Tuesday, April 28, 2015

"In a recent study, 10 out of 12 patients no longer registered PTSD on their CAPS score after undergoing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy."

Marines Are Being Given MDMA To Help Recover From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Results Positive: "Marines suffering from PTSD are now being given ‘love drug’ MDMA to cope with the hardships of returning home after battle. The soldiers are being treated by an organization called Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), whose mission is to discover the use of the dance floor drug in medical contexts. They are offered doses of up to 125 mg, which is more than typically consumed by someone for recreational use....

In a recent study, 10 out of 12 patients no longer registered PTSD on their CAPS score after undergoing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy."

Scientists are testing MDMA as a PTSD treatment for veterans | The Verge: "About six months after leaving Iraq — but while still in the military — Blackston discovered he didn’t feel like himself. He went to a military clinic in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where a computerized test flagged him for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Blackston received the same treatment the majority of veterans with PTSD receive. The military doctors put him on Seroquel, an antipsychotic, and Zoloft, an antidepressant. The talk therapy he received was minimal; he says he had to wait six weeks between hour-long therapy sessions. "There was just so much time in between that the therapy sessions were pointless, and the medication just makes you feel like a zombie," he says...

Imaging studies of PTSD have shown increased activity in the amygdala, the fear center of the brain, and decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex and in the hippocampus. Essentially, three parts of the brain are operating irregularly, which prevents people with PTSD from processing everyday experiences normally. However, once people take MDMA, there’s increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, and decreased activity in the amygdala — it basically evens out the scale so proper therapy can be done, Mithoefer says. PTSD patients are often "too aroused or mostly numb" during therapy without MDMA; the drug helps therapy happen for them "meaningfully, without being overwhelmed by the fear," Mithoefer says."

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