Abstract:
Harmful usage of tobacco is a global public health problem associated with adverse health effects and addiction. Yet, in the Peruvian Amazon, the native region of Nicotiana rustica L., this plant is used in remarkably different manners: it is considered a potent medicinal plant, applied in liquid form for oral ingestion to treat mental health problems, a common and ancient healing practice in this region. Using a transdisciplinary field research approach with mixed ethnopsychological methods, this work aimed to report for the first time a case study in this context. The intervention took place in the Peruvian Amazon (Loreto) and involved ritual tobacco ingestion in a weeklong retreat-like frame, administered by a specialized traditional Amazonian healer. The patient was a 37-year-old woman with diagnosed mood, anxiety, and attention deficit disorders, as well as a chronic somatic condition. We applied qualitative experience-sampling during and quantitative symptom assessments pre- and post-treatment. Our findings offer a detailed description of the experiential therapeutic process during the treatment week and suggest clinically relevant improvements in patient well-being. This work is significant in view of the globally prevalent harmful uses of tobacco and the current scientific trend of revisiting herbal psychoactives (e.g., cannabis, psilocybin) for their therapeutic potentials.
摘要:
烟草的有害使用是与不良健康影响和成瘾相关的全球公共卫生问题。然而,在秘鲁的亚马逊,烟草的原生地区,这种植物的使用方式非常不同:它被认为是一种有效的药用植物,以液体形式口服服用以治疗心理健康问题,这是这个地区常见的古老的治疗方法。使用跨学科的实地研究方法和混合的民族心理学方法,这项工作旨在首次报告在这种情况下的案例研究。干预发生在秘鲁亚马逊(Loreto),并在为期一周的撤退式框架中进行了仪式烟草摄入,由专业的传统亚马逊治疗师管理。病人是一名37岁的女性,诊断出情绪,焦虑,和注意力缺陷障碍,以及慢性躯体疾病。我们在治疗前后应用了定性经验抽样和定量症状评估。我们的发现提供了治疗周期间经验治疗过程的详细描述,并建议临床相关改善患者的健康状况。鉴于全球普遍存在的烟草有害用途以及当前重新审视草药精神活性物质的科学趋势(例如,大麻,psilocybin)的治疗潜力。