Study to investigate ayahuasca’s effects on trauma linked to migration

Psychedelic research nonprofit Unlimited Sciences announced a new study that intends to measure the potential healing effects of ayahuasca on refugees and immigrants with past experiences of trauma.

According to a company release, the study — expected to commence this summer — will engage mostly female immigrants and refugees seeking remedial therapy through the psychoactive hallucinogenic, which has been identified as a candidate for the treatment of trauma.

Ayahuasca produces powerful experiences that have been likened to intense psychotherapy. Many refugees and immigrants endure complex and multilayered forms of distress, including physical and sexual violence, persecution, experiences of war and torture, life-threatening situations and tense journeys before and during the process of migration. The mind-altering psychedelic effects produced by ayahuasca can have lasting and severe long-term mental health consequences, yet few studies have examined the impact of trauma experienced after migration.

“Despite robust reports and significant historical roots recognizing the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, the psychoactive alkaloid present, N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is a Schedule I controlled substance classified as having ‘no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,’” Matthew X. Lowe, PhD, research director at Unlimited Sciences and principal investigator for the study, said in the release. “Alternative treatment options are desperately needed.

Unlimited Sciences has initiated a GoFundMe campaign to raise the necessary $50,000 to fund the study.