In 2012, CNN reported the story of Rachel Hope, a woman living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to sexual abuse and a car accident. Looking for help, Hope participated in a study using MDMA as a treatment. She told CNN that 80% of her PTSD symptoms disappeared after the first dose, with another 10 percent dissipating within the following weeks.
“[MDMA] allowed me to rewire my brain,” she said.
Fast forward to now, four years later, and the FDA has approved more trials of using ecstasy with PTSD patients, according to the New York Post. This larger study is the final step before the potential legalization of the drug. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies will sponsor the testing, which is said to include 230 patients. The association has previously conducted research on MDMA’s effects on veterans, sexual assault victims, police and firefighters suffering from PTSD, according to the NYP.
Dr. Michael Mithoefer, who conducted Hope’s trial treatment, said MDMA helps patients by helping them address their past issues.
“It’s not that people just have a blissed-out experience and feel great about the world,” Mithoefer told CNN. “A lot of the time it’s revisiting the trauma, and it’s a painful, difficult experience. But the MDMA seems to make it possible for them to do it effectively.”
If the upcoming testing proves successful, MDMA could be legalized by 2021.
