Ayahuasca and public health: health status, psychosocial well-being, lifestyle, and coping strategies in a large sample of ritual ayahuasca users
Abstract
= 380) in places where ayahuasca ceremonies were occurring. Public health indicators were compared with Spanish normative data, and intergroup analyses were conducted. Long-term ayahuasca use was associated with higher positive perception of health or with a healthy lifestyle, among other outcomes. Fifty-six percent of the sample reported reducing their use of prescription drugs due to ayahuasca use. Participants who used ayahuasca more than 100 times scored higher in personal values measures. The main conclusion of this study is that a respectful and controlled use of hallucinogenic/psychedelic drugs taken in communitarian settings can be incorporated into modern society with benefits for public health. This new approach, based on the use of health indicators that were not used in previous ayahuasca studies, offers relevant information about the impact of long-term exposure to ayahuasca on public health.
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Individuals who regularly use ayahuasca in a communal setting exhibit higher general well-being, increased physical activity, and balanced diet than the general population.
“Several studies have evidenced that individuals who regularly use ayahuasca in a communal setting exhibit a higher level of general well-being, increased physical activity, and balanced diet than the general population (27–29).”
From Ayahuasca-assisted meaning reconstruction therapy for grief: a non-randomized clinical trial protocol (2025) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Ona, G., Kohek, M., Massaguer, T., Gomariz, A., Jiménez, D. F., Dos Santos, R. G., Hallak, J. E. C., Alcázar-Córcoles, M. Á., & Bouso, J. C.
- Affiliations
- International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Services (ICEERS), Barcelona, Spain
- International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ES)
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (BR)
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Corresponding author
- Bouso, José Carlos
- Venue
- Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-02-07
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 135-145
- ISSN
- 0279-1072 (ISSN-L)
- 2159-9777
- OpenAlex
- W2914190175
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 12.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Keywords
- ayahuasca, public health, health status, psychosocial well-being, healthy lifestyle, coping strategies, personal values, hallucinogens, psychedelics, ayahuasca ceremonies
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Aged, Ceremonial Behavior, Female, Hallucinogens, Health Status, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Public Health, Surveys and Questionnaires, Spain, Time Factors, Banisteriopsis
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