Ecstasy is n’t only for raver — a small series of clinical trials have demonstrated taking MDMA can be an efficient treatment for post - traumatic stress disorderliness . On Tuesday , the Food and Drug Administration granted permission for big - scale , Phase 3 clinical trials for MDMA , which is the next step in the process to get it approve as a prescription drug .
While roll on Molly might sound like fun and game to you , it changes living . The New York Timesspoketo C. J. Hardin , a old hand who serve three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan , who lose from serious PTSD that left him a divorced , self-destructive lush who cut himself off from the world . He tried psychotherapeutics , group therapy , and almost a dozen different psychiatric medications . “ Nothing worked for me , so I put aside the idea that I could get well , ” he said .
But in 2013 , Hardin was lucky enough to join a pocket-sized clinical trial study MDMA as a PTSD treatment . “ It changed my aliveness . It allowed me to see my trauma without awe or hesitation and at last process thing and move forrard , ” he told The New York Times .
This is a huge step for the community defend to legalize the medical usance of drugs like MDMA , LSD and marijuana . TheMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies , a non - profit founded in 1985 to preach for the medicative benefits of these outlawed substances , has fund six Phase 2 survey that plow 130 PTSD patients with the drug . It will also patronise the Phase 3 clinical trial , which will consist of at least 230 patients .
A 2012studyconducted in Charleston address veterans , dupe of intimate assault , police officers and fireman who had sputter with PTSD symptoms for an norm of 17 years . None of the patient responded to traditional PTSD treatments . “ After three doses of MDMA administered under a psychiatrist ’s direction , the patients reported a 56 percent decrease of severity of symptom on average , ” The New York Times reported .
When the study ended , two - thirds of participants did n’t even meet the touchstone for having PTSD . “ On average , discipline maintained statistically and clinically - pregnant gains in symptom relief , although two of these subjects did relapse , ” the studysaid .
Doctors have legitimate concern when it comes to using MDMA as a prescription drug — after all , there ’s a high risk for abuse , and in an earned run average of rampant prescription opioid addiction , that ’s chilling .
https://gizmodo.com/america-has-a-prescription-painkiller-problem-and-its-1669175331
So how does MDMA treat PTSD ? Throughout a 12 - hebdomad PTSD study , patients go through extensive psychotherapeutics , which involved three 8 - 60 minutes MDMA sessions . In these sessions , psychiatrical nanny Ann Mithoefer and her husband , Dr. Mithoefer , guided each affected role through his or her preceding trauma , toy soothe music . The Mithoefer ’s terrier mix Flynn often kept patients company throughout their journey .
“ The medicine allows them to appear at thing from a different place and reclassify them . aboveboard , we do n’t have to do much . Each person has an innate power to mend . We just create the correct conditions , ” Ann Mithoefer said .
The New York Times reports there ’s also been research which shows that MDMA triggers “ the brain to relinquish a flood of hormones and neurotransmitter that evoke tactile sensation of trust , sexual love and well - being , while also dull fear and negative worked up memories that can be sweep over in patient role with post - traumatic stress disorder . ”
There are currently two drugs on the market approved to treat PTSD , both of which scarcely worked better than the placebo in trial . Edward Thompson , a fireman traumatized by the frequent gory tragedies he responded to at study twist to benzos , alcoholic drink and opioids to escape the unrelenting state of utter panic he feel immobilize in . After taking MDMA in a clinical trial , Thompson was much better able to manage his PTSD and give up his drug addiction . He explained , “ It return me my life back , but it was n’t a party drug . It was a lot of work . ”
A promising step forward for our nation ’s veterans who stick out in muteness .
[ NYT ]
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