Depression after Ayahuasca: Can you be worse after an Ayahuasca retreat
Most people share how Ayahuasca has helped them transform their lives. How it helped them let go of trauma, process the emotional impact that still affects them today, breakthrough their limiting beliefs, and create a vision for their lives It served as a catalyst for an incredible life. So you went to an Ayahuasca retreat yourself to experience the magic of Ayahuasca. However, after the retreat, you feel worse than before. You feel agitated, sad, and frustrated, and you even see signs that you are about to fall into depression. This blog post is here to help you if you experience these strong emotional shifts after Ayahuasca, which were not what you were looking for in the first place. Key takeaways: The suppressed problems in your life can become apparent after you drink Ayahuasca which can create challenges in your life. Differentiate if you are going through a sad / intense phase or you are in a chronically depressed state. Maintain a level of optimism that you are not alone on this journey. That it is good that these uncomfortable truths come up so you can start addressing them now instead of losing another 5 years of passivity. Take one step at a time, do things which are good for you, possibly consider an additional Ayahuasca Retreat or working with a therapist / Integration Coach. Table of Contents Depression after Ayahuasca – becoming aware of the suppressed problems of your life Maybe you used to cruise through life, living one day after the other. Without major problems or major success. A normal life. And after you drank Ayahuasca, you start to see all the things which are wrong in your life. And you start to feel a level of depression after Ayahuasca. It’s like Ayahuasca gives you a VIP pass to the movie of your life, but now it’s playing in super high definition, showing details you’ve never noticed before. You’re in the director’s chair, observing the recurring themes and patterns in your life. Love and Heartbreak Take your romantic relationships, for example. After drinking Ayahuasca, it’s like you suddenly have this uncanny ability to see patterns you were oblivious to before. You know, like those ‘why am I always falling for the same kind of person’ moments? Or the gut-punching realization that maybe, just maybe, you’ve been the villain in some of your love stories. Your relationship with work And let’s not forget about work and career choices. Ayahuasca might lead you to ponder, ‘Am I really passionate about what I do, or am I just chasing that paycheck? Am I in the profession that I am in to make my parents proud or did I actually chose it for myself? It’s like suddenly having clarity about your professional trajectory, realizing how much it’s tangled up with your self-worth, ambitions, or maybe even fears. Your friendships Then, there are your buddies, your squad. It’s weird how Ayahuasca can make you question these bonds. Are these friendships real and nurturing, or just convenient alliances? Do your friends reflect who you truly are, or who you pretend to be? Your Social Patterns And oh boy, the way you interact with others, that’s a whole new Pandora’s box. You might start to see that the social dance you do, whether it’s being the life of the party or the wallflower, is often just a reaction to past traumas or insecurities. Scary, right? That a lot of your patterns are actually trauma responses, isolating yourself so you won’t be rejected or getting hurt. Maybe you are always socializing because you cannot be with yourself. That you use other people to your own self-benefit or that other people use you. This can have a serious impact on your mental health. Must read blog: Ayahuasca Integration – How to maintain the magic of Ayahuasca You awaken to the hard truth to the way you have been living your life With all these patterns exposed – post Ayahuasca depression might start to kick in and you start questioning the life you’ve been leading. It can be a bit unsettling, like you’ve been living a lie or like you’ve wasted a lot of precious time. It can feel like a spiritual hangover, making you wonder if that Ayahuasca trip was worth it after all. Remember, Ayahuasca is like a magnifying glass to your soul, so it’s bound to reveal some uncomfortable truths. But hey, acknowledging them is the first step to transforming them, right? So, brace yourself and embrace the journey. It might be bumpy, but it’s your ride to a more authentic life. Wrestling with Your Inner Demons: Sadness vs. Depression Before we venture further, let’s clear up one crucial thing—feeling sad, being alone, or feeling isolated isn’t the same as being depressed or having a major depressive disorder. It’s like comparing an afternoon rainfall to a full-blown thunderstorm. Now, I’m not minimizing these emotions—they’re pretty heavy, trust me, I know. But it’s essential to understand that they don’t always mean you’re in the grip of depression after Ayahuasca. You see, when you take Ayahuasca, it’s like you’ve just uncorked a fizzing bottle of your subconscious. It’s like disturbing a stagnant pond—there’s a lot of old, murky water (or emotions, in this case) that has been sitting unnoticed, and now it’s all stirred up. And you’re seeing it, smelling it, even tasting it. Gross, right? But that’s part of the process and can be one of the effects of Ayahuasca. When you’re feeling all these intense emotions, it might be tempting to reach for your usual coping mechanisms—maybe it’s a tub of ice cream, a Netflix binge, or even burying yourself in work. But what if you just sat with the feeling instead? Let it wash over you like a wave. It might be uncomfortable, even painful, but remember, this feeling is part of the healing process. It’s your body’s way of flushing out the emotional toxins. However, if what you’re feeling
