A new study has found that patients with post-traumatic stress disorder could see a relief of symptoms within weeks if treated with MDMA, as Mixmag reports.
New York-based organisation Mind Medicine has conducted a trial to test the likelihood of ecstasy being used medicinally, giving patients the party drug before counselling and therapy sessions.
90 participants took part in the trial, half of which were given the drug while the other half received a placebo, neither group knowing which they had taken. The study found that two-thirds of patients who took MDMA no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis two months after the trial.
32% of the people given the placebo went into remission after the trial, researchers found. While only two medical studies have been completed, both gave positive results toward MDMA being used medicinally in the future.
A third trial is currently underway, and could potentially be approved by 2023 if given the green light.
Jennifer Mitchell, neurologist from the University of California who led the trial, stated: “People with the most difficult-to-treat diagnoses, often considered intractable, respond just as well to this novel treatment as other study participants. In fact, participants diagnosed with the dissociative subtype of PTSD experienced a greater reduction in symptoms than those without the dissociative subtype.” Read the full story here.
