FDA trials for ecstasy for PTSD

[MilSpecs]

There is a full on renaissance for psychedelic therapy...

Early results coming in for alcoholism, smoking, treatment resistant depression, PTSD and even autism...

Alcoholism? That would mean alcoholism is different from other drug addiction. Is that also your belief?

[DrYouth]

Alcoholism? That would mean alcoholism is different from other drug addiction. Is that also your belief?

Every substance of choice has some underlying differences in how it becomes the chief strategy in emotional regulation... which is what addiction is.
The truth is that these are the trials that have data back...
Other addictions don't yet have these preliminary results...
I would guess that if theses interventions work, they will work for all addictions.

[MilSpecs]

Alcoholism? That would mean alcoholism is different from other drug addiction. Is that also your belief?

Every substance of choice has some underlying differences in how it becomes the chief strategy in emotional regulation... which is what addiction is.
The truth is that these are the trials that have data back...
Other addictions don't yet have these preliminary results...
I would guess that if theses interventions work, they will work for all addictions.

I'm confused as to how any mood altering drug could work for an addict. The nature of addiction includes the physical inability to resist escalation.

[DrYouth]

That's exactly the point...

The drug doesn't replace the drug of addiction.

The psychedelic drugs allow the individual to confront the barrier to emotional regulation directly...
It's a combination of the drug and the emotional guidance given.
The person is coached to approach the barrier - usually in the form of a nightmare scenario and essentially face the fear... thereby overcoming it.
This would take years of typical therapy... but with the drug the work can be done in a much shorter amount of time.

It's pretty awesome.

[MilSpecs]

But any mood-altering drug becomes the drug of addiction. Addicts substitute when they can't get their drug of choice. Somebody who's high can't even hear emotional guidance in the same way they hear it when they're not filtering it through the drug. That's why drug programs have at least immediate sobriety as a prerequisite to doing any work; when you talk to someone who's high, you're talking to the drug. Unless I'm totally missing your point or we have wildly different ideas on the nature of addiction.

[Montegriffo]

Are there no problems with drug induced phycosis? I had problems with LSD in the past and had to give it up. With me it was an over active mind and the sleep deprivation that caused. Went 5 days without sleep once and ended up in quite a mess needing tranquilisers to get me to sleep. I woke up much better a day later.

[DrYouth]

But any mood-altering drug becomes the drug of addiction. Addicts substitute when they can't get their drug of choice. Somebody who's high can't even hear emotional guidance in the same way they hear it when they're not filtering it through the drug. That's why drug programs have at least immediate sobriety as a prerequisite to doing any work; when you talk to someone who's high, you're talking to the drug. Unless I'm totally missing your point or we have wildly different ideas on the nature of addiction.

Your idea of addiction is sound...
Addiction is a chronic pattern of using a substance or other behaviour pattern to avoid emotional pain and emotionally regulate.
It works in the short term - avoiding pain and experiencing pleasure - but becomes a long term self destructive pattern.

With psychedelic treatment the individual agrees to approach rather than avoid the core of the fear or pain with the guidance of a therapist while under the influence of a psychedelic drug. The drug does not become an ongoing therapy - it used only during the session.
The drug loosens up the filters of perception allowing deeply suppressed aspects of the self to become available for this work.
Like I say... there are some initial promising results... but whether these will pan out is in question.

[DrYouth]

Are there no problems with drug induced phycosis? I had problems with LSD in the past and had to give it up. With me it was an over active mind and the sleep deprivation that caused. Went 5 days without sleep once and ended up in quite a mess needing tranquilisers to get me to sleep. I woke up much better a day later.

The set and setting and the guidance of the therapist are key to the experience being a therapeutic one rather than a chaotic and terrifying one.