Ayahuasca ceremony leaders' perspectives on special considerations for eating disorders.

Ayahuasca, a psychedelic plant medicine from Indigenous Amazonian communities, is being explored as a novel treatment for eating disorders (EDs), which are difficult to resolve. Aspects of ceremonial ayahuasca use, such as purging and dietary restrictions, resemble ED behaviors, raising concerns about its suitability. Interviews with 15 ayahuasca ceremony leaders, mostly from the West/Global North, revealed categories including screening for EDs, purging and dietary restrictions, potential risks, and complementarity with conventional ED treatment. The findings suggest careful screening and extra support can promote safe ceremony experiences. More research is needed on purging and preparatory diets. The ED field could collaborate with ayahuasca ceremony leaders in a decolonizing, bidirectional bridging between Western and Indigenous healing paradigms.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Eating disorders (EDs) are difficult conditions to resolve, necessitating novel treatments. Ayahuasca, a psychedelic plant medicine originating in Indigenous Amazonian communities, is being investigated. Aspects of ceremonial ayahuasca use (purging, dietary restrictions) appear similar to ED behaviors, raising questions about ayahuasca's suitability as an intervention for individuals with EDs. This study explored the perspectives of ayahuasca ceremony leaders on these and other considerations for ceremonial ayahuasca drinking among individuals with EDs. A qualitative content analysis of interviews was undertaken with 15 ayahuasca ceremony leaders, the majority of whom were from the West/Global North. Screening for EDs, purging and dietary restrictions, potential risks and dangers, and complementarity with conventional ED treatment emerged as categories. The findings offer ideas, including careful screening and extra support, to promote safe and beneficial ceremony experiences for ceremony participants with EDs. More research is needed to clarify the impacts of ceremony-related purging and preparatory diets. To evolve conventional models of treatment, the ED field could consider Indigenous approaches to mental health whereby ayahuasca ceremony leaders and ED researchers and clinicians collaborate in a decolonizing, bidirectional bridging process between Western and Indigenous paradigms of healing.