Page 300 - Total War on PTSD

accessibility to MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as possible once it’s approved, including getting it covered by private insurance and public health care plans.
We have the FDA determining that a psychedelic-assisted therapy could be a significant advance over what’s currently available for mental health treatment. That’s very different from the last 40 years of regulatory, political and cultural attitudes around these drugs. It’s been decades since psychiatry has had a new set of tools available to it. And here we have psychedelics entering as a whole new class of pharmaceuticals that when used in combination with psychotherapy, could actually be better than conventional treatments.
It’s unclear exactly why MDMA seems to help in the treatment of PTSD, but there are various theories. MDMA prompts the release of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, which together can help patients remember trauma and keep them motivated through long therapy sessions. MDMA also prompts the release of hormones associated with trust, bonding and intimacy. MDMA, when it’s used in recreational contexts, is sometimes referred to as the ‘love drug’ and this is why. It creates these feelings of intimacy, of love and trust in the people around you when you’re under its influence. In the context of therapy, it may help people feel more trusting of the therapist they’re working with. Finally, MDMA acts in the amygdala, a primal part of the brain associated with fear and the fight-or-flight response. People with PTSD have a hyperactive amygdala on average. MDMA actually turns down the volume of the amygdala. It directly reduces activity in the amygdala, we can see that in brain-imaging studies. People can talk about the most terrifying experiences of their lives in a relatively calm and articulate way.
Current medications for PTSD are insufficient. The only two medications approved for PTSD treatment are antidepressants (SSRIs). Most patients need to take these drugs every day for
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