MDMA for Veterans Day?
Today we thank the United States Veterans for their service but, do we as a nation, make sure they are getting the proper treatment required to combat PTSD on American Soil?
PTSD is associated with debilitating anxiety and fear triggered by past traumatic events experienced on the battle field or in abusive relationships here at home. Approximately 870,000 U.S. veterans receive disability payments for PTSD from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, costing an estimated $17 billion a year. This Current treatment of PTSD involves medicating the symptoms or revisiting the trauma through therapy. PTSD turns into a debilitating mental illness when soldiers have repressed memories of the event or are traumatized again and again when reflecting on these painful events.
In the past, doctors prescribed addicting pills with terrible side effects like antidepressant medications, Zoloft, and Prozac. These have shown to cause depression to get worse, unfortunately leading to suicide in many patients. Veterans now have hope of new "Breakthrough Therapy" treatments and the backing of the FDA. Studies have shown MDMA has the potential to reverse the brain functions associated with fear and painful trauma that is triggered in therapy. Patients undergoing MRI scans have shown PTSD appears to increase activity in the amygdala, the brain's fear center, and reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex, which regulates one's emotional state. Patients using MDMA have a better chance of changing their perspective through compassion and empathy to overcome fear and emotional pain or discomfort, significantly improving the chances of success using psychotherapy for PTSD. By reflecting on the memory or meaning of harrowing and often painful events, veterans can process and make sense of their most stressful experiences in war. MDMA and Psilocybin Mushrooms reduces fear and promotes empathy and trust so the patient can feel safe and secure when they internally process the trauma. Trauma-focused Psychotherapies are the most highly recommended type of treatment for PTSD. "Trauma-focused" means that the treatment focuses on the memory of the traumatic event. These treatments use different techniques to help you process your traumatic experience. Some involve visualizing, talking, or thinking about traumatic memories. Others focus on changing unhelpful beliefs about the trauma. Patients who suffer from treatment-resistant PTSD will typically undergo a three-day-long MDMA-assisted psychotherapy session, with their trained psychotherapist. Psychotherapists know the importance of initial non-drug therapy sessions to prepare the individual for the psycho-assisted psychotherapy, by implementing a safe set and setting and working with the subject to integrate the experience after consuming MDMA or Psilocybin. During the psychotherapy sessions, patients will often discuss the traumatic events in a controlled and secure environment. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy showed that two-thirds of patients no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis 12 months after undergoing treatment.
Phase 3 trials, the final step of research required by the Food and Drug Administration before deciding to approve a drug for treatment, are currently underway at 14 sites across the United States, Canada, and Israel. The goal of these trials is to make MDMA-assisted psychotherapy an accepted treatment for PTSD by 2022. In the U.S., Europe, and Israel, clinical trials have been conducted using MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD in veterans, sexual abuse survivors, and people with other traumas. The treatment has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. FDA, and Phase 3 trials began in the U.S. in November 2018 which, if successful, could result in the first-ever regulatory approval of a Schedule I psychedelic compound.
