Long-term effects of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a 5-year qualitative follow-up

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, Rafael G. Dos
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Sanches, Rafael Faria, Osório, Flávia de Lima, Hallak, Jaime E. C.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Archives of Clinical Psychiatry
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/acp/article/view/144883
• topic: Hallucinogens; psychedelics; ayahuasca; depression; safety

Background Ayahuasca is a botanical hallucinogenic preparation traditionally used by indigenous populations of Northwestern Amazonian countries for ritual and therapeutic purposes. It is rich in β-carboline alkaloids and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Preclinical, observational, and experimental studies suggest that ayahuasca and its alkaloids have anxiolytic and antidepressive effects. We recently reported in an open-label trial that ayahuasca administration was associated with significant decreases in depression symptoms for 2-3 weeks after the experimental session in 17 patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. Objectives To investigate if the experiment had any long-lasting effects on patients Methods Eight patients were interviewed 4 to 7 years after ayahuasca intake. Results Our results suggest that ayahuasca was well tolerated and that symptom reductions were limited to a few weeks. Importantly, most patients believed that the experience was among the most important of their lives, even 4-7 years later. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this is the first long-term follow-up of a clinical sample that participated in an ayahuasca trial. Further studies with different and repeated dosing should be designed to further explore the antidepressive and anxiolytic effects of ayahuasca.