MDMA (Ecstasy) may be useful in treating PTSD

I recently facilitated a group lecture and discussion at my substance abuse rehabilitation program about the effects of the club drug commonly called Ecstasy. What I learned as I was doing my research was that beyond it's psychedelic effects, under the right circumstances and supervision of a licensed and competent clinician, it can also be used as one of the many tools in treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

For those of you don't know PTSD, "is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person's daily life.

PTSD is marked by clear biological changes as well as psychological symptoms. PTSD is complicated by the fact that it frequently occurs in conjunction with related disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health. The disorder is also associated with impairment of the person's ability to function in social or family life, including occupational instability, marital problems and divorces, family discord, and difficulties in parenting."

Many of the clients that I currently treating have been exposed to on-going episodes of violence in the home or community, drugs in the home or community, sexual assault and/or rape and other events that can cause trauma in a young person in various stages of mental development. These same clients often self-medicate themselves abusing the very drug that might, again if used properly, be the very salvation in coping with their mental disorder.

According to the following article, ecstasy, or MDMA as it called in the clinical world, is being re-examined as a medication for sufferers of PTSD.

But recent research has seen a resurgence of interest in the therapeutic effects of MDMA. Successful results have been reported from trials in the use of MDMA on people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and in the relief of anxiety in patients with terminal cancer. It is a return to the spirit of the original use of MDMA: after its synthesis by Shulgin in the late 1960s, its first use was in psychotherapy.

This seems to be the pattern with medication. Many of the street drugs such as cocaine and heroin that we are so familiar with today started out as perfectly legal medicines. Of course as we know by now they also had such severe side effects that eventually they were prohibited by law in order to "protect" the average civilian. Though they are stimatized today, in some cases, certain countries like Canada and Switzerland offer prescription programs that allow users to obtain both drugs so long as they register and attend therapy. It is entirely possible that in the near future, MDMA may also be reconsidered for it's therapeutic uses.

Considering the propensity for active users to either abuse prescription drugs like Xanax (the kids call it Zanibars) or invent new ones (maybe you've heard of Triple C's - Cordicin Cough and Cold/dextromethorphan/DXM), we should not be so quick to condemn a possibly useful drug just because it might be abused. Remember, there was a time when people would do whippets and yet whipped cream in a can, can still be readily bought in your local grocery store.