In accordance for the 2015 report in Character, it truly is “biochemically plausible that ayahuasca could tackle melancholy – recommended site, its vegetation comprise compounds that alter the concentrations of your respective respective mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin when from the head – as do industrial antidepressants.” 20
But how about the numerous study on despair that debunk the serotonin deficiency resolution?
If despair is just not severely mostly induced by diminished serotonin, since the scientific tests say, which transpires to be moreso affiliated to inflammation, then how can the conversation in between the serotonergic method and psychedelics, like ayahuasca, have an impact on depressive indicators?
I’m undecided I have the solutions outlined in this report, but what I DID find thrilling skilled been the scientific checks that determined the consequences of both equally equally DMT, in addition the harmalas identified although inside of the Amazonian brew, on inflammation in the program in the human human entire body.
Ayahuasca & Its Results on Irritation
The beta-carbolines discovered while in the ayahuasca vine itself, harmine and harmaline, have been shown to have significant anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects. 21
In accordance to a 2016 study on the therapeutic potentials of ayahuasca, it was identified that “ayahuasca may act against chronic very low grade irritation and oxidative stress,” by acting on the sigma-1 receptor. 22
This same receptor was of interest in a 2014 study on DMT and inflammatory responses.
The results concluded that DMT, another component within your ayahuasca brew, might be more than JUST a neuromodulator or psychedelic, as it was shown to affect the same sigma-1 receptor, making it a promising candidate for chronic inflammatory conditions. If psychedelic investigation continues to progress forward, the future could highlight a new biological role for DMT. 23
So at this stage, the outcomes suggest that ayahuasca DOES play a part in reducing inflammation although during the entire human overall body.
As great as all of this scientific study is, there’s still a major aspect within the psychedelic experience that science can’t measure or account for.
The subjective, transcendental, inner spiritual experience…
Despair & Spiritual Disconnection
The pharmaceutical product tells us melancholy stems from lower serotonin. The science is telling us it is bodily irritation. Ask an indigenous shaman, or someone deeply connected with their spiritual essence, and they’ll likely mention that melancholy arises from a disconnect with our true self.
In an interview with Psychedelic times, Matthew Watherston, founder within the ayahuasca center Temple on the Way of Light, says that “True healing just isn’t truly about ‘curing’ but bringing the whole overall overall body back into alignment.” 24
The whole human system includes the physical, emotional, mental, energetic and spiritual aspects of our being.
We know that ayahuasca and other psychedelics allow dissolution from our ego and physical sense of self, allowing us to ride the waves of inter-dimensional consciousness. It is actually unanimous that these transcendental experiences and journeys into alternate realities have a significant influence on those who choose to drink this Amazonian brew.
Hundreds, if not thousands of anecdotal accounts exist online, from those who undertake this ineffable white-knuckle sleigh ride, experiencing mind-blowing mystical states of consciousness, often being catapulted from dimension to dimension, coming into contact with seemingly intelligent sentient beings in realities that stretch beyond our imagination.
After experiencing something of this character, it opens the doors of perception to see the bigger picture, allowing us the recognition that we’re connected to something much larger than just our individual sense of self.
As far as being the practical side from the equation goes, the beauty of these journeys is that they allow us to see things from different angles, restructuring and reframing limiting perspectives and beliefs.
They allow us a bird’s eye view of our personality, our character, our habits and patterns.
They allow the integration of fragmented parts of our psyche.
They help open our hearts to allow forgiveness, compassion, understanding, love and peace.
They provide the opportunity to relive past experiences and undergo extraordinary healings, often resolving traumas from our past that contribute to our imbalances, such as melancholy.
The science even tells us that despair is potentially due to responses from our stress-system that ended up ingrained at birth, or even in-utero. 25
Perhaps ayahuasca contributes to our healing by restoring these dysfunctional patterns across all levels – the physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual.
What seems being the case, is that in these states, we reconnect to something equally beyond ourselves, and deep inside ourselves. The essence of who we actually are.
When we place all with the pieces on the puzzle together, it seems likely that despair IS merely a symptom, telling our physique, mind and spirit to come back into alignment.