Ecstasy as a Remedy for PTSD? You Probably Have Some Questions

&gt; “I was able to forgive myself. It was like a clean sweep.”<p>I think this is the overlooked key point in these discussions of MDMA or other treatments as remedies for PTSD: it brings on the ability to see yourself and your actions with compassion and forgiveness that is not present in baseline consciousness.<p>For my own healing of trauma (which did not involve the use of MDMA), that has been the key. And letting go of deep resentment towards others (e.g., parents, former partners, lost friends) happened pretty much immediately, once I was able to have self-compassion and forgive myself.<p>As promising as the research around MDMA might be, it&#x27;s still likely to be a long time before it has clinical and legal approval in most jurisdictions and even then it may not be the be-all-and-end-all for emotional healing.<p>Whereas there are techniques for bringing on self-forgiveness that are already available, though not yet accepted in the mainstream.<p>Hopefully that may start to change soon.

The narrative is that an illegal party drug seems to have potential as a psychiatric tool, but this is was it was <i>before</i> it became a party drug.<p>The disinhibition and mental clarity allows people to open up, &quot;break out of their shell&quot; and talk honestly about themselves and their feelings. And it does this immediately and with ease. It&#x27;s really something special.<p>From Wikipedia:<p>Shulgin was impressed with the drug&#x27;s disinhibiting effects and thought it could be useful in therapy. Believing MDMA allowed users to strip away habits and perceive the world clearly, Shulgin called the drug &quot;window&quot;. Shulgin occasionally used MDMA for relaxation, referring to it as &quot;my low-calorie martini&quot;, and gave the drug to friends, researchers, and others who he thought could benefit from it. One such person was Leo Zeff, a psychotherapist who had been known to use psychedelic substances in his practice. When he tried the drug in 1977, Zeff was impressed with the effects of MDMA and came out of his semi-retirement to promote its use in therapy. Over the following years, Zeff traveled around the United States and occasionally to Europe, eventually training an estimated four thousand psychotherapists in the therapeutic use of MDMA. Zeff named the drug &quot;Adam&quot;, believing it put users in a state of primordial innocence.

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It&#x27;s interesting that both PTSD-suffering veterans described the benefit of MDMA with the same words: &quot;I was able to forgive myself.&quot;<p>Whether you call it conscience or superego, how we judge ourselves seems to be important for mental health.

I think part of the bad rep MDMA gets as a theraputic drug comes from street-known MDMA not actually being pure MDMA. It’s often laced with ketamine or some other drugs that give different effects than what’s being used in this PTSD treatment.

Is the ability to “forgive oneself” sustainable? Does the initial “help” from MDMA empower the person to learn to permanently see themselves and their experiences in a new way? As someone who believes that developing ourselves comes from the traditional hard work of life and spiritual development (or whatever you may call it) with no quick fixes, I find the prospect surprisingly compelling.

By the way. I believe everyone should try MDMA at least once in their lives. Do it with your friends, with your loved ones, etc. If it wasn’t so stigmatized I would have already bought some for my parents.

Its annoying the NYT used the term ecstasy (XTC) as that doesn&#x27;t describe the drug. The drug which would be considered as a remedy for PTSD, is MDMA and its closely related counterparts (MDA, MDEA&#x2F;MDE). These drugs are called empathogens or entactogens [1].<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Empathogen%E2%80%93entactogen" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Empathogen%E2%80%93entactogen</a>

Mushrooms, mdma, lsd, ketamine are often praises as therapeutic but I’ve had close relations with all of them and been in a culture where that belief is there and seen so many scenarios it’s unbelievable. Yes they might have a short lived effect but they are incredibly hard to manage. I advise everyone to try once in their life but keep it at that and try to use the effect for something... which might be the hard part. Today the only drug I believe is fairly safe and has a much harder effect is Changa(dmt + Maoi) which might end the need for all other drugs and help stress or bad thoughts Which it had to me and over 70 people I took through it.

At the ever present risk of being downvoted: should we be able to chemically forgive ourselves for anything&#x2F;everything?<p>Aren’t there some things that are so terrible that we should continue to feel guilty?

Glad to see more research happening on this. The outcome of these studies is very promising for people with treatment resistant PTSD. Support MAPS to help continue this effort.

One common thought under the influence of MDMA is:<p>The world could end now. Everything is perfectly fine.

&gt; After taking the drug, the patient lies on a futon amid candles and fresh flowers, listening to music. Two therapists — one female, one male — sit at the patient’s side as guides. That session lasts eight hours.<p>My version was &quot;lounging around under the stairs in a mostly-abandoned hotel lobby late at night at a furry con, with two friends&quot;. It worked pretty well. Still probably took about eight hours.