MDMA may help treat PTSD

The controversial drug MDMA -- also known as ecstasy -- can help ease the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the first phase II clinical trial into the potential therapeutic benefits of using the drug as an adjunct to psychotherapy.

Most patients in the trial who were given psychotherapy along with doses of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) experienced statistically significant reductions in the severity of their condition after two months, compared with a control group who received psychotherapy and a placebo....

"It's important to realize this is a small pilot study and it will be necessary to replicate the results elsewhere," says Michael Mithoefer, a private-practice psychiatrist based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, who led the study, funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, an advocacy group based in California. "But it is evidence that this should be studied further," he adds.

Many dedicated researchers have believed this to be true for quite a while now, but it's always nice to see fruit on the vine in terms of concrete results. One interesting note about the brief Nature article alerting us to this news is that we don't see any (even cursory) attempt to offer some kind of "balanced" view suggesting this can't be true or shouldn't be true - the article is just a statement of fact, couched clearly in the terms of "pilot study" but nevertheless painted as promising by a prominent scientific media outlet. Good news all around. Word to Mithoefer and his colleagues.