Ecstasy to be Trialed in Treatment of PTSD
The Food and Drug Administration in the US has decided to run trials on using ecstasy or MDMA in the treatment of PTSD. Now many people may find this unusual as ecstasy is an illegal drug in the UK and US, but in a previous study MDMA cleared 66 percent of participants of PTSD, while another reduced symptoms in 56 percent of patients.
This is not the first time that psychedelic drugs have been used or trialed in mental health. In the 1940s-1960’s LSD was used as an aid to psychotherapy particularly in California. It is thought that using ecstasy with clients suffering with PTSD that the bond between the client and therapist will be enhanced with its use. Indeed a 2013 study showed just that.
Now ecstasy is not in and of itself going to be a silver bullet for sufferers of PTSD, indeed there will need to be therapeutic intervention as well as the drug itself. What I feel that this research is showing is that the trauma of PTSD is so great, and the cases being reported are significantly on the rise, mental health professionals need to think out side of conventional treatment to give these sufferers all the help we can in order for them to regain some kind of normality to their lives.
