3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted therapy has emerged as a potential strategy to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We conducted a national serial cross-sectional study of U.S. Veterans with PTSD from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2023, to quantify the prevalence of potential contraindications, risk factors, and drug-drug interactions relevant to MDMA-assisted...
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains difficult to prevent after trauma, highlighting the need for early interventions that reduce the risk of chronic symptom development. This controlled study investigated the preventive potential of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in a validated rat model of PTSD induced by predator scent stress (PSS). Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (N = 175)...
This preliminary study explored the effects of MDMA-assisted therapy on trauma symptoms related to discrimination, as measured by the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale (TSDS). A total of five diverse participants, who experienced multiple types of discrimination (e.g., gender, racial/ethnic, social class, age, sexual orientation), were assessed before and after treatment. A paired-samples...
Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains difficult to treat; a substantial proportion of patients do not respond to first-line trauma-focused psychotherapy or to sertraline and paroxetine. 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic substituted amphetamine classified as an entactogen, has been studied for more than two decades as a pharmacological adjunct to...
INTRODUCTION: The treatment of comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is significantly more challenging than the treatment of either disorder alone. While gold standard evidence-based treatments exist for this comorbidity, clinically significant improvements are only observed in approximately half of clinical trial participants. The use of adjunctive...
PsychoactivesJune 8, 2026Fizza Mitter, Anton Sheptooha, Janni Leung et al.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains inadequately treated by existing pharmacological and psychological interventions, prompting growing interest in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Although randomised controlled trials have evaluated several psychedelic agents for PTSD, to our knowledge, no prior PTSD-specific synthesis has quantitatively examined multiple agent classes within a...
In this commentary on Morland et al. (2026)'s recent State of the Science article on 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we aim to emphasize both MDMA's therapeutic promise and its unresolved scientific challenges. Although recent trials on MDMA-assisted interventions have reported encouraging reductions in PTSD symptoms, the...
Recent clinical evidence suggests that racemic 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) might be useful for treating a range of neuropsychiatric diseases including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. However, concerns about its abuse potential stemming from its monoamine releasing properties have hampered its clinical development. Thus, safer analogues of racemic MDMA with...
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has emerged as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generating considerable enthusiasm in the field. However, rapidly changing evidence in a fast-moving field can be challenging to integrate. Here, we present a living systematic review and open-data meta-analytic resource on MDMA treatment for PTSD. In this initial release,...