FDA fasttracks breakthrough therapy for PTSD: MDMA (ecstacy)

[preraph]

In the news today, a possible breakthrough with very good numbers in the studies with veterans. Before you go out and buy ecstasy, please know that for sure it would not help without simultaneous therapy. The way the MDMA works is it calms the fear response in the amygdala , which then enables people with PTSD to be calm enough to be able to talk about their traumatic experiences with a therapist and, therefore, make progress on working through it with a professional. The article from an hour ago talks about it. Very interesting. Very hopeful.

 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mdma-the-main-ingredient-in-ecstasy-could-be-key-in-helping-veterans-with-ptsd/

[carhill]

Something I've noted with my vet friends, Vietnam era, is they're backed off the edge more when smoking MJ. Seems the weed calms them. Off it, watch out. One in particular was/is pretty scary. However I did get a good picture of what a helo gunner did to Viet Cong among other NSFW recounts.

 

Perhaps different situations need different drugs. The guys I know aren't afraid of talking, it's like they're back there reliving it. My uncle was like that too, about the Japanese. I was glad I looked like a round headed Russian and not Asian. Talked him off the edge a few times.

 

Hope their research bears fruit. I can't imagine some of the atrocities these guys/gals faced. My dad never really shared but I know he killed people. Meh.

[preraph]

So many police officers, firefighters, and EMS are living with PTSD. Really it's like PTSD on top of PTSD. So anything that might help is promising. with PTSD you have repetitive thoughts about all of that. But apparently the right measure of MDMA combined with a therapist that knows what they're doing can get some work done. One of the problems with recounting stories on PTSD is it seems to only make the PTSD worse. So I'm curious to know what the therapist are doing differently. They've been approved for another trial.

[carhill]

I could see an argument for molding the brain chemistry to support process alteration. In other words, the PTSD sufferer will still have thoughts and emotions but learn to process them differently and in a healthier manner.

 

With the guys I interact with, I find sometimes the same techniques I learned when caring for my mother, who had psychosis, help, mainly agree and redirect. Validating and then steering to a different thought process. That's outside and not self-directed though so wouldn't help a person consciously redirect their own thoughts and process the attendant emotions. Interesting stuff, the brain is. Learned a lot from research professionals while caregiving. We have a long way to go.