Are You Suffering from Depression? Learn How Ayahuasca Can Help

Suffering from depression can be taxing, debilitating, horrific, and confusing. The illness comes in different degrees, and there are many reasons that it can come about.

No depression is the same, although we use similar methods to treat every case. Many people find that their depression is resistant to treatment and their illness persists. It may be necessary to take alternative approaches to treat depression in some cases. 

We’re going to discuss the relationship between depression and ayahuasca in this article. We’ll go over a little more about depression and cover some specifics about ayahuasca, followed by an examination of how ayahuasca can treat depression.

How Do We Normally See Depression?

Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness. It can be seen as a “chemical imbalance” of the brain, or a simple misalignment of one’s life and behaviors. It can also come in the wake of traumatic events, physical disabilities, bad luck, and more.

So, as it stands, some people have depression in their mind’s chemical balance and some are subjected to it by their environment. Interestingly, most standard treatments of depression offer the same set of drugs in order to deal with each individual case, no matter how the depression started. 

Paired with talk therapy, anti-depressants are used as a way to offset chemical imbalances and restore a person back to a healthy state of mind. This treatment does work in a lot of cases. 

With that said, there are a number of variables involved. First, the correct anti-depressant can take months to find. These drugs take 6-8 weeks before they can reliably show results, and the process must be repeated in order to find a drug that works for the individual. 

That’s a long time for a person who’s suffering from severe depression. Often, those people are at risk of suicide every day. Next, it’s also difficult to find a therapist that works well with an individual. 

Talk therapy isn’t simply having a chat about the weather; therapy requires trust, effort, comfortability, and compassion. Not all people can have the kind of rapport that’s needed to make progress with depression. 

Alternative Ideas about Depression

There are a lot of alternative ideas about depression and how it should be treated. People have been getting depressed or melancholy for as long we’ve been around. 

Alternative methods of treatment look at the entire human being, considering all elements of life that could be contributing to depression. In a lot of cases, this means treating the illness not with a pill, but with a change in the person’s set of behaviors. 

This can be a difficult thing for some people to do. It’s hard to admit that you may be responsible for your current state, or that there are things that you have to do on your own in order to feel better. 

This is difficult, in part, because doing the work requires that a person faces truths about themselves that are painful. The other part is that many Western people believe that all mental illness can be regulated with medication. 

The human mind is a very complicated, mysterious, and delicate thing. A pill or two cannot unpack all of the mental baggage that’s weighing a person down.

One way to sift through that baggage and get to the source of an issue is through the use of psychedelics. The psychedelic experience is one that puts a person’s life in perspective in ways that are non-linear and nearly impossible under normal circumstances. 

One such psychedelic is ayahuasca.

What is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca is a South American psychedelic that’s been brewed by shamans for generations. It is the combination of two plants: one that serves as the psychoactive ingredient, and one that prevents our stomach acid from breaking down the psychedelic properties.

Ayahuasca is said to send people on a very intense, vivid, and objectively profound journey. The experience lasts for a number of hours and is guided by a shaman who can work with you to get through the journey. 

By all accounts, ayahuasca is a psychedelic that stands in its own class. Psilocybin, LSD, and DMT all have a similar molecular structure, but ayahuasca is unique in its effect and length of experience. 

Many people claim to interact with beings, meet everyone they’ve ever loved, receive divine insights, and become aware of the solutions to their problems. Depression is one such problem that some people have solved under the influence of ayahuasca.

Can it Treat My Depression?

A simple answer to that question is yes. Ayahuasca has, in many cases, cured a person’s depression. 

With that said, there is no guarantee that it will cure your depression. There are some things that you can keep in mind, though, that will help ayahuasca in treating your mental ailments. 

First, prepare for a non-linear, entirely new experience. If you haven’t used any psychedelics in a structured way before, you can have very little idea of what is about to come. The key is that you keep a very open mind. 

It’s easy to imagine that you will receive and understand the information in the ways you always have, but this will be something totally different. The experience of ayahuasca is one of embodiment, oneness, and synesthesia. At the same time, it is a profoundly subjective experience. 

So, you can think of it as a manifestation of the outside world that plays out in uniquely personal ways within your mind. Some of that process might touch on things that are central to your depression. 

The valuable thing about ayahuasca, in contrast to something like marijuana or alcohol, is that the experience draws you out of yourself so that you can look more objectively at your life and how you live it. 

This, in many cases, leads to a behavioral change in people who may have been living in ways that are hurting them. If you’re looking to find out more about the relationship between ayahuasca and depression, learn more here.

Keep an Open Mind

Doing ayahuasca in a fragile emotional state might seem like a bad idea for you. That’s totally understandable, but we suggest that you do your research. Keep your eyes open for new ideas that could help you out. 

Visit our site if you’re interested in finding more ways to feel better and work towards a better life.