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"Getting to the Root": Ayahuasca Ceremony Leaders' Perspectives on Eating Disorders
Meris Williams1, Annie Kingston Miller2, Anja Loizaga-Velder3
1Private Practice, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
|September 29, 2022
Summary
Ayahuasca ceremonies may offer a novel complementary treatment for eating disorders (EDs). Leaders view EDs as complex issues, with ayahuasca potentially facilitating healing by addressing root causes and promoting holistic well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Medical Anthropology
- Ethnobotany
Background:
- Eating disorders (EDs) present significant challenges due to high mortality, chronicity, and treatment dropout rates.
- Innovative therapeutic approaches are crucial for improving outcomes in EDs.
- Ayahuasca, a psychoactive Amazonian plant medicine, is emerging as a potential novel intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore ayahuasca ceremony leaders' conceptualizations of eating disorders.
- To understand perceived therapeutic mechanisms of ayahuasca for EDs from a shamanic perspective.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative content analysis of interviews with 15 ayahuasca ceremony leaders.
- Exploration of shamanic perspectives on ED etiology and ayahuasca's action.
Main Results:
- Leaders conceptualize EDs as symptomatic of deeper issues, serving specific functions, and impacting overall health.
- Perceived mechanisms include ayahuasca facilitating "energetic healing," processing root causes, promoting holistic health, and reorganizing relationships.
Conclusions:
- Ceremonial ayahuasca use may represent a potentially useful, novel, and complementary intervention for individuals with EDs.
- Findings align with previous exploratory research, suggesting further investigation is warranted.
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