? IS IBOGA FOR ME ?

I want to thank you for creating this topic. I´ve been going back and forth about going for an iboga flood or not and i recognize the mentioned mentality in myself. I cant see the forest for the trees and the cup has always been half empty. That plus the internal dialogue will not let me rest in the moment of now. Always thinking/daydreaming. These have all been non-addicts? They have tried to cure depression or they´re flooding for spiritual reasons? Out of the 150 sessions, have you noticed many people with similar intentions that has had a successful flood?

Excellent thread JBG... It makes me sad reading this, it seems there is - or may be - such a very thin line demarcating this distinction: damned near every addict I have known, severe, long term opiate or poly drug addicts - have this quality about them to some degree. I myself am not immune to it or else I would not have had to endure five floods to figure out some of the things that were always right before me. I am starting to think perhaps abandonment issues have something to do with such an attitude. That, and of course certain types of abuses people have suffered. Usually deep psychological abuse: 'you'll never amount to anything..." etc. I am not a psychologist, and frankly only give a certain amount of 'latitude' to the practice in general - not to say I don't believe it has merit, just that like so many other milieus in modern medicine, there seems to my cynical mind to be a 'good' practitioner out of every fifty, and the paradigm of psychology in itself sometimes seems well, empty for lack of a better word. But I admit I am cynical about most contemporary and Western medical practices and the godlike status doctors receive in this hemisphere. It leaves much room for error and pops big holes in treatment outcomes while costing people zillions of dollars. It can be discouraging. No wonder so many seek 'alternative' processes... Back to your original topic -  do you see any way to modify treatment protocols to be able to potentially help this 'type'? Maybe the answer, or part of it lies in a more thorough pre screening and some mandatory cognitive therapies pre and post session? A part of me really thinks this medicine can help ANYONE, but the reality is that nothing is for EVERYONE no matter how much I wish it were otherwise.  Let's continue to explore this very important topic.

It has been said before that Iboga is not a magic bullet & it is very true, its only a tool. You have to free will to do whatever you want after a flood, & if someone makes a decision to use then they will.  I've seen this attitude you're speaking of in a number of opiate addicts, especially those who use heroin. Those who want badly to be free from addiction, who actually want to stop on their own free will, & are open to the idea of life without using heroin(or whatever their doc is)ever again have the best shot at staying clean.  I know people who love heroin so much, that they simply cannot imagine life without it, they are the ones who always say it is better than sex.  These people almost always fail, & usually only stop when they are forced by someone else.  Even though shooting heroin does feel great, the initial rush for the most part, I never felt that way about it, about it being better than sex, not being able to live without it etc.  I struggled with the physical/mental dependence & yet I always wanted off & out of that horrible lifestyle, the positives of the high were always outweighed by all the negativity & problems it caused me. Iboga does indeed give the opportunity for total rebirth.  It is up to each person to take that opportunity, to truly want it from deep within, to want to live & feel alive, because to be addicted to opiates is to feel nothing, numb, no emotions, no soul, no passion & no life.....but some people are ok with living that way, or they are just so used to being numb for so long, that when they feel emotion again, it is overwhelming, it scares them & they deal with it by using. It is a familiar comfortable place to be, numb to everything & to life.....especially for those who have been on opiates long term.  Feeling emotions(good & bad)can freak people out initally, especially since initially the emotions you feel are extreme. It takes time to adjust to it. Having a conscience again is also a lot to handle if you have done others wrong during your addiction, I think the guilt resulting from that alone triggers plenty of relapses.  That is why in any rehab or 12 step program etc you have to talk about those things & deal with them, it helps a person move forward & not hold these things inside.

nice reply evo.