In February 2023, Australia became the first country in the world to allow psychiatrists to prescribe 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This may have left interested clinicians looking for practical examples of the use of MDMA. In the 1950s and 1960s, psychedelics were successfully utilized in the treatment of alcoholism. This case study, the...
BackgroundPrevious research has demonstrated that epigenetic changes in specific hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) genes may predict successful psychotherapy in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A recent Phase 3 clinical trial reported high efficacy of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy for treating patients with severe PTSD compared to a therapy with placebo...
In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). This renaissance of psychedelic studies opens the door for a new paradigm in psychiatric medicine: drug-facilitated psychotherapy. In this study we report the findings of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-site Phase...
Background PTSD in adolescence causes much suffering and has substantial health-care costs. Many patients with severe PTSD do not respond to psychotherapy or continue to have symptoms despite trauma-focused psychotherapies and psychopharmacological treatment. A recent alternative in the search for cost-effective treatments for PTSD in adults is 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted...
AMA Nowak M, Górczyńska J, Gebuza M. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD in adults – literature review. Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatry and Neurology/Farmakoterapia w Psychiatrii i Neurologii. 2023;39(2):131-142. doi:10.5114/fpn.2023.133519. APA Nowak, M., Górczyńska, J., & Gebuza, M. (2023). MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD in adults – literature review....
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent psychiatric condition that significantly impacts daily functioning in patients but lacks adequate treatment options. 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as an adjunct to psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD has been studied increasingly for the last two decades and has shown promising results through quantitative data. However, few...
A randomized trial of MDMA as an adjunct to psychotherapy for PTSD found it superior to placebo plus the same manualized therapy (effect size 0.9). However, the blinding in that study almost completely failed. Vocal public advocacy for psychedelics as adjuncts to psychotherapy is creating an environment of high positivity bias that is affecting research quality and results. Thus, a recent...
IntroductionIncreasing evidence demonstrates 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) may be a safe and effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is growing interest in MDMA-AT to address a range of other health challenges. Chronic pain and PTSD are frequently comorbid, reciprocally interdependent conditions, though the possible role of...
Frontiers in PsychiatryNovember 3, 2022Lauren Okano, Bri Deyo, Alida Brandenburg et al.24 citations
Research of psychedelic assisted therapies is at an all-time high, though few studies highlight extra-pharmacological factors that may affect treatment efficacy. One critical set of attributes includes the therapeutic setting itself, which describe the physical and socio-cultural environments in which the drug-assisted session occurs. Despite enduring consensus of the influence of setting,...