Plant Teachers: 5 Ways Iboga Is Healing Humanity

15th July 2020 • Sticky Post

Plant Teachers: 5 Ways Iboga Is Healing Humanity

Iboga is a remarkable substance derived from the roots of a West African shrub. It’s a psychoactive substance that is sacred to followers of the Bwiti spiritual tradition in Gabon and Cameroon, who use iboga in ceremonies for healing, rites of passage, and initiation rituals. It is believed to strengthen family and community structures, resolve pathological problems, and promote radical spiritual growth. But the use of iboga has spread around the world, especially after American Howard Lotsof discovered its utility in curtailing the withdrawal symptoms and cravings he suffered as he attempted to end his addiction to heroin. Iboga has had a fascinating history, but at present, it is proving extremely helpful in curing a wide variety of ailments. Today we’ll be taking a look at how this plant medicine is healing humanity’s ills.

1) Healing Addictions

This is the best known of iboga’s many uses. The substance interacts with the central nervous system in ways that eliminate many of the debilitating mental and physical side-effects of withdrawal. Studies have proven that iboga is capable of re-setting the brain’s dopamine receptors to a “pre-addicted state”, freeing the addict from intense cravings and acting as an “addiction interrupter.” Iboga also increases neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to develop and use new neural pathways, which allows those in recovery to develop healthy new habits, patterns of thought, and ways of life.

A Mexican study found that after a single dose of Iboga, two-thirds of the heroin addicts treated went a month without relapsing, and 4 of the study’s 30 participants were still sober one year later. Another study in Brazil experimented with giving iboga treatment and psychotherapy to 75 individuals addicted to cocaine, crack, alcohol, and cannabis. The researchers found that the “results suggest that the use of iboga supervised by a physician and accompanied by psychotherapy can facilitate prolonged periods of abstinence, without the occurrence of fatalities or complications.”

2) Healing PTSD

When taken in large doses, iboga can induce powerful and vivid visions, creating an oneirogenic state in the user. The types of visions experienced with iboga are often deeply personal, and illuminating, in that they often take a patient back through formative, emotional, and painful moments in their past. For those suffering from PTSD, this can be extremely powerful, as iboga allows the patient to confront the trauma and pain behind the condition. As one researcher puts it, “iboga has a profound ability to guide people through a journey of self-reconciliation.” Viewing a traumatic event as an observer rather than a participant has helped many PTSD sufferers to gain closure, learn to forgive themselves and others, and move on with their lives.

The benefits of increased neuroplasticity are also very helpful for PTSD sufferers. Iboga allows the user to recognize and break negative, self-destructive, and self-reinforcing patterns of thought and behavior that had previously seemed intractable. Dr. C.M. Anderson of Harvard Medical School feels that the “brain state [induced by iboga] may facilitate the consolidation of traumatic memories, the reversal of abnormal hemispheric functions, and the dissolution of habitual motor patterns.”

3) Healing Depression

Because of its ability to create a fresh perspective on the problems and frustrations of life, and to let the user step outside of themselves, iboga has helped many people suffering from depression. To look at life’s difficulties with fresh eyes and experience a sense of connection with the universe and the people around you is a profoundly beneficial experience for those feeling isolated and trapped in depression. Many depressed people describe their experiences with oneirogenics as an escape from solitary confinement in a mental prison.

Depression is usually defined primarily as a state of disconnection, so the visceral sense of connection to their communities and environments which ibogaine can induce is a powerful counter to depressive disorders. Researchers have hypothesized that iboga’s interactions with the neurotransmitters governing the production and release of dopamine and other neural systems can also be a boon to those struggling with depression.

4) Healing Eating Disorders

The latest thinking on eating disorders posits that they fall into the realm of "addiction", with roots in past trauma, which drive the afflicted to gain pleasure and release from pain through their emotional relationships with food. The neural processes of addiction and eating disorders are similar in nature, with pathways, transmitters, and receptors adapting to trap the sufferer in a never-ending pattern of destructive behavior.

Iboga therapy has the benefit of boosting levels of GDNF, a protein that is produced by the brain in early childhood. GDNF aids the production of new neurons and allows for higher levels of neuroplasticity, which is immeasurably helpful with creating and sustaining new habits and patterns of decision making and behavior. This can make a world of difference as anorexics, bulimics, and compulsive eaters strive to fundamentally alter their toxic relationships with food.

5) Healing Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are understood as a problem in your brain’s wiring which causes extreme sensations of fear, panic, and uneasiness in everyday situations. Researchers speculate that they can be caused by genetics, environment, stress, or any combination thereof. But the mental symptoms can also have physical manifestations, like dizziness, difficulty breathing, and heart palpitations. Many sufferers are terrified of leaving their houses or participating in normal social situations. Iboga’s ability to reset abnormalities in brain function has helped many suffering from anxiety disorders, and while there have yet to be many formal studies of the treatment, anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that iboga can help.

A Plant Teacher

Iboga can awaken spirituality and build communities, but it can also help us in a number of other ways. Its profound, life-altering effects on the brain can bring healing to millions looking to ease their suffering. As clinical trials of 18-MC (a non-toxic iboga analog which would not have the psychoactive effects of traditional iboga) proceed, we might be getting closer to unleashing the healing potential of this amazing plant! Let Iboga Tree healing House show you how today!