A Thematic Analysis of the Subjective Effects and Phenomenology of Ibogaine Administered in a Clinical Setting
Research Square November 5, 2025 Joseph la Torre, Step Cheung, Ariana Kam et al.
In a study with 236 participants, the largest sample to date, researchers asked open-ended questions to people in an ibogaine-assisted treatment program in Mexico. Common themes emerged: emotional amplification, life review, perceptual and sensory changes, visionary states, and a sense that ibogaine has its own character or agency. The findings provide a detailed, empirically grounded portrait of ibogaine's subjective effects and show its capacity to evoke structured, meaningful, and potentially transformative states of consciousness. The study's strengths include its large sample, rapid data collection, a safe clinical setting, careful participant preparation, and open-ended questions that captured the full range of experiences.