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Iboga Blog
iboga healing
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
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
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
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
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!
7th May 2019
3 benefits of iboga no-one has told you about
Iboga has been proven to help addicts treat the symptoms of their disease, and substantially aid in their recovery. This impressive natural remedy helps to ease withdrawal symptoms and minimize cravings for a variety of addictive substances while restoring receptors in the brain to pre-addiction levels. But with all the promise iboga has shown in treating depression, anxiety, and a host of other ailments, it’s worth exploring Iboga’s other health benefits as well.
Attaining an Ego-Free State
In his insightful book, Ibogaine Explained, Peter Frank details many of the psychological benefits that iboga can confer. Iboga has the effect of temporarily “shattering the ego”, allowing individuals to let go of their petty problems and gain insight on the interconnectedness of the world around them. Frank concludes that these periods of “egolessness” can offer powerful insights into the personal issues that one is facing. As one woman has said of her Iboga treatment, “I wouldn’t recommend it to somebody who is trying to have fun. If you want your body to explode into 1,000 pieces and rebuild itself into something beautiful, then yeah—but don’t expect it to be pleasant.”
This state has been proven to be deeply beneficial to those suffering from depression and anxiety. Researchers have found that many sufferers depict their depression “foremost as a state of disconnection,” whether from other people, their earlier selves, their senses and feelings, their core beliefs and spiritual values, or nature. Several referred to living in “a mental prison,” others to being “stuck” in endless circles of rumination they likened to mental gridlock.”
The testimonials of participants in studies on treating depression with iboga generally report that they feel free from negative cycles of thought and more connected to life around them. Here are a few quotes from a study conducted by the psychologist Rosalind Watts who oversaw the project for the UK’s NHS:
“It was like a holiday away from the prison of my brain. I felt free, carefree, reenergized.”
“I had an experience of tenderness toward myself.”
“At its most basic, I feel like I used to before the depression.”
Letting Go
Iboga’s effects often cause the user to experience past memories in vivid detail, which users describe as akin to being transported into the past. This experience is generally followed by a reflective period, where the user can gain intellectual insight into the causes and effects of trauma. While painful, this process has helped many people suffering from PTSD, as it enabled them to come to terms with the wounds and scars at the root of their depression, addiction, and other problematic areas of their lives.
Ian Roullier, a participant in the NHS study mentioned earlier, was a victim of childhood abuse at the hands of his father, and suffered from depression throughout his adult life. During his experience with iboga, he gained the courage to confront his past. “Normally, when Dad comes up in my head, I just push the thought away. But this time I went the other way… this time I looked him in the eye. That was a really big thing for me, to literally face the demon.”
The experience allowed Roullier to see “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. I had this overwhelming feeling—it wasn’t even a thought—that everything and everyone needs to be approached with love, including myself.”
There are a host of benefits that come from confronting and reflecting on difficult memories while using Iboga. Many people have found that in addition to the mental health benefits, they’ve made progress in battling eating disorders and other problematic relationships with food, addiction to shopping and sex, and other forms of self-destructive behaviour.
Autoimmune Healing
There is anecdotal evidence of Iboga being quite helpful in the treatment of fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. All three of these diseases attack the central nervous system, and Iboga’s interactions with cells and receptors in the brain have been theorized to trigger the body to heal itself. In the words of the Global Ibogaine Therapy Alliance: “the theoretical case is based on the fact that both ibogaine and its metabolite noribogaine have been shown to lead to an increase in levels of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in the brain. It has also been shown to have neuroprotective qualities promoting the survival of both dopaminergic and motor neurons.”
While there isn’t enough clinical research at this point to state with authority that Iboga should be used to treat these diseases, studies on animals have shown that directly administering GDNF significantly lessened the symptoms of those suffering from Parkinson’s. This has led researchers at Columbia University to begin a study on the efficacy of Iboga in treating animals afflicted with Parkinson’s, a study which we hope will confirm the drug’s utility in treating degenerative and autoimmune diseases.
Beyond Addiction
As you can see, Iboga has the potential to offer substantial health benefits to people suffering from a wide variety of ailments. As society becomes more open-minded about the potential of iboga to treat physical and mental illnesses, we are confident that scientific and clinical studies will confirm Ibogaine’s utility as a medical tool. If you’re interested in using Iboga for healing or personal growth, feel free to contact Iboga Tree Healing House for the information you need!
