Polk State Chain of Lakes Collegiate High School

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Breakthrough in Treatment

Paige Wentworth

ENC 1101

Abercrombie

01 April 2019

Word Count: 1,609

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Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, effects about eight million American

adults; this is not including children or those affected internationally. Current treatments

involve several types of therapies, medications, or using a mixture of the two. These

treatments can prove to be extremely difficult for the patient and usually don’t improve

the state of the disorder. Recently, a new form of treatment has surfaced: MDMA-

assisted psychotherapy. MDMA, while being the main ingredient in street drugs such as

ecstasy and molly, is neither addictive, nor dangerous for the patient if administered

correctly. Furthermore, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been shown to help many

patients with PTSD overcome their symptoms; therefore, it should be legalized and

used only in professional therapy sessions for those affected with PTSD.

The current forms of treatment used to combat PTSD are extremely different,

and possibly less effective, than MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, a new form of

treatment being tested for patients affected with PTSD. In his TED Talk, Brad Burge,

Director of Strategic Communications at MAPS, explains that at least one in twelve

people who have gone through a traumatic event develop post-traumatic stress

disorder. He goes on to say that those suffering with PTSD have more than two times

the likelihood to commit suicide than those without the disorder. Burge then goes into

the treatments; he explains that psychotherapy and current medications can be effective

for some, but it takes many years, and therefore, it is extremely expensive.

Furthermore, the two medications currently used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder

must be taken every single day for it to work, and Burge relays that these medications

only target the symptoms, not the root problem. Because of this, patients on medication

and in therapy may still be suffering with PTSD, the costs of psychotherapy, and the
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many side effects that come with the prescriptions. Burge goes on to say that in MDMA-

assisted psychotherapy, the drug is only administered three times over a 10-week

period. MDMA is not given on its own; it is only taken in a controlled therapy session to

strengthen the effects of the psychotherapy. He then explains why MDMA works so well

in therapy sessions: it increases the release of serotonin, which heightens mood and

memory; it increases dopamine levels, which inflates motivation and focus; it increases

the release of hormones that raise mood and memory; and it decreases activity in the

amygdala, which decreases the fight or flight response. In an article from Paraplegia

News, the two common medications for treating PTSD are described: Selective

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) is used to increase the amount of serotonin in the

brain, which is also used to treat depression and the drug Prazosin is used to decrease

nightmares associated with the trauma. These drugs aren’t helpful to cure PTSD, they

only subside the many symptoms of living with the disorder. Current forms of PTSD

treatment normally take a long time to start to produce results, aren’t very effective, and

only target the symptoms of the disorder; contrastingly, MDMA-assisted psychotherapy

only requires a few doses that begin to work minutes after consumption, has been

shown to be extremely effective, and gets to the root source of the PTSD.

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has helped many patients affected with PTSD

overcome their symptoms and even the disorder itself. An anonymous woman has

shared her story of overcoming PTSD with the help of MDMA in an article titled “My

Story of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy after a Life Changing Rape.” When she was

only 15, she attended a party where she was raped by a group of men. She contained

her shame and fear until the age of 22, seven years after her traumatic event, when she
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felt ready to get help. Even after therapy, she still had problems with trust and intimacy,

but never connected her issues with her rape. She was triggered every time she had to

talk about her trauma and would experience serious PTSD symptoms, such as panic

attacks. From then until the age of 30, she got worse, even becoming triggered without

talking about her rape. Her therapist suggested trying MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to

see if it would help with her disorder. She was extremely nervous before the session

because she was terrified of reliving her trauma, but about an hour into the session,

those feelings of terror vanished. She could remember most of the night at the party;

details she could never recall when she was not on MDMA. She began to re-experience

her traumatic rape while in the session and began to violently shake, but not out of fear.

When she asked her therapist what was happening to her, he replied that her body was

releasing the trauma that has been kept inside for all these years. With each repressed

feeling that she re-lived through the therapy, she shook it out and instantly felt lighter

and could finally believe that she was worth loving and she wasn’t defined by what

happened. After 15 years of pain, fear, and shame, MDMA was able to help her

overcome her PTSD and finally realize that she is worthy and shouldn't be ashamed of

what was done to her. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy not only eliminates the symptoms

of PTSD, but some of those, like the one described above, who have gone through the

treatment are no longer affected with PTSD at all.

