There may be more to Ecstasy than being an illegal party drug.
According to a feature on FoxNews.com, a study that was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology dealt with the use of Ecstasy in treating patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Funding for the study was provided by the Multidisciplinary Association for Pyschedelic Studies in Santa Cruz, California.
The study used 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), more commonly known as Ecstasy, in a trial that involved a small group of 20 patients who had no history of psychosis or addiction. The patients involved underwent psychotherapy sessions that lasted for eight hours and were scheduled a few weeks apart. Eight of the patients in the trial were given placebo, while twelve were given a dose of Ecstasy.
The researchers observed that after two months, 10 of the 12 patients who were given Ecstasy responded to the treatment. Their observations indicated that Ecstasy seemed to lessen the fear of long-term patients, which in turn helped the patients get the most out of their therapy sessions.
Among the patients who were only given placebo, only two out of the eight showed improvement. There was no adverse side effects observed that could be attributed to the use of the drug, although the researchers will be following up with patients to verify the treatment’s long-term effects.
The use of Ecstasy as an aid in therapy is not new; on the contrary, psychiatrist Dr. Michael Mithoefer shared that psychiatrists and psychotherapists made use of MDMA to improve therapy long before it became popular as a party drug.
Tags: ecstasy, ecstasy stress, post traumatic stress disorder, stress drug abuse
#1 by Minna on April 23rd, 2011
Awesome! I hope someday this becomes a viable option for those suffering from this disorder.