A study has found that ayahuasca – a hallucinogenic vine from the Amazon – can improve speech performance in people with social anxiety.
Rafael Guimarães dos Santos, from the Department of Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of São Paulo, made some intriguing discoveries involving the impact of a hallucinogenic vine on those with anxiety.
Santos stated that, “Social anxiety disorder is a prevalent, under-diagnosed, anxiety disorder with limited treatment options.”
According to dos Santos, those with social anxiety tend to have a negative perception “toward their social performance”.
“Ayahuasca, besides having antidepressant and anxiolytic potentials, could (maybe) change this negative cognitive bias, since its performance-enhancing properties have been described anecdotally.”
Seventeen people who suffer from social anxiety volunteered to take part in the study.
After taking the drug or the placebo, volunteers were to “remain as quiet and introspective as possible” in a reclining chair.
suggesting ayahuasca for our next team building activity
— madame ham (@OneHipLies) August 24, 2021
Approximately five hours later, when the effects of the drug should have worn off, the volunteers were tasked with preparing for and preforming a four-minute speech on-camera.
While the results showed that the drug didn’t reduce “subjective anxiety symptoms”, it did show that “a single dose of ayahuasca improved the self-perception of performance during a public-speaking task”.
In other words, ayahuasca made the individuals feel more confident, which could mean that the drug “improve[s] the cognitive aspect of [one’s] speech performance”.
Ayahuasca is native to the Amazon, where Indigenous tribes use it as an ingredient to make a hallucinogenic drink (also known as Ayahuasca) “for spiritual and religious purposes”. It’s brewed using the leaves of the chacruna plant and the stalks of the ayahuasca or caapi vine.
The Ayahuasca planet is amazing👌🏾 ..healing properties in this must be protected. Included indigenous lands in the Amazon. Let’s plant more of these across the globe❤️🙏🏾
— Kelvin Taylor Actor (@KelvinTaylorACT) August 28, 2021
The caapi vine is known for containing beta-Carboline, chemicals that induce hallucinations if ingested. Its effects are maintained by the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI) present in the chacruna leaves.
Amongst indigenous communities, the practice of brewing the drink was, and still is, conducted by shamans.
Regardless of the vine’s perceived benefits, common side effects from consuming the drug may include “vomiting, diarrhea, feelings of euphoria, strong visual and auditory hallucinations, mind-altering psychedelic effects, fear, and paranoia”.
Use with caution.
