ayahuasca as a psychedelic

ayahuasca is a plant-based psychedelic. Psychedelics affect all the senses, altering a person’s thinking, sense of time and emotions. They can cause a person to hallucinate—seeing or hearing things that do not exist or are distorted.

ayahuasca is a decoction made by prolonged heating or boiling of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with the leaves of the Psychotria viridis shrub, although there can be a variety of other plants included in the decoction for different traditional purposes. The active chemical in ayahuasca is DMT (dimethyltryptamine). It also contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors .

ayahuasca has been used for centuries by First Nations peoples from contemporary Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador for religious ritual and therapeutic purposes.

What does ayahuasca it look like?

Ayahuasca is a brown-reddish drink with a strong taste and smell.

How is it used?

Ayahuasca is drunk as a liquid.

Effects of ayahuasca

There is no safe level of drug use. Use of any drug always carries some risk. It’s important to be careful when taking any type of drug.

Ayahuasca affects everyone differently, based on:

• the person’s size, weight and health
• whether the person is used to taking it
• whether other drugs are taken around the same time
• the amount taken
• the strength of the decoction.

The effects of ayahuasca are subjective, but may include:

• nausea and vomiting (induced by drinking the decoction)*
• diarrhoea*
• euphoria
• feelings of connection and unity
• introspection
• intense visual and auditory hallucinations
• experiencing powerful emotions
• anxiety
• moderate increase in blood pressure and heart rate
• increased body temperature.

*When ayahuasca is taken in a traditional or ritual setting, these effects may be perceived as cleansing or purging and a part of the spiritual or healing journey.

Bad trips

Some people may have negative experiences taking psychedelics, or experiences they find challenging.** This can include experiencing:

• frightening or confronting hallucinations
• intense anxiety and confusion
• fear and paranoia

**These experiences may be understood or interpreted differently in a traditional or ritual context, where they may be seen as lessons and part of a spiritual or healing journey rather than wholly negative.

Long-term effects

Ayahuasca does not appear to have a negative impact on the body.¹ Existing research indicates that long-term use of ayahuasca is not associated with a loss of cognitive functioning or negative mental health outcomes.