Motive für den Konsum psychoaktiver Substanzen am Beispiel des Ayahuasca-Gebrauchs in der Santo-Daime-Gemeinschaft

Members of the Santo Daime Church in the Netherlands primarily use ayahuasca for religious or spiritual reasons, as well as for medicinal-psychotherapeutic self-treatment. Among 21 participants interviewed over a longitudinal study (2003–2012), 20 showed these motives. Other important reasons included the desire for social interaction (16 participants) and seeking new or extraordinary experiences (17 participants). Hedonistic motives, performance enhancement, or underlying pathologies were negligible. The findings indicate that reasons for ayahuasca use are diverse and not limited to addiction.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Objectives: The Santo Daime Church is a religious community originally founded in Brazil which has increasingly attracted followers in Europe and worldwide. An important element of the religious ceremonies is the ingestion of a psychoactive substance known as ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is a psychoactive or visionary-state-inducing concoction of plants, which contains, amongst other substances, dimethyltryptamine and MAO-inhibitors like harmaline. Methods: Within the framework of a longitudinal research project (2003 – 2012) Ayahuasca-consumers have been interviewed in Holland. Conclusions were drawn from interviews of 21 participants, done in three of totally fourteen measure points, on the basis of content analyses. Results: The most important motives for the use of ayahuasca are predominantly religious or spiritual. Users also showed the intention of medicinalpsychotherapeutical self-treatment. 20 of the 21 persons interviewed clearly demonstrated these motives. Further important motives were the desire for social interaction (n=16) and the search for new or extraordinary experiences (n=17) brought about by the use of a psychoactive substance. Hedonistic motives, an intention to improve performance or motives based on underlying pathologies or disorders were negligible. Conclusion: Based on the interviews of the members of the Santo Daime Church it becomes obvious that the reasons for the use of this psychoactive are manifold and should not be limited to pathologies like addiction. Through the chosen approach it was possible to analyze a target-oriented consumption of psychoactive substances and to get insight into the desired effects of drug consumption.