Forum

Notifications
Clear all

PTSD

10 Posts
7 Users
0 Likes
959 Views
(@deborah)
Member Admin
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 267
Topic starter  

Party Drug Ecstasy Showing Great Promise Treating Severe PTSD, Now In Final Clinical Trials

 
 

Jonathan Lubecky was truly at the end of his rope. The former Army Sergeant, who’d served in Iraq and was later plagued by the violent events he’d witnessed in war, says he had already attempted suicide five times.

“I drank a bottle of vodka, loaded a Beretta 9mm, put it to my temple and pulled the trigger,” he told https://www.wral.com/iraq-vet-convinced-ecstasy-therapy-helped-cure-his-ptsd/18759913 /">WRAL.com in Raleigh, North Carolina. “And the gun malfunctioned.”

After many years of experiencing severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – including near-constant anxiety and depression – Lubecky now credits a clinical drug trial he’d embarked upon several years ago with altering his life forever. Because of those experimental drug trials, he no longer feels the overwhelming burden of PTSD.

 
Today In: https://www.forbes.com/vice s">Lifestyle

Known universally as the nightclub drug Ecstasy or Molly – and chemically identified as MDMA – prescription versions of the substance are currently being tested on patients with severe PTSD in experimental settings across the U.S. in conjunction with psychotherapy sessions. And the results are proving to be astoundingly positive.

The pioneering clinical trials are sponsored by the non-profit https://maps.org /">Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which since 1986 has created awareness around psychedelics as a healing modality. The organization has raised over $70 million developing such groundbreaking therapies – with more than half of that amount going specifically to MDMA-assisted PTSD work, currently in Phase 3 trials.


   
Quote
(@tabethapetersoniectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 43
 

This is great news, PTSD is such a rough thing, and I think it's so misunderstood in the media. I wonder what about MDMA treats PTSD that other drugs haven't been able to. 


   
ReplyQuote
(@carliecannestroiectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 64
 

I think this is great if they can help to speed up the process of healing for the brain/body connections related to this process in an instant as opposed to years of therapy, meditation and support groups. My perspective is always gonna include some yoga into it lol which is recommended to ptsd patients for its ability to calm the nervous system. Many people report having psychedelic experiences through meditation and from my research about this topic it is that you reach higher levels of your cognitive function from being able to relax and not in a holier than thou way,  but when you have ptsd you are stuck in your amygdala/ fight or flight response from not being able to relax and being stuck in the trauma of not being able to process emotions. This is why there is so much emphasis on feeling emotions and sitting with the feeling in meditation because when you can finally process your emotions then that means that you are using a different part of your brain which is your limbic system that processes emotions therefore helping yourself to get out of your amygdala/trauma response from the action of processing the emotions, which can be a psychedelic experience, so I can see why they would use a psychedelic drug.  I also believe this is why essential oils are used in yoga classes because the limbic system also processes scents which is why they can have a psychological effect. Then once you have processed your emotions and moved to the limbic system there is the cerabellum I think, and this is where theoretically, you can use the full potential of your brain. That being said, this process can take years and be very long for some people depending on how embedded their traumas are and how they process. On the one hand, being able to have a medication that can speed up this process so that you don't have to spend years of your life processing and living with trauma can be a very positive thing, another part of me can see the downside to that maybe relying on a medication isn't the best thing for some people, that if you are in a desparate state of pain you might abuse it which is why I feel it should be done in a controlled environment with health practitioners who are experts at facilitating and understand about trauma. The experience of trauma is to destroy the sense of self and even way of living for a reason which is to birth a new self and way of living because of the trauma and being able to learn how to process your emotions in a way you haven't done before which can lead to a new life. 


   
ReplyQuote
(@deborah)
Member Admin
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 267
Topic starter  

I think a great deal of research is still needed to treat PTSD. It is a terrible disorder to have and I do see the need to try pretty much anything that will help.


   
ReplyQuote
(@angierodrigueziectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 45
 

My concern would be that this drug could potentially be misused by the person, or even yet worse, used on someone else, or distributed. I think that if this proves to be successful as a treatment, that the patient must adhere to strict guidelines, such as continued psycotherapy, to show that they are looking to heal the mind and body, and not abuse the drug. 


   
ReplyQuote
(@mikaylaalleniectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 71
 

Joe Rogan talks about how you can go to this place in a South American country and a "master" gives you mdma and stays with you while you trip and its supposed to cure depression and anxiety. I have seen studies say that it increases the serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain so I believe it would work for some people. Personally I have too much anxiety to even try it clinically lol


   
ReplyQuote
(@student)
Member
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 138
 

I think it's amazing they are able to utilize a drug like MDMA and ecstasy which have such bad stigmas around them because of their common use. I'm glad that we have found a way to help those suffering from severe PTSD.  


   
ReplyQuote
(@camrynauxtiectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 65
 

This is very interesting to me, as MDMA is typically known to be taken as a party or sex drug. As important it is to help reduce the effects of PTSD, I worry that this drug could end up triggering some people's disorder and/or end up in the wrong hands and potentially become more dangerous than helpful. I wonder if they had tried any weaker/less invasive drugs?


   
ReplyQuote
(@camrynauxtiectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 65
 

@nicoleweberiectskin-com I agree! I never knew that these kinds of drugs could actually be used to heal disorders, most people use them to heal "spiritually"


   
ReplyQuote
(@camrynauxtiectskin-com)
Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 65
 

@mikaylaalleniectskin-com Wow, I'll have to look into that. I have obviously heard of people getting prescribed a medical marijuana card for disorders such as this, but never harder drugs such as MDMA/ecstasy. It is so important that they are finding alternative solutions though!


   
ReplyQuote
Share:
error: Content is protected !!