Short-Term Treatment Effects of a Substance Use Disorder Therapy Involving Traditional Amazonian Medicine.
Ilana Berlowitz, Heinrich Walt, Christian Ghasarian, Fernando Mendive, Chantal Martin-Soelch
Journal of psychoactive drugs January 1, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2019.1607956 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAn integrative treatment program combining Amazonian medicine with psychotherapy significantly reduced substance use disorder symptoms in male patients. Among 36 participants who completed the program, addiction severity for drug and alcohol use, psychiatric status, social and familial relationships, emotional distress, and substance craving all decreased substantially. Quality of life also increased markedly. Nearly all participants were dependent on multiple substances, primarily cannabis, alcohol, and cocaine-related drugs. These preliminary results suggest the approach may offer new therapeutic options for substance use disorders.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 36 |
| Population | Male patients with substance use disorder admitted to the Takiwasi Center |
| Topics | Addiction Ayahuasca |
| Keywords | Amazonian medicine Addiction treatment Alternative medicine |
| Citations | 70 |
| Key finding | The Amazonian medicine-based treatment program significantly reduced addiction severity, emotional distress, and substance craving while increasing quality of life in male patients with substance use disorder. |
Abstract
Chronic illness management today commonly involves alternative medicines. Substance use disorder (SUD), as a chronic psychosomatic illness, might benefit from a similar approach. The accredited Takiwasi Center offers such an SUD treatment program involving Amazonian medicine combined with psychotherapy. The current study assessed this integrative program's short-term therapeutic effects. We measured baseline data from 53 dependence-diagnosed males admitted to treatment (T1) and repeated clinical outcome variables at treatment completion (T2). Paired samples t-tests were used to assess changes between T1 and T2 (n = 36). Nearly all participants (age M= 30.86, SD= 8.17) were dependent on multiple substances, most prominently cannabis, alcohol, and cocaine-related drugs. A significant decrease (T1 to T2) was found for addiction severity outcomes drug use (p < .001), alcohol use (p < .001), psychiatric status (p < .001), and social/familial relationships (p < .001). Emotional distress also diminished significantly (p < .001), as did substance craving (p < .001). Quality of life increased significantly from T1 to T2 (p < .001). Our results provide first indications for significantly improved SUD symptoms after the Amazonian medicine-based treatment. These findings are preliminary given the design, but strongly encourage further investigation of this therapy, which in the long term may open new therapeutic avenues for SUDs.