Depression and anxiety
Most guests who come for depression or anxiety have tried the medications, the therapy and the apps. Iboga is not a first option, and it is not a pill. It is one long night that many describe as ending an argument in their head, followed by months of measured, supported change.
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Lifting the Weight
Depression & Anxiety: the ceremony, the numbers, the research and how to prepare.
Why iboga
Ibogaine and its metabolite noribogaine act on several systems at once, including the serotonin transporter that antidepressants target, and raise growth factors linked to neuroplasticity. Noribogaine stays for days. Guests describe the weeks after as a window in which mood is steadier, the loop is quieter, and change is possible.
The night reviews the years with distance; the days after are unusually clear. Guests describe the rumination simply not being there. What the research shows: large reductions in depression scores in the veterans study, observational reports elsewhere, no large controlled trial yet.
Heart-rate variability and resting heart rate are measured before and after; most guests see them move. Panic, for many, is absent in the weeks after and stays absent when the follow-up is done.
Thyroid, iron, vitamin D, inflammation, cortisol, sleep. Some depression is a body running on empty; the diagnostic finds it before the ceremony, and the plan after addresses it.
Iboga is not an approved treatment for depression or anxiety, and we never promise a cure. It does not replace your doctor, your therapist or a medicine that is working for you. What we can promise is careful screening, a team beside you all night, and honesty about what is known and what is not.
What it is
Depression is more than a bad week. Doctors look for a low mood, or a loss of interest in things you used to enjoy, most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks. Anxiety is more than worry before a big day. It is fear or worry that stays, grows, and starts to decide what you do and what you avoid.
The two often travel together, and many guests carry both. You do not need a diagnosis to talk to us. You do need to tell us honestly how it is, because that shapes how we prepare you.
Waking up tired and staying tired. Food or sleep out of balance. Thoughts that circle back to the same failures. Pulling away from people you love. Finding no point in things that used to matter. Feeling slow, or restless. For some, thoughts that life is not worth living.
A chest that is tight before anything has happened. A mind that runs through every way a day could go wrong. Trouble falling asleep. Muscles that never let go. Avoiding calls, crowds, driving, or simply the mailbox.
A pounding heart, breathlessness, dizziness, a sense of doom, often out of nowhere. Panic attacks are not dangerous in themselves, but the fear of the next one can quietly shrink a life. Anyone with chest pain should still have it checked by a doctor.
In 2021, about 21.0 million adults in the United States, 8.3% of all adults, had at least one major depressive episode. Among young adults aged 18 to 25 it was 18.6%. About 61% of adults with an episode received treatment that year, which also means many did not.
In a national US survey, 19.1% of adults had an anxiety disorder in the past year. It was more common in women (23.4%) than in men (14.3%). Over a lifetime, close to a third of adults are affected.
Why it keeps going
Depression and anxiety tend to run in a loop. A low moment or a worry arrives. The mind starts to ruminate: going over it, again and again, looking for an answer that never comes. To get relief, you pull back from people, plans or the things you fear. For a while that feels safer. Then life gets smaller, sleep gets worse, and the next low moment lands on a heavier day.
The body joins in. Poor sleep, little movement, alcohol to switch off, too much coffee to switch on: each one makes the next turn of the loop a little easier. That is why willpower alone so rarely breaks it, and why we look at the whole picture, from bloodwork to habits, and not only at the mind.
The ceremony does not argue with the loop. Guests often describe stepping out of it for a night and seeing it from the outside, sometimes back to where it began. The months after are for building a new path, so that it is not the old loop that you walk back into.
How it works
The same loop, every day.
A low moment, rumination, pulling back, heavier still.
In the ceremony, many guests describe stepping outside the loop and seeing where it began.
Therapy and three months of follow-up help the new path hold.
Integration calls, new habits, support at home.
The research, with its limits
No large controlled trial has tested iboga or ibogaine for depression or anxiety. The two studies below are the most cited. Both are encouraging, both are small, and neither had a placebo group. We share them so you can read them for yourself, not as a promise.
Thirty male U.S. special operations veterans, all with a traumatic brain injury, received ibogaine with magnesium at a clinic in Mexico, and were assessed at Stanford before and after. One month later, depression scores had fallen by 87% on average and anxiety scores by 81%. The share reporting thoughts of suicide fell from 47% to 7%. There were no unexpected or serious adverse events; 40% were treated for headache and 23% for nausea during the night, and all had brief unsteadiness that passed within a day.
Fifty-one special operations veterans who had been through a program in Mexico rated, looking back, how they felt the month before and the month after. They reported large drops in depression, anxiety, trauma symptoms and suicidal thoughts. That program used ibogaine and also 5-MeO-DMT, a different psychedelic, so the effect cannot be put down to ibogaine alone. Ratings were recalled after the fact, and side effects were not measured.
