In the Peruvian Amazon, Nicotiana rustica (mapacho) is traditionally ingested as a liquid medicine for mental health treatment, contrasting with harmful global tobacco use. A 37-year-old woman with mood, anxiety, attention deficit, and a chronic somatic condition participated in a weeklong retreat led by a traditional healer, involving ritual tobacco ingestion. Experience-sampling during treatment and symptom assessments before and after indicated clinically relevant improvements in well-being. This case study documents the therapeutic process and suggests potential benefits of traditional tobacco use, aligning with renewed scientific interest in psychoactive plants for therapy.
Indigenous healers in the Peruvian Amazon use tobacco therapeutically, but this practice has been largely ignored by clinical research. A pilot field study assessed 27 patients before and after a weeklong treatment by a traditional healer specialized in tobacco. Validated self-report scales showed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and general symptom indicators. Patients reported initial physical discomfort followed by psychologically or spiritually significant insights. The findings suggest a sophisticated therapeutic approach based on Indigenous knowledge that warrants further investigation, contributing to research on therapeutic uses of psychoactive plants.