News Ecstasy... A Possible Treatment For PTSD

[saffy]

This is just part of the research being done, it is not inclusively it, Anthony :) If any research article or any part of the research is incorrect it certainly would not be published in psychological journals.

It does highlight though that positives are coming out of it for people who are suffering PTSD and it has definately helped in their therapy, which is the point of any research.

I am certain that this is not the end of the research into possible treatments for PTSD sufferers and if something is found that can help it should continue to be researched.

I will be interested in any other published research articles on all the positive and negative effects of all types of treatments for PTSD so we can at least know what is out there and compare the effectiveness of the treatment.

My understanding at present is that there is no one real effective treatments and that some are even unresearched alternative therapies that are based on trial and error. The point is it has helped someone.

For me, If it works I will try it :)

best wishes
Saffy :)

 

[MissMacD]

I don't think I could do this because I have an addictive personality.

 

[saffy]

Hi MissMacD

A lot of people think this :)

I also believe that in any treatment a full history consultation has to be processed first, or should be, that will highlight this problem and result in this type of treatment possibly not being a help for certain people.

Best wishes
Saffy :)

 

[anthony]

I think the substance of this research has a lot of merit, I just don't believe anyone has done it any justice at this time due to the lacking data. If people want to be serious about this, then the best group to test it upon is veterans, and there are shitloads of them. It would do sufficient substance to proving or disproving this method, because veterans are the worst for being open and honest with a therapist, let alone talking about their feelings as a majority. Putting them under MDMA sessions, with the large numbers available, IMHO, would give this approach some validity under such circumstances for anyone who struggles with being open and honest in sessions.

 

[Girl3]

The fact that something gets published doesn't make it good or right. When I was in academic medicine, you'd send your research to a top-tier journal. If you were turned down without an invitation to rewrite, you'd send your article to a second tier journal. Or a third tier. Or the journals that were the equivalent of the National Enquirer.

So published doesn't mean good or right.

Also, it is very difficult to get a "negative" study published no matter how well done. So if you do a big study with lots of patients but show that something doesn't work at all - it is unlikely to get published as anything other than an abstract. Whereas positive studies - even if small and poorly done - are more likely to get published.

Certainly, follow-up after a lapse of 3.5 years would be considered extraordinarily poor in terms of statistical utility. Continued follow-up (where patients are contacted repeatedly with standardized/validated questionaires) is considered the sine-qua-non of following patients. Even then, a very small study with few participants would be looked at as more of a case series.

When I am reading my medical journals the first thing I do is read the methods section. If the study was done in a way that a significant amount of bias occurred, I don't read any further. For instance, if a study says that substance X made all headaches go away in 2 weeks - well almost ALL headaches do go away in two weeks. So what? In the above study as Anthony alluded - many people will get better in 3.5 years without an intervention like MDMA.

Small numbers of participants are especially problematic with neuropsychiatric and neurobiologic phenomena. Even something as definitive as Parkinson's disease shows an incredible amount of placebo effect. Parkinson's patients get better when they are watched assiduously, given placebo medications, and get sham operations - so you have to include a large number of patients and follow them over a long period to get an accurate idea of whether or not something worked.

 

[Eprezios]

I am an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester and I have been doing some research weighing the positive and negative effects associated with using MDMA in therapy sessions for patients with chronic PTSD. I thought you might like to see some of my findings:

To go off of the first comment in this thread, MDMA increases the release of the neurotransmitter oxytocin, which creates positive social experiences and can strengthen the bond between therapist and patient. Oxytocin helps to counteract the feelings that PTSD sufferers are disconnected from others and that emotional support from loved ones provides no kind of consolation. MDMA also affects certain emotional circuits in the brain in a way that allows patients to revisit frightening or painful memories without finding it unbearable. Finally, individuals who receive the drug also release norepinephrine and cortisol, which are essential in ridding oneself of a fear or fears. All of these chemical reactions combined make it easier for patients and therapists to work together to overcome the symptoms of PTSD. (Johansen and Krebs, 2009) Using MDMA allows individuals to get to a place where real healing can occur, a feat which would be impossible for some chronic PTSD sufferers with standard therapy practices alone.

