Title
MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis
Date Issued
01 April 2022
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
review
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Abstract
This article discusses current literature on the use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MDMA, the intended active ingredient in illicit Ecstasy or Molly products, is a psychedelic that causes an elevated mood, feeling of bonding, and increased energy. In MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, patients are subjected to 2 or 3 multihour sessions of therapy with a team of psychiatrists. The dosing of MDMA is used to allow the therapist to probe the underlying trauma without causing emotional distress. The use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy treatment reduced patient's Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) scores from baseline more than control psychotherapy (–22.03; 95%CI, –38.53 to –5.52) but with high statistical heterogeneity. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy enhanced the achievement of clinically significant reductions in CAPS scores (relative risk, 3.65; 95%CI, 2.39-5.57) and CAPS score reductions sufficient to no longer meet the definition of PTSD (relative risk, 2.10; 95%CI, 1.37-3.21) with no detected statistical heterogeneity. While therapy was generally safe and well tolerated, bruxism, anxiety, jitteriness, headache, and nausea are commonly reported. While MDMA-assisted psychotherapy has been shown to be an effective therapy for patients with PTSD with a reasonable safety profile, use of unregulated MDMA or use in the absence of a strongly controlled psychotherapeutic environment has considerable risks.
Start page
463
End page
471
Volume
62
Issue
4
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Farmacología, Farmacia Abuso de sustancias
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85119989427
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
ISSN of the container
00912700
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus