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Results of a new study may offer regulators enough evidence to allow the psychedelic, also known as Ecstasy, to be considered for use as a PTSD treatment.
MDMA-assisted therapy seems to be effective in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study published on Thursday.
The research is the final trial conducted by MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, a company that is developing prescription psychedelics. It plans to submit the results to the Food and Drug Administration as part of an application for approval to market MDMA, the psychedelic drug, as a treatment for PTSD, when paired with talk therapy.
If approved, “MDMA-assisted therapy would be the first novel treatment for PTSD in over two decades,” said Berra Yazar-Klosinski, the senior author of the study, which was published in Nature Medicine, and the chief scientific officer at the company. “PTSD patients can feel some hope.”
PTSD affects about 5 percent of the adult population of the United States each year. But conventional therapies and medications only help, at best, around 50 percent of patients, said Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist and the executive director of the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association, who was not involved in the study.
“My clinical experience is that too many men and women have lost hope with conventional treatments and therapies and feel the only ‘out’ for them is committing suicide,” Dr. Xenakis said. “We need to do something more to help them, and MDMA-assisted therapy offers a new, potentially lifesaving option when done thoughtfully and professionally.”
MDMA, also known as Ecstasy or Molly, has been an illegal substance since 1985, when the Drug Enforcement Administration classified it as a Schedule 1 drug, placing it in the highest category for controlled drugs that the agency deems of no medical use and that have a high potential for abuse.
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MDMA Therapy for PTSD Inches Closer to U.S. Approval – The New York Times