Multiple experiments have been performed which prove the effects of MDMA are conducive to treatment of PTSD. In one study, initial trials of MDMA psychotherapy had encouraging outcomes, and that the benefits of this therapy lasted long after the trial period ended. This study featured twelve subjects with severe PTSD who received varying doses of MDMA during psychotherapy. This study is useful because, as Anthony said, a study needs to have multiple follow-up assessments at regular intervals to show that any changes are actually caused by the MDMA treatment as opposed to some other factors. The “active placebo” group, which received 25mg doses of MDMA, did not respond to the treatment administered and still met the criteria for severe PTSD. In the next group up, which received 125mg doses, all subjects responded to the treatment with two of them no longer displaying symptoms of PTSD and the other two displaying moderate symptoms instead of severe ones. This study included several assessments: one at baseline, three weeks after the second MDMA treatment, three weeks after the third and final treatment, two months after the final treatment, and one year after the final treatment. At the one-year follow up, nine of the twelve subjects showed significant improvement from the time the study began. By this time over half of the subjects either had only mild PTSD or did not meet the diagnosing criteria. (Oehen, Traber, Widmer, and Schnyder, 2012)

I have included a list of my references below which you are welcome to investigate.

Johansen, P. Ø., & Krebs, T. S. (2009). How could MDMA (ecstasy) help anxiety
disorders? A neurobiological rationale. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 23(4),
389-391.

Oehen, P., Traber, R., Widmer, V., & Schnyder, U. (2012). A randomized, controlled
pilot study of MDMA (±3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine)-assisted
psychotherapy for treatment of resistant, chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). Journal of Psychopharmacology.

 

[saffy]

Durability of improvement in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and absence of harmful effects or drug dependency after 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy: a prospective long-term follow-up study
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/08/29/0269881112456611.abstract

The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study

http://jop.sagepub.com/content/25/4/439.short?rss=1&ssource=mfr

best wishes
Saffy

 

[anthony]

You above link Saffy is the original study to your prior follow-up study. Take a look at the names running the study. Not new...

 

[saffy]

Anthony thank you for being so thorough but I knew that anyway.

 

[Illusio]

I think psychedelics do have potential. I've been in therapy with MDMA, Mushrooms and 1 session with LSD. Results are good, and even though therapy can be scary, psychedelics also give experiences that are positive which is good for people who are traumatized.

 

[anthony]

An interesting piece on opiod use increasing to record levels... funnily people thinking its all safe, yet opiod deaths have also tripled. Not so safe, which answers some questions raised here in relation to letting this stuff loose on the streets for use versus medically administered within controlled environments only.

There is good reason why this stuff is illegal... it really does kill people, quicker than other prescribed drugs. If you let it loose, the death toll would be astonishing.

http://youtu.be/VKHFZBUTA4k

 

[Kevin1964]

Hi, I would like to give you a background story of what happened to me. When i was really young 13 ish i remember being beaten and locked in a cupboard this went on for all my teens, so when I was 16 i ran away and lived on the streets of Londen till I was able to join the army. I fought in various wars and was blown up in a pub, off duty I might add all four of my friends were killed and I survived. NOW when i came out i was mentally unstable, I know that now but didn't then. I couldn't fit into society for years going from job to job when i found nightclubbing. My whole world changed when I started clubbing from friday to monday morning taking MDMA every night for four days it was great I started to interact with people making friends and forgetting what happened to me. This went on for eight years my life was great However when i wasn't clubbing my mood swings were terrible, my highs were high and my lows were low.we were together for the whole eight years when she wanted to change her life and stopped clubbing and left me. I continued for a further year then decided to stop clubblng and taking E and get my life together. I'm now fifty, I still have nightmares "It's why I'm on this site at 3 am" i've been on ciprimail for the past 10 years and i'm now on fuxitine for these last 6 years. The Docs have told me that I no longer make seritonine as my recepters have shunk so far that they don't work properly due to the years of taking MDMA. My mood swing are now under control, as well as my anger problems and my well being has inproved drastally (Spelling is rubbish) So yes MDMA might be good under controlled conditions in small doses, but in the long term it just makes your depression twice as hard to cope with.

Kevn