Through many studies, Ayahuasca is believed to be able to eliminate suicide desire. There are many reasons why a person has suicidal intentions. This often occurs as a result of depression or other stresses in life. In one study, it was found that ayahuasca in Your Highest Truth Healings can reduce a person’s tendency to want to commit suicide. However, further studies are still needed to strengthen this statement. In 1990, Richard Strassman, a psychiatrist at the University of Mexico, received permission from the US government to inject DMT into human volunteers. His study, from 1990 to 1995, involved 60 subjects who received injections of DMT over 400 sessions. Most subjects said they felt the presence of a powerful being, such as a god, or that they dissolved into a glowing light, according to the Scientific American article.
Yet, about 25 subjects witnessed images of alien robots, insects, or serpents, and behind the “travel” could not be persuaded that they were merely hallucinations. This detrimental effect caused Strassman to discontinue his research. He wrote about the experience in his book, “DMT: The Spirit Molecule” (Park Street Press, 2001). Physical effects of drinking ayahuasca include vomiting, diarrhea, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, higher rectal temperature, and pupil dilation. It can also increase blood concentrations of naturally occurring pain relievers, such as beta-endorphins, corticotropins, cortisol, and prolactin, and also increase levels of growth hormone, according to a study by the University of New Mexico.
In this study, researchers found that DMT could be safely administered to experienced hallucinogen users. However, although this was a double-blind, saline placebo-controlled test and a randomized design, there were only 11 test subjects. In another little study, at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, experimenters gave a benign amount of ayahuasca to six volunteers in an inpatient psychiatric department and discovered that the ayahuasca helped the subjects with their depression.
Another study, also by University of Sao Paulo researchers, was a little more substantial, but not much. The test involved 17 psychiatric patients. Of the 17 people, six found that their depressive symptoms were helped by the use of ayahuasca. Also, 47 percent of patients vomited during the test.
