The use of ayahuasca, a psychoactive brew which has religious consumption under juridical legitimacy in Brazil since 1986, is growing in the urban centers in the last decades. Despite this diffusion, little is known about its effects in the emotional states. The present study investigated the possible modifications in the expression of anxiety, panic and depression in members of a Santo Daime church near Brasília, DF. Standard questionnaires were applied to evaluate state-anxiety (STAI-state), trait-anxiety (STAI-trait), panic (ASI-R) and depression (BHS) in participants that ingested ayahuasca in a ritual context for at least for 10 consecutive years. The study was done in the Santo Daime church, where nine members of the cult were selected through the signing of a written informed consent. The questionnaires were applied 1 h after the ingestion of the brew and a double-blind procedure with placebo control was used. Under the effects of ayahuasca, the participants showed attenuated states of psychometric acute signs relational to panic and depression. The ayahuasca ingestion did not modify the state or the trait anxiety as measured by STAI. The results are discussed in terms of the possible therapeutic utilization of ayahuasca for panic and depression.