patients showed significant reductions in scores of anxiety (from 20.8 to 11.6, p p p p < .001) upon discharge, which correlated with their reduction in scores of anxiety and depression. While future results will evaluate the efficacy of this treatment on measures of addiction at follow-up, the present results build upon previous research to bring further support to the use of Ayahuasca and Amazonian medicine in mental health treatments with a transpersonal focus.