Psychotropes
January 1, 2002
Frédérick Bois-Mariage
10 citations
Ayahuasca, a psychoactive preparation largely unknown in Western countries until recent decades, is now making a notable entry. This multi- and interdisciplinary synthesis covers its pharmacochemical aspects (composition, mechanisms of action) and biomedical parameters (cardiovascular effects, EEG, acute and long-term risks, therapeutic utility). A neuropharmacological pathway for ayahuasca's documented anti-addictive potential is indicated. Reasons framed in terms of harm reduction are given to avoid reflexive pathologization and prohibition. The conclusion emphasizes the need for research on the relationships between explicit demands addressed to ayahuasca—complementary and alternative therapies, personal growth, spiritual initiation and development—and the responses provided by ayahuasca rituals.
Psychotropes
January 1, 2001
Jacques Mabit
6 citations
In contrast to the clumsiness with which Westerners induce modifications of their consciousness, ancestral medicines respond with highly sophisticated know-how where the controlled induction of non-ordinary states of consciousness is not only harmless but also helps address the modern development of drug addiction. Drawing on clinical experience in the Peruvian Upper Amazon, the author testifies to the therapeutic resources found in the wise use of medicinal plants, including non-addictive psychotropic ones like the famous ayahuasca vine.
Psychotropes
October 25, 2016
Jean-Charles Bernard
5 citations
The Amazonian beverage ayahuasca induces profound altered states of consciousness and is traditionally ingested in rituals with specific purposes: learning, healing, divination. The meaning of the experience is consubstantial with the ritual in shamanic culture, where access to the "other-world" belongs to the realm of possibility. Globalization of this beverage has given rise to new uses, first in ayahuasca religions in Brazil and neo-psychotherapeutic centers in South America, then in the "West" where new intentions are at work: artistic aid, medical research, personal development—but also decontextualized "wild uses" without purpose, where the framework is absent and the experience cannot acquire meaning. This cross-cultural illustration of the importance of the setting when taking a psychedelic substance points to the necessity of a minimum safety framework and questions current legislative responses.
Psychotropes
April 23, 2018
Christian Sueur
3 citations
The therapeutic use of psychedelic substances began alongside the discovery of LSD and mescaline after World War II, initially for psychotherapy accompaniment, addiction treatment, and management of post-traumatic stress, resistant depression, obsessive and psychosomatic disorders, and end-of-life care. After medical use was banned in the 1960s, research halted except for a few experiments in the 1980s. Since 1994, clinical and neurobiological studies have resumed in most Western countries except France, focusing on addiction, psychotrauma, anxiety, depression, autism, and treatment-resistant schizophrenia, supported by foundations like MAPS and the Beckley Foundation.