Ayahuasca for Bipolar Disorder: PhD Research
Doação protegida
My PhD in Psychiatry is titled "The Therapeutic Potential of Ayahuasca Ceremonies for People with Bipolar Disorder: Pre-Clinical Research". I have anecdotal qualitative data from people with bipolar disorder who have experienced ayahuasca ceremonies, plus quantitative laboratory data from samples of ayahuasca. I need financial support to get the laboratory analysis and statistical analysis completed by my colleagues, and for me to travel from UK to Australia to make a final presentation of my Thesis and meet with collaborators. Please help me to get this research out to the world so that it may assist the millions of people suffering from bipolar disorder and manic depression.
People with bipolar disorder are usually excluded from participation in ayahuasca ceremonies and psychedelic research clinical trials (because of valid concerns about triggering manic episodes), but my research has analysed what really happens when bipolar people drink ayahuasca, and why. I have developed a special protocol for bipolar people to minimise risk and maximise benefit at ayahuasca ceremonies, and this protocol includes a special ceremonial setting and a special cooking technique for the ayahuasca tea itself.
As well as analysing different ceremony settings, I have deconstructed ayahuasca tea itself, with the aim of developing a protocol for bipolar people to minimise risks and maximise benefits. This has involved me collecting over 100 samples of ayahuasca and ayahuasca-analogue decoctions from several countries and then having them analysed with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry by a team of laboratory experts. My intention is to reveal details about how the use of different plant materials and different cooking techniques create ayahuasca brews with significantly different ratios of psychoactive ingredients. My hypothesis is that these differences between brews explain why ayahuasca can be beneficial in some bipolar peoples' experiences, while harmful in other bipolar people's experiences. I hope that this analysis will also provide health and safety information relevant to the broader ayahuasca community – no matter what conditions people are trying to heal.
The work I have done is widely recognised as ground-breaking research, which has significant implications for the treatment of bipolar disorder. Check out the videos of conference presentations, interviews with journalists and podcasts, which are listed below.
I have been working on this project since 2014 and overcome enormous challenges such as difficulty accessing a laboratory, legal obstacles, academic prejudice and personal nightmares (including the death of my mother, 2 suicides by close friends I was supporting, a mugging that left me with severe post-concussion syndrome), on top of managing my own bipolar disorder. Now I am halfway through writing up my PhD Thesis but I am stuck.
Therefore, I am reaching out to the wider community on the ayahuasca spiritual path, to psychedelic science researchers, and to everyone I have helped and inspired via my bipolar disorder advocacy work, to please fund the final batch of laboratory experiments by my expert colleagues (chromatography and mass spectrometry of ayahuasca samples and statistical analysis of the data) plus travel costs to Australia to present my research to the Psychiatry department at Flinders University, and meet with other ayahuasca researchers at Melbourne University to discuss a collaborative publication. Details of the budget are listed at the bottom of this page.
None of your donations will go into my pocket, they will all be used for research and travel expenses. All of my work is channelled through my not-for-profit Community Interest Company, Bipolar Disorder CIC, because I am motivated by helping people living with bipolar disorder and experiencing manic depression. For information about Bipolar Disorder CIC, go to https://bipolardisorder.me
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VIDEOS, PODCASTS & INTERVIEWS about my research:
Breaking Convention Conference 2017
World Ayahuasca Conference 2019
Interview with Michelle Janikian
Interview with James Kingsland, published in his book Am I Dreaming?
Psychedelics Today Podcast May 2021 (listen to this one first)
Psychedelics Today Podcast August 2021 (listen to this one second)
(you can also search for "Benjamin Mudge" in the Apple Podcasts App on your Mac/iPhone to listen to the Psychedelics Today Podcasts)
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Details of the budget I am raising funds for:
LC/MS laboratory analysis expenses: £5,274
I am paying a laboratory which has the required equipment, expert technicians and licenses to analyse 108 samples of ayahuasca and ayahuasca-analogue decoctions which I have collected. The techniques used include liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The requested amount is for the final batch of analysis (other batches have already been paid for).
Flight / Train travel costs related to the laboratory: £359
Flight travel costs to Flinders University and Melbourne University in Australia, from the United Kingdom: £1,981
Statistical analysis expenses: £1,000
I have no training in statistical analysis and need to pay a statistician to help me analyse and interpret the complex data set produced by the laboratory analysis, together with the qualitative data that I have collected.
GoFundMe fees: £258
TOTAL: £9,872
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Please Note: The text above has also been edited for clarity: earlier versions referenced laboratory research being done separately by collaborators, which is independent from and not funded by this crowdfunding campaign.
Organizador
Benjamin Mudge
Organizador
England