26th September 2019 • Sticky Post

Iboga Therapy and Why It Works

A burgeoning movement is underway, pushing the benefits that so-called “plant teachers” like iboga, ayahuasca, and psilocybin can offer individuals suffering from ailments ranging from addiction to depression, PTSD, and anxiety into the mainstream. As these remarkable substances have come to the attention of notable thinkers and writers such as Tim Ferriss, Michael Pollan, and Dr. Gabor Mate, it seems like they are about to burst into the popular consciousness and finally be recognized as the powerful medicines they are, escaping the stigma of the “drug” label they’ve borne for decades. As society begins to recognize the immense potential of these plants to induce positive change, let’s take a look at how iboga treatment has helped transform thousands of lives.

Iboga Therapy For Addiction

We’ve written before about exactly how iboga therapy works for those battling addiction. Iboga therapy is particularly effective in treating opiates and opioids because it acts as an opioid antagonist. This means that the substance creates molecules which bind with opioid receptors in the central nervous system, and interact with serotonin and dopamine receptors in the brain. This causes a pronounced reduction in withdrawal symptoms and disrupts cravings for this family of drugs. It also is believed to return addicts to a “pre-addicted state,” meaning that Iboga can return your tolerance to novice user levels, and offer you a 3-6 month window where you probably won’t have a desire to use or abuse opiates or opioids.

Iboga therapy has also proved beneficial in treating a variety of other addictive behaviors. Studies have shown that iboga can similarly reduce cravings for alcohol and stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines. It also offers the benefit of opening the addicted mind to the possibility of a dramatic lifestyle change, and offering renewed connections to one’s community and one’s true self. The aforementioned Dr. Mate recommends substances like ayahuasca and iboga for their unique abilities to help the addicted acknowledge and come to terms with past traumas that have led them into the addicted state. He notes that once we learn to cope with our psychic wounds, “we are free to connect with others without fear and reclaim the community for which addiction served as a substitution.”

While we would urge caution on those promoting iboga therapy as a miracle cure for drug addiction, we have seen first-hand what it can do. Iboga acts as an “addiction interrupter,” which frees the addict from debilitating withdrawal symptoms and cravings, and allows them a window of time to work on transforming their self-destructive thoughts and behaviors into healthy and positive patterns. Iboga isn’t a magic bullet that will destroy your addiction, but it can give you time to begin a sober life, and build the skills, support network, self-discipline, and habits that will enable you to live your best life!

Iboga therapy For Trauma and Other Psychological Disorders

In addition to its utility in fighting addiction, iboga has proven itself to be a valuable tool in treating PTSD and other psychological disorders. According to Dr. C.M. Anderson of the Harvard Medical School, “Iboga works through multiple neurotransmitter systems to create..  (a) state of plasticity similar to states of plasticity existing during fetal development. This critical brain state may facilitate the consolidation of traumatic memories, reversal of abnormal hemispheric functions, and the dissolution of habitual motor patterns associated with addiction.”  In other words, the substance creates conditions in the brain which are ideal for working through the psychic pain at the root of many psychological disorders.

An iboga experience often involves a vivid and intense period of re-experiencing one’s past, followed by several hours of introspection and reflection. Many of those who’ve experienced iboga therapy find that confronting and acknowledging past trauma allows them to address the scars which have led to depression, anxiety, and trauma. Large numbers of patients who’ve undergone iboga therpay have noted that facing their demons has let them feel powerful enough to acknowledge and live with their pain, and that this realization has been a profoundly freeing experience. One user credits a visionary experience with leading him to the realization “that every emotion is as valid as any other… it was okay to have negative thoughts. That’s life. For me, trying to resist emotions just amplified them. Once I was in this state, it was beautiful—a feeling of deep contentment.”

Researchers have found that many sufferers of depression describe their affliction as first and foremost “a state of disconnection,” whether from other people, their earlier selves, their senses and feelings, their core beliefs and spiritual values, or nature. Iboga and other oneirogenics and psychedelics have demonstrated the ability to reconnect these patients to the world around them. Many liken their experiences with these remarkable plants to breaking out of a prison in which they’d been trapped.

Changing Lives and Opening Minds

Psychological disorders and addiction can both engender a sense of hopelessness. All of these afflictions create a mental atmosphere in which the idea of recovery or change appears impossible. One of the greatest benefits that iboga therapy offers is a ray of hope. Plant teachers can shake up chronically negative thought patterns, and allow the patient to see themselves in a new light: as an individual with the power to enact dramatic change in their own life. As Dr. Mate writes of Ayahuasca, “The documented unity of mind and body means that… experiential transformation… can powerfully affect the hormonal apparatus, the nervous and immune systems, and all organs such as the brain, the gut, and the heart. Hence the healing potential of the plant, seen through the lens of Western science.”

If you’re interested in experiencing the healing potential of Iboga therapy, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Iboga Tree Healing House today!