New Study Suggests That Drug MDMA Can Reduce Symptoms Of PTSD

According to a new study published on Thursday, the psychedelic drug MDMA can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The company sponsoring the research, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, said it plans to seek U.S. approval to market the drug at the end of the year.

“It’s the first innovation in PTSD treatment in more than two decades,” said CEO of MAPS Public Benefit Corporation Amy Emerson in a statement. “And it’s significant because I think it will also open up other innovations.”

To conduct the study, researchers examined the symptoms of 104 patients with PTSD, some of whom were given MDMA and the rest given placebo pills during the course of three sessions, all one month apart. Both groups also received talk therapy.

Following treatment, 86% of the MDMA group improved on standard PTSD assessment compared to 69% of the placebo group, based on assessments measuring symptoms such as nightmares and flashbacks.

By the end of the study, 72% of the MDMA group no longer met the criteria required to diagnose PTSD, much more than the 48% of the placebo group.

Common side effects among MDMA participants were nausea, muscle tightness, sweating and decreased appetite. Only one person in the MDMA group dropped out of the study.

The road to prescribing MDMA to PTSD patients is still long. The Food and Drug Administration would need to approve it and the Drug Enforcement Administration would need to change it’s classification, which currently likens it to heroin.

Earlier this year, Australia became the first country in the world to allow psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA. Since then, other countries have been experimenting with the idea.

California recently moved to decriminalize psychedelics in a further sign of change in attitudes towards certain drugs.