Browsing by Subject "psyykkiset vaikutukset"

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) was used as an adjunct to psychotherapy before recreational use of MDMA in the form of “ecstasy” led to its criminalization in the U.S. in 1985. However, MDMA has still been thought to have psychotherapeutically beneficial effects on socioemotional processing. Research into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) for chronic, treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is moving into Phase III clinical trials in the U.S., and the approval of European Medicines Agency will also be sought. The purpose of this thesis was to assess the efficacy and psychological safety of MDMA-AP. Source material included, and was limited to, placebo-controlled & double-blind clinical (and experimental) studies of pure MDMA’s effects in humans, as well as follow-up and analysis studies based on them, from the last decade. The efficacy of MDMA-AP was found promising at least for chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD. However, MDMA-AP meetings that last for many hours do require, both from the therapists and the patients, more commitment and stamina than meetings of traditional length, and more research is needed on the role of therapists in MDMA-AP’s efficacy. Pure MDMA in a controlled setting was not found to have severe nor non-transient adverse psychological effects in the single doses (≤ 125 mg) used in the studies. Physiological effects were also mostly mild, transient, and highly predictable. The most considerable risks in participating in MDMA-AP treatment might be cardiovascular. MDMA-AP was not found to predispose the participants to problem use of illegal substances outside the research setting; rather, successful treatment protects from it.