The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be asked to approve MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder by October – opening the door to the usage of hallucinogenic drugs to treat mental illness.
According to latest research, if the drug is approved, it would be available in hospitals before the second half of next yr.
MDMA, also often known as ecstasy or molly, is a well-liked drug in rave culture, and other people take it to connect with music and dance the night away.
Nevertheless, a 2021 clinical study conducted for the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research found that out of 90 individuals who suffered from PTSD, those that took MDMA together with psychotherapy were twice as likely to get well compared to those that took MDMA together with psychotherapy. individuals who used psychotherapy with psychotherapy. placebo, according to the journal Nature.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, also often known as PTSD, is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts in regards to the event.
It is usually related to combat veterans and has even had different names previously based on correlation, resembling “bullet shock” during World War I and “combat fatigue” after World War II.
Nevertheless, post-traumatic stress disorder isn’t exclusive to veterinarians.
![Therapists Marcel Ot'alora and Bruce Poulter are trained to provide MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009960717.jpg?w=1024)
The condition affects roughly 3.5% of US adults annually, and Estimates of the American Psychiatric Association 1 in 11 people will be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder once of their lifetime. Women are twice as likely to suffer from PTSD as men, and three ethnic groups—Hispanic Americans, Blacks, and Native Americans/Alaska Natives—have the next rate of PTSD.
For the reason that 2021 trial, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Research, also often known as MAPS, has conducted and accomplished a second major trial with positive results, and this study will be published in the approaching months.
Once published, MAPS will seek approval from the FDA — and scientists consider it would be a smooth process for approval.
![A Belgian customs officer opens a bottle containing ecstasy pills during parcel inspection at Brussels airport in Zaventem, April 6, 2023. Famous chocolate. The batch of rabbits seized this week by veteran customs officer Pol Meuleneire was made from a solid lump of MDMA, the raw material for ecstasy pills.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009960722.jpg?w=1024)
“I do not think there’ll be any trick questions or anything like that, the outcomes are great,” said Rick Doblin, founder and president of MAPS.
Doctors are currently trying to treat post-traumatic stress disorder with psychotherapy and medications resembling antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications or prazosin to relieve symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Nevertheless, these drugs will not be extremely effective in patients with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, as the outcomes may be short-lived and wear off over time.
MDMA is assumed to suppress the fight or flight response, allowing people to confront trauma. Whereas PTSD treatments require people to speak about a traumatic event that might potentially re-traumatize them, MDMA should evoke positive emotions and enable patients to form non-obvious connections.
![MDMA or ecstasy pills on a dark wooden background](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009856520.jpg?w=1024)
In February, Australia approved the usage of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, although this can be very limited.
Researchers hope that the move towards psychedelic therapy will open the door to more therapeutic psychedelics resembling ketamine, ayahuasca, LSD, and psilocybin — the lively ingredient in “magic” mushrooms.