Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being
Background: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies have suggested that ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian beverage, could be helpful in the treatment of psychopathologies like depression and anxiety disorders by changing otherwise disturbed cognitive and emotional processes. To better understan...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-10-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Pharmacology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.721537/full |
id |
doaj-370de8da25a049c0b1cabeb77057f0eb |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-370de8da25a049c0b1cabeb77057f0eb2021-10-01T06:25:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pharmacology1663-98122021-10-011210.3389/fphar.2021.721537721537Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-BeingMaggie K. Kiraga0Natasha L. Mason1Malin V. Uthaug2Kim I.M. van Oorsouw3Stefan W. Toennes4Johannes G. Ramaekers5Kim P. C. Kuypers6Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsInstitute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, GermanyDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsBackground: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies have suggested that ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian beverage, could be helpful in the treatment of psychopathologies like depression and anxiety disorders by changing otherwise disturbed cognitive and emotional processes. To better understand its full therapeutic potential, one way is to study the effects on processes like flexible thinking, empathy, and well-being, which are normally compromised in stress-related psychopathologies.Materials and Methods: Volunteers attending ayahuasca ceremonies were asked to complete a test battery at three separate occasions: baseline, the morning after, and 1 week after the ceremony. We included the constructs of creative thinking (measured by Picture Concept Test), empathy (Multifaceted Empathy Test), satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale), decentering (Experiences Questionnaire), and personality (Big Five Inventory) into the test battery. Additionally, the psychedelic experience was quantified with the Persisting Effects Questionnaire, the Ego Dissolution Scale, and Visual Analogue Scales.Results: In total, 43 attendees (males = 22; females = 21) completed parts of the baseline assessment, 20 (males = 12; females = 8) completed assessments in the morning after the ceremony, and 19 (males = 14; females = 5) completed assessments at the 1-week follow-up. At one and 7 days post-ceremony, cognitive empathy, satisfaction with life, and decentering increased, while divergent thinking (Fluency corrected for Originality) decreased, when compared to baseline. Implicit emotional empathy increased at 1-week follow-up, whereas ratings of the trait neuroticism decreased.Conclusion: The study suggests that a single ingestion of ayahuasca in a social setting is associated with enhancement of subjective well-being, an enhanced ability to take an objective and non-judging stance towards the self (decentering), and the ability to correctly recognize emotions in others, compared to baseline, lasting up to 1 week post-ceremony. To understand the therapeutic potential related to these effects, further research with clinical populations is needed in which these effects can be assessed, including its link with therapeutic outcomes. Together, this will increase our understanding of the effectiveness and breadth of future therapeutic options.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.721537/fullayahuasca ceremonypersisting effectsempathycreativitywell-beingdecentering |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Maggie K. Kiraga Natasha L. Mason Malin V. Uthaug Kim I.M. van Oorsouw Stefan W. Toennes Johannes G. Ramaekers Kim P. C. Kuypers |
spellingShingle |
Maggie K. Kiraga Natasha L. Mason Malin V. Uthaug Kim I.M. van Oorsouw Stefan W. Toennes Johannes G. Ramaekers Kim P. C. Kuypers Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being Frontiers in Pharmacology ayahuasca ceremony persisting effects empathy creativity well-being decentering |
author_facet |
Maggie K. Kiraga Natasha L. Mason Malin V. Uthaug Kim I.M. van Oorsouw Stefan W. Toennes Johannes G. Ramaekers Kim P. C. Kuypers |
author_sort |
Maggie K. Kiraga |
title |
Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being |
title_short |
Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being |
title_full |
Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being |
title_fullStr |
Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being |
title_full_unstemmed |
Persisting Effects of Ayahuasca on Empathy, Creative Thinking, Decentering, Personality, and Well-Being |
title_sort |
persisting effects of ayahuasca on empathy, creative thinking, decentering, personality, and well-being |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Pharmacology |
issn |
1663-9812 |
publishDate |
2021-10-01 |
description |
Background: Naturalistic and placebo-controlled studies have suggested that ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian beverage, could be helpful in the treatment of psychopathologies like depression and anxiety disorders by changing otherwise disturbed cognitive and emotional processes. To better understand its full therapeutic potential, one way is to study the effects on processes like flexible thinking, empathy, and well-being, which are normally compromised in stress-related psychopathologies.Materials and Methods: Volunteers attending ayahuasca ceremonies were asked to complete a test battery at three separate occasions: baseline, the morning after, and 1 week after the ceremony. We included the constructs of creative thinking (measured by Picture Concept Test), empathy (Multifaceted Empathy Test), satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale), decentering (Experiences Questionnaire), and personality (Big Five Inventory) into the test battery. Additionally, the psychedelic experience was quantified with the Persisting Effects Questionnaire, the Ego Dissolution Scale, and Visual Analogue Scales.Results: In total, 43 attendees (males = 22; females = 21) completed parts of the baseline assessment, 20 (males = 12; females = 8) completed assessments in the morning after the ceremony, and 19 (males = 14; females = 5) completed assessments at the 1-week follow-up. At one and 7 days post-ceremony, cognitive empathy, satisfaction with life, and decentering increased, while divergent thinking (Fluency corrected for Originality) decreased, when compared to baseline. Implicit emotional empathy increased at 1-week follow-up, whereas ratings of the trait neuroticism decreased.Conclusion: The study suggests that a single ingestion of ayahuasca in a social setting is associated with enhancement of subjective well-being, an enhanced ability to take an objective and non-judging stance towards the self (decentering), and the ability to correctly recognize emotions in others, compared to baseline, lasting up to 1 week post-ceremony. To understand the therapeutic potential related to these effects, further research with clinical populations is needed in which these effects can be assessed, including its link with therapeutic outcomes. Together, this will increase our understanding of the effectiveness and breadth of future therapeutic options. |
topic |
ayahuasca ceremony persisting effects empathy creativity well-being decentering |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.721537/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT maggiekkiraga persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing AT natashalmason persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing AT malinvuthaug persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing AT kimimvanoorsouw persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing AT stefanwtoennes persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing AT johannesgramaekers persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing AT kimpckuypers persistingeffectsofayahuascaonempathycreativethinkingdecenteringpersonalityandwellbeing |
_version_ |
1716861998957854720 |