Posted on 11/21/2012 11:42:29 AM PST by Renfield
The benefits of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) persist years after the first treatment with the drug (also known as ecstasy), according to a follow-up study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology1.
The finding gives hope to people with PTSD who do not respond to conventional treatments. However, the results come from a small-scale pilot study, and the outcomes have not been so convincing in other recently published work.
In the original trial, 20 patients with PTSD who had not responded to either psychotherapy or to conventional psychopharmacological drugs received MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) or a placebo during two eight-hour psychotherapy sessions2. The results showed a spectacular 83% response rate in the MDMA group, compared with 25% in the placebo group. A response was defined as a greater than 30% reduction in a standard measure of symptom severity, the clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS) (see 'Illegal drug shows promise in treating trauma symptoms'). The researchers think that MDMA decreases levels of fear and defensiveness and increases trust between patient and practitioner when used in a clinical setting......
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
Watch the documentary about FOL Restrepo and read the accompanied book “War” I cant think of a better example other than going to a VA hospital and speaking to people directly.
Shrink here. Lots of irrational, ignorance-based disrespect painted with an all-inclusive brush here on FR for folks like me, so flame away if you must. But . . .
PTSD causes demonstrable, lasting changes in the brain and body. Do a google search on the hypothalamic-pitutary-adrenal axis in PTSD.
MDMA and other psychedelics have a rich but inconclusive body of literature regarding potential therapeutic uses in my field. Headlines like this are dramatic, but the truth is that such statements can not be made with any scientific certainty until there is a much larger body of literature citing well-designed experiments, and in this field that is a monumental task from the standpoint of funding, legalities, politics, study design and analysis.
“Funny how generations of fighting men returned home and lived normal lives, until Vietnam.”
Except they didn’t. They just didn’t call it “PTSD” back then. It was known as “shell shock” or “combat stress reaction”.
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