Mostly male veterans, many with brain injury. We do not know yet how the results carry over to a mother with postpartum depression, a student with panic, or someone in their sixties.
Both studies used purified ibogaine in a clinic. We work with the whole iboga root bark in a Missoko Bwiti ceremony, under our physician's limits. Related, not the same. See iboga vs ibogaine.
The Stanford study measured one month after. Nobody can yet say how long such changes last, or for whom. That is one reason our follow-up runs three months, and why the work at home matters so much.
Without a placebo group, hope, a new setting, rest and care can all explain part of any change. The Stanford authors call for controlled trials themselves. More on how iboga works and on reading success rates honestly.
Who holds it
Tania screens, prepares and integrates; Dr Villarreal reads your diagnostic and keeps the night safe; Michael and Jenny hold the ceremony.
Who it is for
Depression or anxiety that has not responded to what you tried, burnout that turned into something heavier, panic that rules the calendar, a sense of being stuck. Willing to taper medications with your doctor when needed and to do the work after.
Bipolar disorder with recent mania, psychosis, acute suicidality, an unstable eating disorder, pregnancy, a heart condition, or a medication that cannot be tapered in time. Some are a no for now; the psychologist will say which.
Your stay
Most guests arrive three to six weeks after their first message. Here is a seven-day retreat with two ceremonies, step by step. Ten and fourteen days follow the same rhythm, with more room between the nights.
A discovery call, a detailed health form, an ECG and bloodwork near home. Dr Villarreal reviews every medicine, and Tania talks with you about your mood, your history and what you hope for. If a taper is needed, it is planned with your prescribing doctor, often weeks ahead.
We meet you at Cancún airport. Intake with the physician, vitals, your room, and the first fire talk in the evening, where you say your intention out loud. Nothing is given on day one.
The root is given in steps, the practitioner watching you before giving more, the physician in the room with cardiac monitoring. Many guests describe a long review of their life, seen calmly from a distance. You lie down the whole night, with someone beside you.
A quiet day, mostly in bed. You may feel unsteady and very tired. Food comes to you. The team checks on you through the day. For many guests, this is the first night of deep sleep in a long time.
Time at the cenote and in the garden, and a conversation with the practitioner about what the night showed. Tania helps you turn it into words, and into a few plain changes you can actually keep.
Often quieter and more personal than the first. The intention is usually sharper by now. Then another processing day and another integration day.
A closing fire, a plan for the first weeks at home, and a summary for your doctor or therapist if you want one. We drive you back to the airport.
Integration calls with the team, the psychologist and the physician reachable, and your follow-up measures compared with where you started.
See the ceremony, preparation and the medical protocol for the full detail.
Preparation and medicine safety
Most people who come for depression or anxiety take, or have taken, a medicine for it. That is not a reason to stay away. It is the most important thing to plan. Iboga acts on the heart's rhythm and on the serotonin system, and it is processed by the same liver enzymes as many psychiatric medicines. Our physician reviews every one of them with you and, with your consent, with the doctor who prescribed it.
Never stop or change a medicine on your own. Stopping an antidepressant suddenly can bring back symptoms and cause withdrawal effects, and stopping a benzodiazepine too fast can cause seizures. Any change is planned with your prescribing doctor and our physician, at a safe pace, sometimes weeks before you travel.
Sertraline, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, venlafaxine, duloxetine and others. Ibogaine acts on the same serotonin transporter, so together they raise the risk of serotonin syndrome. Some, such as citalopram, can also lengthen the QT interval of the heartbeat, as iboga does. Most need a taper planned in advance.
These block CYP2D6, the enzyme that breaks down ibogaine. In healthy volunteers who had taken paroxetine for six days, exposure to ibogaine and its metabolite was about twice as high. That is why the timing of a taper matters, not only the taper itself.
Phenelzine, tranylcypromine, selegiline and similar medicines carry a serious serotonin risk with many other substances. They need a long, supervised washout, and sometimes mean a later date.
They are usually prescribed for bipolar disorder, which itself needs careful screening. Lithium also has its own effects on the heart and brain. In most cases the answer is not now, and the psychologist explains why.
Quetiapine, aripiprazole, olanzapine and others, sometimes added for depression or sleep. Several lengthen the QT interval. The physician reviews the medicine and the reason it was prescribed.
Alprazolam, clonazepam, lorazepam, diazepam. The FDA warns that stopping them suddenly can cause life-threatening withdrawal, including seizures. If you take one daily, read iboga and benzodiazepines and tell us early.
Trazodone, sleeping pills, St John's wort, 5-HTP, tryptophan and similar products. Some act on serotonin, some sedate. Put all of them on the health form, even the ones from the health food store.
A blood panel, and a recent ECG with its medical report, reviewed for the QT interval and electrolytes. Read how we protect your heart.
Past episodes of mania or psychosis, eating disorders, self-harm, and hospital stays. None of these is something to hide. Honesty is what keeps you safe.
