Pathfinding
How Helpful Is Plant Medicine for Pain and Mental Health?
Getty/Ryland Zweifel
Many people report that plant medicines have helped ease their pain, anxiety, and depression. But it’s important not to see sacred plant medicines as “magic pills.” Explore more about the history and potential of plant medicines.
Plant medicines have been used for generations in many cultures to heal mental and physical health issues. When talk therapy was not an option (and before it existed), spirituality often met that need, helping people put their problems into a larger context to find hope and faith. Plant medicines have often assisted with that journey.
An Introduction to Plant Medicine
Medicines like ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms are known for their ability to bring on hallucinations. When these kinds of plant medicines are given in a ritual context, which usually includes guidance, safe boundaries, and trained sober guides, those hallucinations can spark useful insights and open the mind to seeing things in a different way.
Many people report that these plant medicine experiences help them by easing their pain, resolving health issues, calming anxiety, and dissipating depression, among other self-reported benefits.
While the benefits of plant medicines may be eye-catching, it’s important to note that both ayahuasca and psilocybin mushrooms are federally illegal in the US. (Ayahuasca is only legally utilized by a handful of “ayahuasca churches,” and psilocybin mushrooms are either legal or decriminalized in only Colorado, Oregon, and a handful of cities in other states.) Where these medicines are legal, it is important to do one’s research on the plant medicine retreats or treatments being offered and to consult with a trusted healthcare practitioner as you do your research.
A Therapist’s Perspective on Plant Medicine
In my experience as a counseling therapist who incorporates work with both the body and the imagination into her practice, it is incredibly helpful to be able to address mental health concerns in non-mental ways. The mind is very useful, but it can also get stuck in trauma-based patterns. To resolve trauma, I find we need to be able to talk to the body, the nervous system, and sometimes the spirit in order to really make movement toward change. One way to do this is through working with images and symbols, which plant medicines can help to bring to the surface.
I don’t personally use plant medicines in my practice—any therapist who does should be specifically trained to do so in a legal context. But I’ve also found that the kinds of insights and shifts that are experienced during plant medicine ceremonies can also be accessed through the imagination alone when we are properly guided. When we stop trying so hard to analyze and judge what’s happening to us and allow the body to share its wisdom, we can have major insights without needing to partake in plant medicine.
At the same time, it’s not easy for everyone to access their inner world. Sometimes we have defense mechanisms in place within us that help us feel safe. Many of us feel better in the realm of thought than the wild world of the spirit or the body. Plant medicines could lower inhibitions enough for someone to be able to access this wisdom without having to work so hard or struggle with old defensive patterns.
There’s also nothing wrong with needing a little help to create change in the ways we want to. Human beings don’t live in a vacuum, and we cannot expect someone to get better through willpower alone. Medication, food, lifestyle changes, therapy, and plant medicines are all examples of interventions that have the capacity to help us get better and live happier lives when utilized legally and with a skillful practitioner.
The Possibilities of Microdosing
Psychedelics could also be helpful in small doses that don’t induce hallucinations. Some people have been experimenting with microdosing psychedelic substances to see if the effects are helpful for mental health. This is theoretically a gentler, subtler way of working with plant medicines to assist with improving mental health.
Microdosing means taking a very small amount of a psychedelic, usually psilocybin or LSD (though LSD is a synthetic compound and not a plant medicine), on a semi-regular basis. This sub-hallucinogenic or sub-perceptual dose is intended to be used alongside a regular routine of life and work with the intention of subtly improving mood, empathy, and pain perception.
People who try microdosing are reporting lots of benefits, including improved focus, more regular menstrual cycles, more creativity, and more empathy. Some people also report more sensitivity and heightened emotions, which can be either a positive or negative effect depending on the person.
Side effects are generally minimal, especially with psilocybin. LSD can sometimes bring on anxiety, and too high a dose of psilocybin could cause an unwanted hallucination. Both drugs could also theoretically affect heart rate. The biggest risks at this point are the legal restrictions around such medicines, though they are being increasingly decriminalized and/or approved for medical use, especially as studies find benefits with relatively low risks.
Plant Medicines as Teachers
Studies on microdosing have shown plenty of self-reported benefits. Other studies show that microdosing has no greater effect than a placebo. Neuroimaging studies have, however, seen that these psychedelic medicines increase brain activity, serotonin levels, and neuroplasticity.
Plant medicines are somewhat difficult to study well. Changes in mood are subtle and subjective, and many studies rely on surveys and self-reports, which are notoriously difficult to measure objectively. But the cultures that have used these medicines for generations don’t think of them as magic pills to be used to cure unhappiness.
These plant medicines are teachers. They can shift our mental state, give us insights, and help us to feel our feelings—not just the positive ones, but the negative ones as well. Pharmaceutical medicines for mental health are commonly used to lift mood or numb negative experiences, while plant teachers are there to help us understand ourselves and our symptoms better. If we treat them like magic pills that make all our problems go away, we are really missing the point.
About the Author
Julie Peters (MA, E-RYT, YACEP) has been practicing yoga and meditation for 25 years and ran Ocean and Crow Yoga Studio in Vancouver, BC, for more than a decade. She has written two books: Secrets of the Eternal Moon Phase...
