Reported results of Amazonian Entheogens for treatment of Complex-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD); Military Sexual Trauma (MST); and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among U.S. Military Veterans and the benefits of application through small group indigenous shamanic ceremonies.
Ayahuasca or the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, a traditional plant medicine. This hallucinogenic liana or “woody vine” is also known as “the liana of the soul; liana of the dead; or spirit liana”. Lianas are a climbing vine found throughout the world’s tropical rainforests.
Introduction
Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic liana from the Amazon Rainforest is also known as the “vine of the soul” (McKenna, 2004). Ayahuasca contains b-carboline alkaloids and are “potent monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) inhibitors” (McKenna, 2004) and when the vine is combined with another plant such as the Psychotria Viridis or Charuna Leaf which contains N-dimethyltryptamine or DMT, it will produce strong short-term hallucinogenic effects to its consumer.
Serotonin levels in the brain increase due to b-carbolines and the sedative effects of high doses of b-carbolines are a “result from their blockade of serotonin deamination ” (McKenna, 2004).
This recipe is unique because ayahuasca is the only entheogen where “the enzyme-inhibiting principles in one plant are used to facilitate the oral activity of the psychoactive principles in another plant” (McKenna, 2004) and the effects can be felt anywhere from 30-60 minutes after ingestion of the brew.
“Ayahuasca brew consists of the ayahuasca vine or Banisteriopsis caapi and an admixture like the chacruna leaves or Psychotria viridis. Ayahuasca effects are caused by the synergistic interaction of β-carbolines (harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroarmine) contained in Banisteriopsis caapi stalks combined with the N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) from Psychotria viridis leaves, a potent agonist to serotonin (5-HT) receptors”.
The effects of an ayahuasca journey are subjective to the individual and produce a dream-like state that ranges from euphoric to outright terror.
It has been said that different parts of the same exact ayahuasca plant can bring about a different hallucinogenic experience to the same user (Plotkin, 2021). Questions have been asked; however, research has yet to take place in order to understand the various different admixtures for this Amazonian liana.
Different lineages of ayahuasca could potentially treat more specific illnesses such as cancer or stroke just as it has proven positive results, time and again, for treatment-resistant health issues such as Addiction or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, especially in United States Military Veterans.
A growing number of U.S. Veterans have sought alternative means of therapeutic relief through entheogens with positive results; though, the challenge that does remain is that more legitimate clinical studies must be conducted by the scientific community in order to gain support for the legalization in the United States so more people can reap the benefits of plant medicine.
Would you like to know more?
Be sure to read back on all of our articles about Entheogen Therapy or Psychedelic Plant Medicine derived from the scientific paper, “Reported results of Amazonian Entheogens for treatment of Complex-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD); Military Sexual Trauma (MST); and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among U.S. Military Veterans and the benefits of application through small group indigenous shamanic ceremonies”.
References:
Boling, Melanie (2021). Reported results of Amazonian Entheogens for treatment of Complex-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD); Military Sexual Trauma (MST); and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among U.S. Military Veterans and the benefits of application through small group indigenous shamanic ceremonies. The Amazon Rainforest: From Conservation to Climate Change-research. Harvard Summer School, August 9, 2021.
McKenna, Dennis J. “Clinical Investigations of the Therapeutic Potential of Ayahuasca: Rationale and Regulatory Challenges.” Pharmacology & Therapeutics 102, no. 2 (May 2004): 111–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2004.03.002.
Plotkin, M. J. (2021). The Amazon: What everyone needs to know. lecture notes The Amazon Rainforest: From Conservation to Climate Change- seminar. Harvard Summer School. Delivered July 2021.
About the author:
Melanie began attending Harvard in 2020 to complete a Graduate Certificate in Human Behavior with a specialization in Neuropsychology. Boling’s research has examined extreme environments and how they can have a potential negative impact on humans operating in the extreme environment. During her time at Harvard, she has built a mental wellness tool called a psychological field kit. Implementing these tools will allow an individual to thrive in an extreme environment while mitigating negative variables such as abnormal human behavior which can play a role in team degradation.
Melanie Boling, Extreme (ICE) Environments Behavioural Ecologist, Peer Wild; and Graduate Student of Neuropsychology, Harvard University.
contact: melanie.noelani@gopeerwild.org