Citation

Zeifman RJ, Palhano-Fontes F, Hallak J, Arcoverde E, Maia-Oliveira JP, Araujo DB. Front. Pharmacol. 2019; 10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fphar.2019.01325

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide is a major public health problem. Given increasing suicide rates and limitations surrounding current interventions, there is an urgent need for innovative interventions for suicidality. Although ayahuasca has been shown to target mental health concerns associated with suicidality (i.e., depression and hopelessness), research has not yet explored the impact of ayahuasca on suicidality. Therefore, we conducted secondary analyses of a randomized placebo-controlled trial in which individuals with treatment-resistant depression were administered one dose of ayahuasca (n = 14) or placebo (n = 15). Suicidality was assessed by a trained psychiatrist at baseline, as well as 1 day, 2 days, and 7 days after the intervention. A fixed-effects linear mixed model, as well as between and within-groups Cohen's d effect sizes were used to examine changes in suicidality. Controlling for baseline suicidality, we found a significant effect for time (p <.05). The effect of the intervention (i.e., ayahuasca vs. placebo) trended toward significance (p =.088). At all time points, we found medium between-group effect sizes (i.e., ayahuasca vs. placebo; day 1 Cohen's d = 0.58; day 2 d = 0.56; day 7 d = 0.67), as well as large within-group (ayahuasca; day 1 Cohen's d = 1.33; day 2 d = 1.42; day 7 d = 1.19) effect sizes, for decreases in suicidality.

CONCLUSIONS: This research is the first to explore the impact of ayahuasca on suicidality. The findings suggest that ayahuasca may show potential as an intervention for suicidality. We highlight important limitations of the study, potential mechanisms, and future directions for research on ayahuasca as an intervention for suicidality. © 2019 BioMed Central Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

adult; human; suicide; female; male; Suicidality; randomized controlled trial; suicidal behavior; controlled study; antidepressant agent; disease association; psychiatrist; clinical article; unclassified drug; double blind procedure; drug mechanism; placebo; psychiatric diagnosis; drug effect; drug response; Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale; Article; single drug dose; exploratory research; parallel design; time factor; effect size; secondary analysis; Randomized controlled trial; treatment resistant depression; Psychedelics; ayahuasca; Ayahuasca; Novel intervention