Personality Traits in Former Spanish Substance Users Recovered with Ayahuasca.
Journal of psychoactive drugs January 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2020.1752960 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAyahuasca, a psychoactive brew from the Amazon, is used in religious, spiritual, and therapeutic settings, including addiction treatment. In former substance users from Catalonia and surrounding areas, those who took ayahuasca scored higher on Novelty Seeking and Self-Transcendence, as well as on traits Attachment, Impulsivity, Compassion, and Spiritual Acceptance, compared to a control group. Recovery may relate less to reducing Impulsivity and Novelty Seeking—typical in substance use disorder—and more to increasing Character dimensions, especially Self-Transcendence and Cooperativeness. Participants reported that self-reflective, prosocial, and transcendental ayahuasca ritual experiences helped reconstruct personal goals, gratifications, social bonds, and life direction.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort with qualitative component Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Former substance users from Catalonia and surrounding areas |
| Intervention | Ayahuasca |
| Topics | Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Spain Addiction treatment Personality Ritual |
| Citations | 22 |
| Key finding | Ayahuasca use in former substance users was associated with higher scores in Novelty Seeking, Self-Transcendence, and other traits, suggesting recovery may be linked to increased Character dimensions rather than reduced impulsivity. |
Abstract
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew that contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting alkaloids. It is originally from the Amazon rainforest, but since the 1990s it has expanded worldwide. The compound is used in different religious, spiritual, and therapeutic settings. One of its common applications is for the treatment of addiction. The current study is an assessment of the impact of ayahuasca on personality traits in former substance users from Catalonia and surrounding areas. When compared with a control group, the ayahuasca group had statistically significantly higher scores in the dimensions Novelty Seeking and Self-Transcendence, and in the traits Attachment, Impulsivity, Compassion, and Spiritual Acceptance. Results suggest that recovery could be related less to a reduction of Impulsivity and Novelty Seeking, main features of substance use disorder (SUD), and more to an increase of Character dimensions and traits, especially Self-Transcendence and Cooperativeness. Those changes could be triggered by self-reflective, prosocial, and transcendental ayahuasca ritual experiences, which in the qualitative part of the research were described by the participants as being of great importance for their recovery, helping with the reconstruction of personal goals, gratifications, social bonds, and the general life's projection.