How could LSD and MDMA help solve the PTSD epidemic?

The recent MAPS study suggests that treatments such as MDMA therapy can drastically improve the treatment and recovery rates for PTSD. This advance potentially translates to literally millions of people finding relief from this condition. This is impressive, but the potential long-term effects are even more radical. Since having parents with PTSD seems to increase the risk of developing it, there’s a chance that more effective early treatments could produce benefits for future generations.

LSD and other psychedelics could give us a chance to radically change how we assist people recovering from trauma. But how far-reaching this “reset” will be is unclear. If treatments are too expensive or restricted, many people who could benefit will miss out and continue to suffer. And if we never address the circumstances that lead to people developing PTSD in the first place, it’s going to keep happening far more than it needs to. Using hallucinogens such as ayahuasca, psilocybin mushrooms (magic mushrooms), or LSD, as well as empathogens such as MDMA, to treat people with PTSD isn’t the end of the story; it’s just the beginning.

Curious about supporting your mental health through psychedelics? Check out Third Wave’s vetted directory of ketamine clinics and psychedelic therapists in the US.

A PTSD reset

If you’re interested in learning how psychedelics can help you get in touch with your emotions and start to heal, but aren’t ready for a full-scale macrodose journey, take a look at our Microdosing Course. Using the latest research from cutting-edge scientists and doctors, we’ll help you develop a customized, step-by-step process to change habits, enhance creativity, and optimize performance.

Using psychedelic drugs to treat PTSD

While the LSD research and clinical practice of the 1950s and 60s formed the basis of our current approaches to psychedelic-assisted therapy, the current focus for potential PTSD treatments has shifted. Research is now mainly on 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), though ketamine, 5-MeO-DMT, and ayahuasca also show promising results.

Study showing positive effects for people with PTSD

In general, there seems good reason to think psychedelic compounds can alleviate a broad range of trauma-related symptoms, with recent research showing that use of psychedelics, including LSD, can decrease the negative impact of racial trauma. A new study is showing that repeated ketamine infusions can reduce symptoms in people with chronic PTSD. And researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine surveyed people with a PTSD diagnosis who had taken 5-MeO-DMT, finding that 78% of respondents experienced an improvement in their PTSD symptoms.

But for now, MDMA is the clear front-runner in the battle against PTSD. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies’ (MAPS) recent phase three clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy produced spectacular results. Around 67% of participants who received three MDMA-therapy sessions no longer qualify for a PTSD diagnosis, and 88% experienced a significant reduction in symptoms. To put this in perspective, the recovery rate from three MDMA-assisted psychotherapy sessions over two months is better than existing treatments achieve at two years, and approximately twice as successful as the placebo results in this experiment (and with fewer side-effects.) MAPS is optimistic that these results will facilitate future US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for this breakthrough therapy.

With the almost 40-year break in research caused by psychedelic prohibition, researchers need to do more work to understand the psychopharmacology of LSD. But, with funding from bodies such as the National Institutes of Health, more psychedelic research is happening than ever before. Legalization and decriminalization measures are being proposed and enacted from California to New York. So there are plenty of reasons to think that the future of psychedelic therapy is bright.