There’s buzz about MDMA – yes, the same ingredient in the street drug known as Ecstasy – being a game changer in the treatment of PTSD. A psychiatrist who treats PTSD says, “Not so fast.”
MDMA is better known as the party psychedelic Ecstasy or Molly. Used clinically, together with psychotherapy, it reduces symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and shows promise with couples.
Psychedelic drugs have inspired great songs and works of art. But they may also have potential for treating disease like depression and PTSD by helping to regrow damaged regions of the brain.
Flakka was believed to be behind two cannibalistic attacks in Florida that left one man blind and a married couple dead. It wasn’t so. Here’s why we need facts, not myths, about dangerous drugs.
‘I suppose that, as I’m 50, Molly is absolutely my demographic: I was nine when Countdown began and 23 when it ended, and I was a devotee for most of that time – a devotee who was often disgusted …’
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry; Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine; Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis