Digital life · Parasocial attachment
What many guests describe after the retreat is a turn back toward the people in the room: the creator, streamer or AI companion still matters, but it no longer holds the center of the day. Since 2012 we have held a medically supervised iboga retreat on the Mayan Riviera near Cancun, Mexico, where a traditional Missoko Bwiti ceremony is paired with therapy and three months of follow-up at home. If a one-sided bond with someone on a screen, or with a chatbot, has grown bigger than you want, you are not alone.
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Back Among People
Parasocial attachment: the ceremony, the numbers, the research and how to prepare.
How it works
A parasocial attachment is not a medical diagnosis, and no study has tested iboga or ibogaine for it. So we never promise to break a bond. What we offer is a supervised opening alongside therapy: days among real people, a long night of reflection held by a tradition and a medical team, then three months of support at home.
Before you travel, our physician reviews your health and your medicines. On the night she and the medical team are in the room. The practitioner gives the medicine in steps, watching each guest.
In the Missoko Bwiti tradition the ceremony begins with the person, not the habit. Guests often describe a long, lucid review of their life, sometimes including what the one-sided bond was giving them: company, comfort, a voice that never leaves. Belief is not required.
Eight guests at most share the days, the meals and the fire. You keep your phone until the first ceremony, then it goes in a drawer until the last integration day. Around that come screening with our psychologist, a life review the next day, then three months of integration calls.
How iboga acts on the brain
Bonds of every kind, one-sided ones included, lean on the brain's reward and comfort systems; researchers think opioid systems may help underpin social bonding in primates. In theory, the iboga alkaloids touch some of those systems. Noribogaine, the long-lived metabolite of ibogaine, acts on kappa opioid receptors, part of the brain's stress system, while ibogaine acts on the serotonin transporter, which is tied to mood. Animal studies suggest a single dose switches on growth-factor genes in reward circuits.
No study links ibogaine to attachment, oxytocin or bonding, and none has tested it for parasocial bonds. The best human data come from small open-label studies, such as one of 30 veterans published in Nature Medicine in 2024, which had no control group. Read it as theory, not proof. More on the science in how iboga works.
What we have seen since 2012
Since 2012 we have welcomed 7,677 guests. Some arrived with a bond to a creator, a streamer or a chatbot that had quietly become their main company. In that time we have seen a traditional treatment help people with this kind of struggle, sometimes profoundly and lastingly.
Guests describe the shared meals and the fire as the first real company in a while. Some say they went home still enjoying the person on the screen, but calling a friend first. This is our experience, not a clinical study.
Who holds it
Michael and Cory open and hold the ceremony; Tania, our psychologist with close to a decade at Mexico's National Institute of Psychiatry, screens for what iboga cannot hold and carries the integration; Dr Villarreal keeps the body safe.
Safety
Three things matter most: your mood, the support around you, and an honest medical screening.
Your mind. We screen for depression, bipolar disorder and psychosis. We also ask directly about thoughts of suicide or self-harm. Mania has been reported after ibogaine, even in people with no earlier diagnosis, so a history of either usually means this is not the right path.
The support around you. Deep isolation, or heavy emotional reliance on a chatbot, can be a sign that you need close support. We plan it with you, and integration after the retreat matters even more. If you take an antidepressant, some change how the body clears ibogaine, so any change is planned with your prescriber and our physician.
Your body. Every guest has a medical screening before travel; read how we protect your heart. Tell us every medicine you take, and never stop one on your own. Guests must be 18 or older.
Who it is for
The retreat suits people who want to understand a bond that has grown too big, and who are ready to keep working after.
Adults whose bond with a creator, a celebrity or an AI companion has crowded out friends, sleep or work, and who want a long, honest look at what it was giving them. It fits best if you are in therapy or ready to start.
Active psychosis or recent mania, acute suicidality, a medication that cannot be tapered in time, pregnancy, or a serious medical condition. Anyone under 18: for teenagers, a counselor or a family doctor is the right first call. The psychologist and the physician decide together; sometimes the answer is a later date.
Why it is hard
A parasocial relationship is a one-sided bond with someone who does not know you: a creator, a streamer, a celebrity, and now also an AI companion. The idea dates from 1956. It is not a diagnosis, and in itself it is not unhealthy; it becomes a concern when it replaces real relationships. Among US adults who regularly get news from influencers, 31% feel a personal connection to one (Pew, 2024).
These bonds form through the same cues as real ones, such as feeling that someone is like you. A review of 120 studies found no clear link with loneliness. Chatbots go further: the US Federal Trade Commission notes they can mimic human emotions and intentions. That leads some users, especially minors, to trust them and form relationships.
How to cope
There is no specific treatment, because this is not a condition. If the bond is crowding out real relationships, the work is on what sits underneath: loneliness, low mood or anxiety. For loneliness, the approaches that did best in a large review worked on unhelpful social thinking, such as expecting rejection. AI companions brought brief relief in one study, but daily sessions for a week did not build lasting gains.
Notice what the bond gives you, and name it: company at night, comfort after work, the feeling of being understood. Then look for one human source of the same thing, even a small one: a call, a class, a group. Set limits on viewing or chat time, and turn off notifications from the account or app.
If your mood has dropped, or you feel you cannot cope without the bond, see a therapist. For teenagers, Common Sense Media advises no AI companion use under 18. If the feed is part of it, read our page on how to quit social media. If loneliness sits underneath, see our page on loneliness and meaning.
If you are thinking about ending your life, call or text 988 in the US, or 9-8-8 in Canada, today. In the US you can also chat at chat.988lifeline.org or text HOME to 741741. For free referrals to mental health care in the US, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357); it is not a crisis line.
Dates
Open retreats and the dedicated veterans' dates. Eight guests each; full list on the schedule.
The people who know you are worth the risk of being known. Come as you are; we will hold the night with you.
Pricing, US dollars
All inclusive from Cancún airport: screening, ceremonies, room, meals, three months of follow-up. All payments are final, see the terms. Full pricing.
Questions about parasocial attachment
A one-sided bond with a media figure who does not know you, such as a creator, a streamer or a celebrity. The term was coined by Horton and Wohl in 1956. Today it also covers bonds with AI companions.
Not in themselves. They become a concern when they replace real relationships, sleep or work.
A review of 120 studies found no significant link between parasocial bonds and loneliness. These bonds form through the same cues as real ones, such as feeling that someone is like you.
Many people do. Nearly 3 in 4 US teens have used an AI companion, and about a third chose one over a person for a serious conversation (Common Sense Media, 2025). Research on what this means is early.
In one study they brought short-term relief similar to talking with a person, but a week of daily sessions did not build lasting gains. The researcher says AI should not replace people or therapy.
Set limits on viewing or chat time, find one human source of what the bond gives you, and see people in person. If your mood suffers, talk to a therapist.
No study has tested iboga or ibogaine for parasocial bonds or AI companion use, so we do not claim it does. What we offer is a supervised night of reflection inside a tradition, with a psychologist before and after, among a small group of real people.
Yes. Guests must be 18 or older. For a teenager attached to a creator or an AI companion, a counselor or family doctor is the right first call.
You've carried this long enough. Start with a conversation with our medical team.