If you are thinking about ending your life, please reach out now. In the United States or Canada, call or text 988, at any hour. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255. If you are in danger, call 911. A retreat can wait; you matter more than any date.
Thoughts of suicide in the last weeks, or a recent attempt, mean a later date with us, and support at home first. These requests help us prepare; they are not medical advice. The physician's review decides what is safe for you. More on safety.
For the family
Living beside depression or anxiety is tiring, and often lonely. You may have watched someone you love disappear into the couch, or into worry, and tried everything. You are welcome to call us with them, to ask every question, and to be part of the plan. The decision to come stays theirs, and the medical review is the same for everyone.
What helps most is usually simple: being there, listening without trying to fix, and keeping the small routines going. If you are worried they are thinking about suicide, ask them directly and kindly. Asking does not put the idea in their head. If you are worried, call or text 988 together.
Ask about safety, medicines and the program, with them beside you. Book a discovery call.
The medication list, the ECG and the prescriber's contact details. It can feel like a mountain to someone who is low.
The first weeks home matter. A quiet home, regular meals, a walk together. Ask what they need rather than what they learned.
After the retreat
The night can open a window. The months after decide what you build in it. Guests often describe the first weeks home as lighter, quieter, more open. Others have a harder stretch, as old feelings move. Both are normal, and both are why the follow-up exists.
Integration calls over three months, with the psychologist and the physician reachable between them. Bring what is going well and what is not. With your consent, we write to your own therapist or doctor so the work carries on at home.
The plan is plain on purpose: regular sleep, daily movement, time outside, food at regular hours, less alcohol, and contact with people who are good for you. These are the things that keep a lower mood from settling in again.
Before you leave, you write down your own early signs, who to call, and what helped in the past. If the old weight comes back, it does not mean the work failed. Call us early, before it becomes a crisis.
Any medicine you tapered is not restarted, changed or stopped without your prescribing doctor. If your mood drops sharply or thoughts of suicide return, call or text 988 first, then us. After the three months, alumni calls are available if you want them. See online care.
Dates
Seven, ten or fourteen days from the same arrival date, eight guests each; full list on the schedule. Apply early if you take an antidepressant: a taper can take weeks.
We look forward to welcoming you, as you are. Thank you for trusting us with your healing.
Pricing, US dollars
All inclusive from Cancún airport: screening, ceremonies, room, meals, three months of follow-up. Apart from the deposit refunded when we cannot clear you, payments are final, see the terms. Full pricing.
Questions about depression and anxiety
Most SSRIs and SNRIs need a taper before iboga, planned with your prescribing doctor and our physician, often over several weeks. Never stop on your own. Some medications are compatible; the physician decides.
It acts on some of the same systems, with a single long exposure and a long-lived metabolite rather than a daily dose. It is not a replacement for treatment and it is not for everyone. Guests describe it as a reset; the months after decide whether the reset holds.
Ketamine acts fast and fades fast; psilocybin has good trial data for depression with an afternoon-long session; iboga is a full night with a review of one's life and weeks of tail. See the comparison.
Some guests have a hard week after the openness of the ceremony. The integration day, the calls and the psychologist are there for it. Call before it becomes a crisis; that is what the follow-up is for.
Not physically. The screening is about the heart and medications, not about how anxious you feel. Anxious guests are common; the fire talk, the practitioner and the person beside you exist for that.
No one can promise that, and we will not. Iboga is not an approved treatment. In a 2024 Stanford study of 30 veterans with brain injuries, depression scores fell by 87% on average and anxiety scores by 81% one month after ibogaine, without a placebo group. It is a reason for hope and for more research, not a guarantee.
Not while most of them are still in your body. Many act on serotonin as ibogaine does, some lengthen the QT interval, and some, like paroxetine and fluoxetine, slow the breakdown of ibogaine. That is why the physician plans a taper with your prescribing doctor, and why you never stop on your own.
It can, which is why a taper is slow and supervised, and why we ask how your mood went the last time a dose changed. Whether to restart a medicine after the retreat is a decision for you and your own doctor, never a rule from us.
Bipolar disorder with recent mania is a reason to wait, and lithium or other mood stabilizers usually mean not now. Tell us your full history on the health form and the psychologist will look at it with you honestly.
Please reach out for help first: call or text 988 in the United States or Canada, at any hour, or 911 if you are in danger. Acute suicidal thoughts mean a later date with us, once you are safe and supported at home. Thoughts in the past are not an automatic no; tell the psychologist.
Guests often describe a change in the first days, especially in sleep and in the noise of their thoughts. Others feel it slowly over weeks, and some feel little. We cannot predict which, so the three months of follow-up are built in for everyone.
No. Your health information stays within our team, and we only write to your doctor, therapist or family when you ask us to. See how we protect your medical data.
Sources
You've carried this long enough. Start with a conversation with our medical team.
