Personality Traits in Former Spanish Substance Users Recovered with Ayahuasca

ABSTRACT

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew that contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine and monoamine oxidase-inhibiting alkaloids. It is originally from the Amazon rainforest, but since the 1990s it has expanded worldwide. The compound is used in different religious, spiritual, and therapeutic settings. One of its common applications is for the treatment of addiction. The current study is an assessment of the impact of ayahuasca on personality traits in former substance users from Catalonia and surrounding areas. When compared with a control group, the ayahuasca group had statistically significantly higher scores in the dimensions Novelty Seeking and Self-Transcendence, and in the traits Attachment, Impulsivity, Compassion, and Spiritual Acceptance. Results suggest that recovery could be related less to a reduction of Impulsivity and Novelty Seeking, main features of substance use disorder (SUD), and more to an increase of Character dimensions and traits, especially Self-Transcendence and Cooperativeness. Those changes could be triggered by self-reflective, prosocial, and transcendental ayahuasca ritual experiences, which in the qualitative part of the research were described by the participants as being of great importance for their recovery, helping with the reconstruction of personal goals, gratifications, social bonds, and the general life’s projection.

KEYWORDS:

• Ayahuasca
• ritual
• addiction Treatment
• Spain
• personality

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII), Uruguay, under Grant POS_-EXT_2013_1_13637.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest associated with this publication, and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.