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Related: About this forumAyahuasca psychedelic tested for depression
A psychedelic drink used for centuries in healing ceremonies is now attracting the attention of biomedical scientists as a possible treatment for depression. Researchers from Brazil last month published results from the first clinical test of a potential therapeutic benefit for ayahuasca, a South American plant-based brew1. Although the study included just six volunteers and no placebo group, the scientists say that the drink began to reduce depression in patients within hours, and the effect was still present after three weeks. They are now conducting larger studies that they hope will shore up their findings.
The work forms part of a renaissance in studying the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic or recreational drugs research that was largely banned or restricted worldwide half a century ago. Ketamine, which is used medically as an anaesthetic, has shown promise as a fast-acting antidepressant; psilocybin, a hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms, can help to alleviate anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer2; MDMA (ecstasy) can alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder; and patients who experience debilitating cluster headaches have reported that LSD eases their symptoms.
Ayahuasca, a sacramental drink traditionally brewed from the bark of a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of a shrub (Psychotria viridis), contains ingredients that are illegal in most countries. But a booming ayahuasca industry has developed in South America, where its religious use is allowed, and where thousands of people each year head to rainforest retreats to sample its intense psychedelic insights.
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http://www.nature.com/news/ayahuasca-psychedelic-tested-for-depression-1.17252
F4lconF16
(3,747 posts)I know at least two people personally that had their entire lives changed by DMT. And I'm heading down the path I am now thanks to psychedelics. They are incredibly helpful--I don't think that that's up for debate, unless you're trying to continue to oppress people.
SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)reality is not only stranger than we imagine, reality is stranger than we CAN imagine
Warpy
(111,292 posts)They'll only make the DEA want to parachute into the jungle with flamethrowers.
The local tribes say they've got a decent treatment record for mental illness and alcoholism using the peyote ceremony. I have little reason to doubt them.
Psychedelics were showing a lot of clinical promise before Nixon declared war on them in the 70s.
End the drug war. Just end it. It didn't work and it causes nothing but misery.
hopemountain
(3,919 posts)yes, in addition, the indigenous people are being inundated by wannabe practitioners of this medicine who lack the traditional teachings, understandings or internships with indigenous shamans for the proper use of the medicines.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)mopinko
(70,144 posts)gimme a break.
i am all for studying this stuff. i can even believe that it might work. but publishing hogwash like this doesnt help their cause.
safeinOhio
(32,696 posts)Depressed and suicidal. Dropped some acid so I could jump off a building. Forgot about the jump and my depression vanished.
Works for me, but I should have stopped there.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)The last time I dropped acid, decades ago, I was joined by a friend whose head was in a bad place at the time. Well into our trip, probably at 3 or 4 in the morning, he started freaking out and I was afraid he'd hurt himself. That was not a fun experience, but he made it through, in part (I think) because I worked hard and long to talk him down, which wasn't easy in my own impaired state.
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)Some days, my nerves are a wreck and I can barely function. Marijuana can sometimes make it all better, but other times amplify the anxiety to crazy heights. One day, while in the midst of a bad anxiety attack, a buddy came over with a couple mushrooms. I hadn't touched them in near 10 years at the point, and was really nervous. The SECOND the mushrooms started to slip into effect, all my anxious feelings vanished. The shakiness, the off-feelings... Gone. Suddenly, I had energy, each breath was refreshing. For about a month after, I was in a GREAT place. It may be anecdotal at best, but psychedelics have always worked for me.