POSTER PRESENTERS

Although people with bipolar disorder have suicidal tendencies and limited treatment options, we are usually excluded from ayahuasca ceremonies – and Psychedelic Science studies too. Given the anecdotal and clinical evidence indicating ayahuasca’s efficacy for treating depression, my PhD questions whether ayahuasca is safe and effective for treating bipolar disorder?

There is valid concern that ayahuasca would worsen manic/depressive symptoms in people with bipolar disorder, because most antidepressants and psychedelics do so. Having collected qualitative data from 75 bipolar people who have drunk ayahuasca, I acknowledge numerous cases of bipolar people becoming manic after drinking ayahuasca. But detailed analysis indicates that many of these are false negative results, and that the real majority of bipolar people have therapeutically-positive experiences with ayahuasca. I explain these contradictory results by deconstructing the set and setting of ayahuasca ceremonies, as well as deconstructing the tea itself.

Having cross-referenced chromatographic and autoethnographic data from 100 samples of ayahuasca tea, I conclude that the crucial determining factor for people with bipolar disorder is the cooking technique, because cooking variations affect the ratios of ayahuasca’s 4 psychoactive ingredients.

I will also present my theories about the receptor binding times of 5-TH2AR agonists, Peganum harmala substitution, ayahuasca fermentation, the interaction between DMT and SSRIs, and tetrahydroharmine oxidization. These theories provide scientific feasibility for my dogma-refuting evidence that ayahuasca can be medicinal for people with bipolar disorder.

I am developing an ayahuasca ceremony protocol that is tailored for bipolar brains, and I invite bipolar people to be included in Psychedelic Science.