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy should, after it is legalized, become the normal,

routine treatment for PTSD because it has been proven in multiple studies to be a safe

and more effective way for patients to overcome their disorder. One of the completed

studies that has been conducted with funding from the Multidisciplinary Association for
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Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS, shows excellent results for those who were treated with

MDMA. In an article written by Allie Feduccia, a Clinical Data Scientist at MAPS, she

highlights that 76% of patients that participated in the clinical trial no longer had PTSD

12 months after the administration of MDMA. This is a huge breakthrough for PTSD

treatment because previously, therapy and medications have only targeted the

symptoms, and patients still suffer with the disorder after many years. According to

MAPS, MDMA, when administered correctly, is entirely safe and effective. It is not the

same as ecstasy or molly, which have dangerous additives. MDMA has been shown to

be extremely effective in treating PTSD and is on track to be legalized for medical uses

in the year 2021, when it should be regularly used to help those affected with this

disorder.

Some may say that using MDMA in psychotherapy is potentially dangerous. In a

journal written by Andrew Parrott from Swansea University, he writes that many of the

effects of MDMA are uncertain and could be problematic since the drug can release

negative emotions and thoughts, which would be counterproductive in therapy. He

highlights that is risky to use such a strong drug on psychologically unstable persons

because the effects could worsen their condition. However, all of Parrott’s main points

on why MDMA could be dangerous include short term or very unlikely side effects, such

as a short period of depression on the “come-down” of the drug or lack of sleep for a

few days subsequent to the sessions. Furthermore, every clinical trial that has been

completed to test the effectiveness of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy have had

extremely promising results. For example, a clinical trial completed in Charleston, North

Carolina by Michael Mithoefer finds a significant drop in the Clinician-Administered

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PTSD Scale (CAPS), which is a PTSD assessment. In figure one below, there is a large

Figure 1. Source: Mithoefer, Michael C., et al. “The Safety and Efficacy of ±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-Assisted
Psychotherapy in Subjects with Chronic, Treatment-Resistant Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The First Randomized Controlled
Pilot Study." Journal of Psychopharmacology, vol. 25, no. 4, Apr. 2011, pp. 439–452, doi:10.1177/0269881110378371.

difference in the placebo group and the group given MDMA. In fact, after just two out of

the three sessions, there was about a 55% drop in CAPS (Mithoefer, “The Safety and

Efficacy…”). Furthermore, in a separate study specifically designed to test the safety of

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, also done in Charleston, South Carolina by Michael

Mithoefer, relayed that after the trial was completed, it provided more evidence to the

fact that MDMA can be used safely, and it has also been proved in six other studies
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(Mithoefer, “Military Veterans, Firefighters, and Police Officers…”). MDMA has been

tested multiple times and has always been shown to be safe for the patient in therapy.

MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been shown to significantly benefit those

diagnosed with PTSD in a safe and effective way. Adding MDMA to therapy has helped

so many patients completely overcome their diagnosis, and the drug should become

legalized and used as the routine procedure for treating patients with PTSD.
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Works Cited

Burge, Brad. “MDMA, Psychotherapy, and the future of PTSD Treatment.” TEDxSalem,

www.tedxsalem.us/#/lightbox&slide=21.

Feduccia, Alli. “Healing Trauma with MDMA Therapy: New Study Published.” Psychedelic

Support, 16 Jan. 2019, psychedelic.support/resources/healing-trauma-with-mdma-a-

new-study-published/.

MAPS, maps.org/research/mdma.

Mithoefer, Michael C., et. al. “3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-Assisted

Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Military Veterans, Firefighters, and

Police Officers: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Dose-Response, Phase 2 Clinical Trial.”

Lancet Psychiatry, 2018, s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/mapscontent/research-

archive/mdma/2018_LancetPsychiary_MP8_MDMA_PTSD_MAPS_Final_Supplemental

.pdf.

---. “The Safety and Efficacy of ±3,4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-Assisted

Psychotherapy in Subjects with Chronic, Treatment-Resistant Posttraumatic Stress

Disorder: The First Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.” Journal of

Psychopharmacology, vol. 25, no. 4, Apr. 2011, pp. 439–452,

doi:10.1177/0269881110378371.

“My Story of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy after a Life Changing Rape.” Psymposia, 25 Feb.

2019, www.psymposia.com/magazine/mdma-assisted-psychotherapy-for-rape-trauma/.

Parrott, Andrew C. “The Potential Dangers of Using MDMA for Psychotherapy.” Journal of

Psychoactive Drugs, vol. 46, no. 1, 2014, pp. 37–43.,

doi:10.1080/02791072.2014.873690.
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“Treating PTSD." PN - Paraplegia News, Aug. 2013, p. 13+. SPJ.SP01,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A339119887/SPJ.SP01?

u=lincclin_pcc&sid=SPJ.SP01&xid=84e552ac.