![\"PTSD](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/ptsd-marriage-1500-e1525953979236.jpg\")
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The Navy Times<\/a> reports a psychedelic recreational drug continues to show potential as a treatment option for patients with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, a new study shows. The study, published in the The Lancet Psychiatry Journal<\/a> earlier this month, found that MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, dramatically reduced PTSD symptoms in study participants.<\/p>\n Doctors treated 26 patients during the two, day-long psychotherapy sessions that included full doses of MDMA. Many of the study\u2019s participants were combat veterans.<\/p>\n Treatment with MDMA has the capability to \u201creduce fear and defensiveness, enhance communication and introspection, and increase empathy and compassion, enhancing the therapeutic process,\u201d according to a 2017 press release from the California-based nonprofit, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS.<\/p>\n MAPS has been researching the effects of MDMA for over 30 years, with results showing faster results with less talking. Accelerated resolution therapy requires fewer sessions than traditional treatment and doesn\u2019t require patients to talk out loud about their experiences. That’s why, researchers say, it can be particularly attractive to service members and veterans.<\/p>\n Follow-up examinations one month after the second therapy session revealed that the symptoms of PTSD were effectively eliminated in 68 percent of the study\u2019s participants.<\/p>\n The continued success marks another step toward reaching Food and Drug Administration-approval status, and the hope is that MDMA treatment can eventually replace antiquated methods that have proven unsuccessful.<\/p>\n \u201cAt least one in two PTSD patients cannot tolerate or do not respond adequately to existing treatments, so there is an urgent need for better treatments for the millions of military veterans and others with PTSD,\u201d said Dr. Michael Mithoefer, one of the study\u2019s lead researchers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n PTSD is nearing epidemic status, especially among veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates between 11 percent and 20 percent of OIF and OEF vets suffer from the condition.<\/p>\n But Mithoefer believes this type of psychotherapy could help check that trend.<\/p>\n \u201cThese results are further evidence that MDMA, used just two times at monthly intervals, can make psychotherapy much more effective and better tolerated,\u201d Mithoefer said in the release. \u201cI\u2019m excited that Phase 3 trials will soon confirm whether this therapy can be approved for widespread use in a few years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The next phase of testing will begin this summer and will treat some 200 to 300 participants across 16 testing sites in the U.S., Canada and Israel. If significant efficacy and safety is demonstrated in this round of tests, full FDA approval is expected by 2021.<\/p>\n Previously reported at https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"