The Exploration of Naturalistically used Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT: An assessment of their respective Sub-acute and Long-Term effects on Mental Health Related Variables

The research summarized in this doctoral dissertation sought to investigate the effects of both ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT on mental health-related variables such as affect (depression, anxiety and stress), mindfulness related capacities (observing, describing, awareness, non-judgement, and non-reactance), empathy, creativity, and subjective well-being. The main objective motivating this dissertation was to explore whether ingestion of ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT is related to the improvement in the aforementioned mental health variables. Secondly, this dissertation aimed to assess whether the magnitude of the psychedelic experience (for example mystical experiences and experience with ego dissolution) induced by ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT was correlated with changes in the mental health related variables.