Why Psychiatry Needs 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine: A Child Psychiatrist's Perspective.

ABSTRACT: Since the late 1980s the psychoactive drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has had a well-known history as the recreationally used drug ecstasy. What is less well known by the public is that MDMA started its life as a therapeutic agent and that in recent years an increasing amount of clinical research has been undertaken to revisit the drug's medical potential. MDMA has unique pharmacological properties that translate well to its proposed agent to assist trauma-focused psychotherapy. Psychological trauma-especially that which arises early in life from child abuse-underpins many chronic adult mental disorders, including addictions. Several studies of recent years have investigated the potential role of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, w

SUBMITTER: Sessa B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5509627 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature