"Getting to the Root": Ayahuasca Ceremony Leaders' Perspectives on Eating Disorders.
Journal of psychoactive drugs – January 01, 2023
Source: PubMed
Summary
Traditional healers report promising results using ayahuasca, an Amazonian plant medicine, to help people with eating disorders. Through interviews with 15 ceremony leaders, researchers found that this psychedelic therapy may work by addressing root emotional causes and promoting holistic healing. Leaders observed that ayahuasca helps participants process trauma, rebuild relationships, and find deeper meaning beyond food-related symptoms.
Abstract
Given the mortality, chronicity, and treatment drop-out rates observed among individuals with eating disorders (EDs), innovative approaches are needed. Ayahuasca, a psychedelic plant medicine from the Amazon, is currently being investigated. This study expands on prior exploratory research by describing the perspectives of ayahuasca ceremony leaders regarding their conceptualizations of EDs and the potential therapeutic mechanisms of action of ayahuasca for individuals with EDs. Qualitative content analysis of interviews with 15 ayahuasca ceremony leaders produced two main categories, with relevant subcategories. The first category encompassed the leaders' theories of EDs from a shamanic perspective, including that EDs are symptomatic of an underlying concern, serve a function and affect health in multiple domains. The second category described leaders' perspectives on the potential mechanisms of action of ayahuasca for EDs, including that ayahuasca facilitates "energetic healing"; helps identify, process, and integrate the "root" of the ED; promotes holistic healing; and enhances and/or reorganizes relationships. From the perspectives of ceremony leaders and consistent with previous exploratory research, ceremonial ayahuasca use may offer a potentially useful, novel and complementary intervention for EDs.