PTSD

This multi-site, randomized, double-blind, confirmatory phase 3 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) versus placebo with identical therapy in participants with moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Last year, for the first time, the Veterans Administration announced it would begin funding its own clinical trials to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and addiction, using two psychedelic drugs psilocybin and MDMA. Even if these trials are successful, it would be years before the VA could prescribe either drug for its patients. 

Psychedelic drugs such as MDMA and psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms, have promised to revolutionize psychiatric treatments. Now, a small trial in military veterans suggests that a lesser-known, potent psychedelic drug called ibogaine could be used to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI). One month after ibogaine treatment, the veterans reported that TBI symptoms such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression had decreased by more than 80%, on average.

In this episode, I discuss Methyl enedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA), which is also commonly known as “ecstasy” or “molly,” including how it works in the brain to cause short- and long- term-shifts in emotional processing and its clinical applications for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol and other substance-use addictions.

Delivered in collaboration with the University of Exeter and Devon Partnership NHS Trust, the studies involve using regulated forms of psychedelic drugs. These innovative therapies could prove effective for treating conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD).

Using psychedelics to treat depression and trauma has just become legal in Australia. Offering hope to many, it’s not without risk. While many report life-changing benefits, others do not, and many scientists in the field fear the move is premature. Dr Paul Liknaitsky from Monash University is running a clinical trial looking at psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, with promising results. Professor Susan Rossell, Swinburne University of Technology, is running a trial with psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, for treatment resistant depression. They’ve had a mixed outcome. Some are experimenting and using psychedelics illegally. Writer Tim Baker went to an underground practitioner to use MDMA for end-of-life distress.

When former soldier Daniel Vincent was medically separated from the military in 2019, he left with PTSD and a major depressive disorder.

Mr Vincent joined the army in 2000 and was deployed to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"I got to see what warfare was all about … watching people die without any ability to help them,"

he said.

He was placed on anti-depressants but did not like how they made him feel, so gradually weaned himself off them.

This multi-site, randomized, double-blind, confirmatory phase 3 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) versus placebo with identical therapy in participants with moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

This multi-site, randomized, double-blind, confirmatory phase 3 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) versus placebo with identical therapy in participants with moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).