FDA trials for ecstasy for PTSD

[DrYouth]

I am skeptical, ARAIK X messes with your serotonin and other brain chemicals that concern happiness.

I mean, of course taking awesome drugs makes you feel good and maybe see some things in a new light.

Also, you last forever.

Being skeptical is smart.

Let's wait and see what the official results show....

Expect a lot of psychedelics to be legalized in the near future... regardless.
Take that war on drugs.

[Speaker to Animals]

Last I read, a service dog is the most effective tool the VA has to treat PTSD.

[apeman]

I am 100% all for legalization. I also like drugs, but I am capable of self-regulation and understand many are not.

For example, X is amazing, but I (probably) wouldn't do it again, because I don't wanna fuck with the chemicals in my brain that regulate happiness (seems like a pretty crappy risk/reward to me)

[TheReal_ND]

With several states going to marijuana legalization or medical legalization is that a big deal?

Because if it's not Federally approved employers can terminate people that use it for medicine. With just state approval employers can terminate people that use cannabis for medicine.

Good. If I don't want pot smokers I shouldn't have to hire them. Right or wrong?

[Okeefenokee]

Doesn't sound terribly wrong. Pot smokers aren't a protected class. That probably wouldn't matter though, the pot smokers would coopt the dope smoking mexicans meme and claim a ban on dope smokers is racist against mexicans. That would be ironic.

[Ex-California]

With several states going to marijuana legalization or medical legalization is that a big deal?

Because if it's not Federally approved employers can terminate people that use it for medicine. With just state approval employers can terminate people that use cannabis for medicine.

Good. If I don't want pot smokers I shouldn't have to hire them. Right or wrong?

Only if you want to ban drinkers as well

[Otern]

I thought they were using MDMA for therapy years ago. I guess the FDA is moving forward with it but I think in some cases psychiatrists could get sanctioned to do it in a controlled setting.

I think it was originally used for therapy, then went recreational, and now is swinging back to the therapy again.

I wholly believe it can be a therapeutic drug, but its always going to be more fun than therapeutic. I guess a small clinical dose will do different things to you than me dropping 3 pills cut with speed and dancing all night like I used to

From what I've read on the psychiatric use of MDMA, it's used as a supplement in PTSD cases to speed up the progress of therapy sessions. As in making the patient trust, and find it easier to talk to the therapist a lot quicker than without MDMA.

Unrelated question; what happens if someone with a disorder with some sort of empathy deficiency, like a psychopath, takes MDMA? Do they suddenly get empathetic?

[DrYouth]

Unrelated question; what happens if someone with a disorder with some sort of empathy deficiency, like a psychopath, takes MDMA? Do they suddenly get empathetic?

It will increase the capacity for empathy...

But it will also uncover the barriers to empathy...

These usually manifest themselves in the form of fears, nightmare images and so on.
It's always a wild ride, if it gets somewhere in the end.
I'm guessing that to resolve psychopathy you would probably need the bigger guns - LSD, Aiawasca and such...If it could be done at all.

[Otern]

Would autists see any benefit in MDMA then? Or is it a real difference when it comes to MDMA on empathy and sympathy?

[DrYouth]

Would autists see any benefit in MDMA then? Or is it a real difference when it comes to MDMA on empathy and sympathy?

You want to differentiate between the benefit of a breakthrough intervention facilitated by the drug and the benefit of the effect of the drug while it's active in your bloodstream.

I haven't heard any preliminary evidence of the first kind of drug facilitated interventions on autism. That would be revolutionary.
(I have heard of preliminary evidence in alcoholism, nicotine addiction, PTSD and treatment resistant depression and anxiety though - the alcoholism and nicotine dependence data being the most impressive)

As far as the action of the drug for increasing empathy while intoxicated... I think it would be similar to the psychopath story I told - increasing the potential for empathy but also revealing the barriers to empathy. Autism and Psychopathy are both deficits of the capacity for empathy but stemming from completely different pathways.

If someone with autism had greater empathy while intoxicated with MDMA that would be no different than how most people have more empathy while intoxicated... A time limited effect that probably would become less as the person developed tolerance to the drug and fairly useless clinically.