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New research details how therapy assisted by the drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, can help treat the symptoms of PTSD and the underlying traumas causing it.
A recent study published in Nature Magazine is the first major trial on the effectiveness of using MDMA to help treat PTSD. (Getty Images)
A new study published in Nature Medicine details how therapy assisted by the drug MDMA also known as ecstasy or molly can help treat not only the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder but also the underlying traumas causing it.
We speak with
Jennifer Mitchell, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, and the lead author of the study.
We also talk to
Kanu Caplash, a student at the University of Connecticut and a patient in the study. He suffered from chronic nightmares, insomnia and hallucinations, but says MDMA-assisted therapy helped him confront his visible and hidden traumas.
TORONTO Racism, discrimination, physical and verbal abuse, microaggressions Kanu Caplash says he has experienced them all. Bullied and tormented growing up in the United States because of his race, Caplash suffered from “racial trauma” a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) characterized by symptoms like anxiety and depression. “I ve had my head smashed into windows. I got chased around hallways. I got stabbed twice,” said Caplash, a 21-year-old of South Asian descent who lives in Newtown, Conn. “I get … called various names, you know from the N word to terrorists to honestly anything you could think of. There wasn t too many minorities in the area, so they would just kind of use any kind of racial slur they could think of, and just kind of direct that towards me.”