Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ecstasy Could be PTSD Treatment

Research on ecstasy as a treatment for PTSD is not new, but it has been sparse at best due to the government ban on schedule 1 drugs for research. But that has been changing in recent years, and that is good news for patients as well as researchers.

Perhaps veterans, who are expected to constitute the biggest base of PTSD victims, should have the most interest in this research, so it's not too surprising to see this turn up on Military.com.

'Party' Drug Could be PTSD Treatment

'Party' Drug Could be PTSD Treatment

If you discovered it in your kid’s room there’d be hell to pay. If it appeared in a random urinalysis, it could end your career. And if you told your friends you were considering taking it, they might think you’ve suffered a mid-life crisis.

But a South Carolina psychiatrist and a Harvard-educated researcher are looking for veterans who’ve been through hell and are willing to explore a fresh way of getting past the trauma using a drug long associated with the late-night party crowd.

Ecstasy, clinically known as MDMA and outlawed recreationally for decades, is making a gradual comeback in the medical community as therapists rediscover its therapeutic value – especially in dealing with post traumatic stress disorder.

“I heard about it and I decided to give it a try,” said a former Army Ranger who was one of two veterans who participated in a recent study on the effects of Ecstasy for treating PTSD. “It’s an extremely positive thing. I feel so lucky that I got to take part in the project.

“It’s basically like years of therapy in two or three hours. You can’t understand it until you’ve experienced it.”

Michael Mithoefer, a former emergency room physician turned psychiatrist, and Rick Doblin, who founded an organization to study the role of psychedelic drugs in society, are lobbying the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow veterans suffering from PTSD to take part in their unconventional research.

Mithoefer works with his wife, Ann, out of their Mount Pleasant, S.C., office helping victims of serious trauma overcome their anguish.

With support from Doblin, the couple successfully petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to allow them to test the effects of the drug on people who suffered from PTSD. They recently completed their first round of testing, with promising results.

“This is very exciting for us and I am very hopeful that other people can replicate the results,” Mithoefer said.

“I have to stress that this is a lot different than getting a prescription for MDMA. We don’t see it ever working like that,” Mithoefer added. “You’ll have to take it in specialized clinics. No one will get to take it home.”

In the latest round of testing, 21 patients took the drug a handful of times throughout an extended period of psychiatric treatment. It’s administered under a strict set of conditions and always under close supervision by medical professionals.

Mithoefer and Doblin are not fly-by-night crackpots promising an overnight cure of a serious condition with a magic pill.

“It’s been approved by the FDA and Harvard. We have evidence of its safety and evidence of its efficacy,” Doblin said. “We’ve shown that we can help Soldiers deal with their trauma.”

Read the whole article.


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