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Age Less / Live More

597: The Rise of Ayahuasca in Mental Health Treatment with Dr. Simon Ruffell

Age Less / Live More

Lucas Rockwood

Love, Detox, Food, Yogabody, Pranayama, Vegan, Selfimprovement, Self-improvement, Relationships, Meditation, Breathing, Education, Emotions, Mental, Vegetarian, Inspiring, Leader, Balance, Motivating, Weightloss, Flexibility, Habits, Health, Motivation, Yoga, Nutrition

4.81.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mental health is a huge and growing problem, and psychedelic medicine is suddenly on a fast track toward legalization. Ayahuasca is a traditional medicine used in the Amazon for hundreds of years as part of healing ceremonies. Its use has been largely confined to retreat settings, but as mental health professionals seek new options for treating depression, anxiety, and PTSD among other conditions, many are looking to the past to inform the future of psychiatric medicine. My guest on this week’s podcast is at the forefront of the movement.

Listen and learn:

  • About the curious combination of plants that create this drug
  • Set and setting considerations for traditional use
  • Legal and safety concerns
  • Ceremonial vs. clinical use
  • The “pill for an ill” risk vs. the reality of potential benefits

Learn more

Simon’s Site

ABOUT OUT GUEST

Dr. Simon Ruffell is a psychiatrist known for his research on ayahuasca and study of curanderismo. Since 2016, he has collaborated with Indigenous communities in the Amazon basin to investigate the traditional use of ayahuasca and its effects on mental health.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Iowaska is a psychoactive brew. It's been used for hundreds, maybe even over a

0:07.4

thousand years by indigenous tribes of the Amazon Basin, probably most notably

0:12.4

right now in terms of Peru and Brazil,

0:15.1

Guatemala sometimes you'll hear about people going down for ceremonies.

0:19.2

Iowasca is actually a combination of things. There's the Iowasca vine,

0:23.7

and it's combined with something that contains DMT,

0:26.9

something like a chakruna plant,

0:29.4

but there are other plants that are used.

0:31.5

It is brewed up differently by different people so I'm told I'm

0:36.1

certainly not an expert in Iowasca. My guest on this week's podcast is he's a

0:40.2

psychiatrist who is studying Iowasca and psychedelics for their use in mental health, including

0:46.6

PTSD with veterans.

0:48.6

This has been a recurring theme on the podcast of late because psychedelic medicine is burgeoning and even though it's certainly not

0:55.6

something new the potential legalization and integration of many of these substances

1:01.6

seems to be fast-tracked all around the world.

1:04.0

And so many people who have never considered things like

1:08.0

iboga, things like iwasca, things like silocybin,

1:12.0

ketamine, for example, for treatment, resistant,

1:15.0

depression are suddenly, potentially getting access to new substances, new chemicals, in some cases,

1:22.0

new drugs, new plant-based medicines that might be of use.

1:26.7

I have mixed feelings about all of this, but I'm certainly interested and actively researching.

1:30.9

If you're new here, it's the Lucas Rockwood show. I'm a yoga teacher and trainer. I'm a serial entrepreneur. I'm the father of three kids, but firstly I'm a student. I like to learn things. So I find people, researchers, medical doctors, PhDs, and yoga teachers,

...

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