Shutterstock.com
MDMA (also known as ecstasy) could potentiate the benefits of psychotherapy in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), researchers have discovered[1]
.
In a blinded, randomised phase II trial published in Lancet Psychiatry (1 May 2018), researchers tested the efficacy of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in 26 veterans and emergency service members with chronic PTSD. Patients were assigned to receive MDMA at one of three doses (30mg, 75mg or 125mg) during two eight-hour sessions with face-to-face psychotherapy.
At one month after the last session, patients in the two highest-dose groups had significantly greater decreases in PTSD symptom severity than those in the lowest dose group, compared with baseline. The treatment was generally well-tolerated (7.7% discontinuation rate) and there was only one serious adverse event potentially linked to the treatment.
“MDMA-assisted psychotherapy with 75mg or 125mg resulted in marked improvement of PTSD symptoms in veterans and first responders with chronic PTSD who had failed previous treatment,” the researchers concluded.
References
[1] Mithoefer M, Mithoefer A, Feduccia A et al. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans, firefighters, and police officers: a randomised, double-blind, dose-response, phase 2 clinical trial. Lancet Psych 2018;5(6):486–497. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30135-4
