The
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies released the results from its Phase 3 trial on MDMA for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The randomized, blinded, Phase 3 trial enrolled 90 patients with severe chronic PTSD who were divided into two groups.
The first group of 46 participants received three sessions of MDMA-assisted talk therapy, while the control group of 44 people received a placebo as well as the same talk therapy.
Results were measured after 18 weeks. Sixty-seven percent of participants in the MDMA-assisted therapy group no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis after the MDMA-assisted therapy sessions versus 32% in the placebo group.
Eighty-eight percent of participants from the MDMA group experienced a clinically significant reduction in symptoms versus 60% in the control group.
Molly, Psychedelic Drug, Shows Great Promise As Mental Health Treatment, New Study Finds
On 5/10/21 at 5:00 AM EDT
A couple hours after taking his first dose of the mind-altering drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, Bessel Van Der Kolk lay down on a couch in the presence of two psychotherapists, put on an eyeshade, and allowed himself to sink into a quiet, hypnotic state.
Van Der Kolk, one of the world s foremost experts on trauma, had agreed to ingest the potent compound, known to generations of recreational illegal drug users by its street names Ecstasy or Molly, because he was the principal investigator in a rigorous 15-site, phase III, clinical trial. The object was to evaluate the effectiveness of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in patients suffering from extreme Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As such, he d been told, he was required to have first-hand experience with the drug.
World s First Phase 3 Clinical Trial On MDMA Shows Powerful New Pathway To Healing benzinga.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from benzinga.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
May 3, 2021Updated 6:55 p.m. ET
In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder when paired with talk therapy.
Of the 90 people who took part in the new study, which is expected to be published later this month in Nature Medicine, those who received MDMA during therapy experienced a significantly greater reduction in the severity of their symptoms compared with those who received therapy and an inactive placebo. Two months after treatment, 67 percent of participants in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared with 32 percent in the placebo group.