Will Ecstasy Benefit Trauma Victims?

Illegal drugs like ecstasy can prove to be useful for the treatment of people with serious psychological issues who cannot face their problems, say researchers.

Professor David Nutt, former head of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, claims that ecstasy and others like LSD and magic mushrooms could be useful in treating victims of child abuse, rape and war.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - Causes, Symptoms, Risk Factors, Complications, Dignosis, Treatment
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is a mental condition triggered by a traumatic event. PTSD treatment includes pyschotherapy, behavior therapy and medications.

"I feel quite strongly that many drugs with therapeutic potential have been denied to patients and researchers because of the drugs regulation," the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

"The drugs have been made illegal in a vain attempt to stop kids using them, but people haven't thought about the negative consequences," he stated.

The psychopharmacologist, who had been sacked by the previous Labour government after falling out with ministers over drug policy, has teamed up with Taunton-based psychiatrist Dr Ben Sessa and hopes to repeat the successful U.S. trials on 20 patients in South Carolina who had suffered from post traumatic stress disorder for an average of 19 years.

Drug Abuse | Drug Addiction | Substance Abuse - Overview
The use of Drugs for reasons other than its prescribed recommendation, is known as Drug abuse or substance abuse. Drug abuse or substance abuse is initiated by various biological and social factors.

Twelve victims - one an army veteran and others victims of sexual abuse or rape were given MDMA, or 3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine, the chemical compound found pure in ecstasy tablets.

According to the Guardian, each patient had a therapy session, lying back in a reclining chair in a pleasant flower-decorated room wearing an eye mask, listening to music on headphones or talking to a therapist while thinking about the events they had been unable to contemplate in past consultations.

'Ecstasy' the Drug
Ecstasy is the street name for the psychoactive drug 3,4-MethyleneDioxy-N-MethylAmphetamine or MDMA. A part of the rave culture, it provides relaxation and helps to dance the night away.

Ten out of the 12 patients showed dramatic improvement to their condition two months after the second of two MDMA sessions.

Source-ANI

Will Ecstasy Benefit Trauma Victims? UK Docs