Hallucinogens As A Potential Treatment For Mood Disorders

[Philippa]

I must admit I am a little hesitant to take any hallucinogen with PTSD as well, though I know someone who has it and who takes mushrooms...and he does not appear to be any better, though I have not known him for too long I admit. He is very aggro, from smoking too much weed, and gets triggered easily, and has issues that he won't deal with, and prefers to just take drugs to cope. That isn't a good poster child for this discussion. He claims he has a friend who was cured of her mental instability through the use of hallucinogens, but I wouldn't take his word for it...not when it comes to PTSD anyway.

 

[Philippa]

I could not find the thread on MDMA and it's use in the treatment of PTSD, but I am sure I remember there being one here on the forum. I found this through NeuroSoup, which is a website put together by a woman by the name of Krystal Cole, who is someone who knows quite a lot about all hallucinogens and illicit substances. Her personal story is quite interesting, and she suffers from PTSD herself, and has earned a PhD in Psychology...amongst other things.

Here is a link to her e-book "MDMA for PTSD". It is just a exerpt from the actual kindle download, which is able to be bought via the link...and I thought it might prove interesting reading to some folk here.

Dead Link Removed

 

[cherryblossom]

I could not find the thread on MDMA and it's use in the treatment of PTSD, but I am sure I remember there being one here on the forum.

There's this one in news, politics and debates
[DLMURL]https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/ecstasy-a-possible-treatment-for-ptsd.6833/[/DLMURL]

 

[Philippa]

Ah, thankyou cherryblossom.

 

[Indigo333]

M.A.P.S is a great source for psychedelics and PTSD. I have talked to several people about MDMA and it being used for their PTSD... overall I have heard good things and hope soon that this will become a mainstream medium for dealing with PTSD. I could easily sign for giving it a few runs with the right help but not with LSD... I loose control. With MDMA, I felt supported... Its been a long time though.

 

[Lost Pup]

I feel that MDMA is one of the most effective tools used for treating trauma and fully anticipate a time when it is common. While it carries some risks with it, these are generally smaller than those associated with pharmaceuticals. Also, it is short-acting and can be used in a clinical setting with medical support from onset through come down.

I think other psychedelics are more variable. For me, personally, psilocybin and DMT were also extremely helpful in repairing certain spiritual wounds. And there are very interesting studies in recent clinical medicine that demonstrate positive, lasting impacts of using psilocybin in those diagnosed with a terminal condition.

I'm not aware of any such studies on DMT. The only clinical work I am aware of on that substance was done by Dr. Rick Strassman two decades ago and looked specifically at physiological side effects.

A few weeks ago, it was (finally) confirmed that DMT is produced naturally in the brains of rats. This is a big deal because many have long speculated that DMT is associated with the pineal gland (aka, historically known as the 3rd eye) and may play a role in out of body and near-death experiences. If it turns out that DMT is native to human brains, as well, this might have staggering implications for our understanding of consciousness in general and might affect the ways in which we address PTSD among other conditions.

I second Indigo about MAPS. Really great organization.