A group of Canadian scientists recently called for more research on psychedelic drugs, noting that small studies have suggested that these substances can be of benefit to people suffering from a number of psychological conditions.
“The re-emerging paradigm of psychedelic medicine may open clinical doors and therapeutic doors long closed,” Evan Wood and his colleagues wrote in an article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “Continued medical research and scientific inquiry into psychedelic drugs may offer new ways to treat mental illness and addiction in patients who do not benefit from currently available treatments.”
One drug of interest to researchers is methylenedioxymethamphetamine — better known as MDMA, molly, or ecstasy. MDMA has been a popular recreational drug since the 1980s, and the drug’s popularity exploded with the rise of the “rave” dance scene in the 1990s. But studies on the drug suggest it has potential beyond mere recreation.
MDMA is often described as an “empathogen” because of its ability to amplify pro-social behaviors and feelings. Multiple researchers and clinicians have said this increase in pro-social feelings suggests the drug could be used to aid psychotherapy. Researchers plan to study whether MDMA-assisted therapy can help reduce social anxiety in autistic adults, while other researchers have recently said MDMA could help treat depression.
MDMA and empathy
In 2010, researchers from the University of Chicago published a study showing that MDMA increases feelings of empathy and social connection. The researcher said the drug — when used in a controlled setting and combined with psychotherapy — could help people who have difficulty feeling close to others.
“We found that MDMA produced friendliness, playfulness, and loving feelings, even when it was administered to people in a laboratory with little social contact,” Gillinder Bedi explained. “We also found that MDMA reduced volunteers’ capacity to recognize facial expressions of fear in other people, an effect that may be involved in the increased sociability said to be produced by MDMA.”
MDMA and trust
Researchers have also found that MDMA makes others seem more trustworthy. In a study published in 2014, University College London researcher LH Stewart and his colleagues found that people under the influence of MDMA rated 66 emotionally neutral faces as significantly more trustworthy compared to those not under the influence of the drug.
“Clinically, perceived trust in another person and co-operative behaviours between people are vitally important in establishing a therapeutic alliance in psychological treatments,” the researchers said. “Indeed, increased trust and co-operation may be key psychological mechanisms which contribute to beneficial effects of a drug like MDMA in therapy.”
MDMA and openness
Research from 2015 found that MDMA changes how people talk about their significant others. The study found participants under the influence of MDMA used more social and sexual words while speaking about their relationship with an important person in their lives. They also talked more about the future and death.
“Overall, these data suggest that MDMA does not only selectively blunt availability of negative emotional memories or enhance positive ones, but may also increase willingness or ability to consider emotional memories, at least in the presence of another person,” they noted.
MDMA and compassion
Another study in 2015 found that MDMA could reduce excessive self-criticism, which is a feature of a number of psychological disorders. Researchers found MDMA doubled the effectiveness of psychological exercises designed to reduce self-criticism.
“The unique subjective and interpersonal-affiliative effects of ecstasy seem to be accompanied by a facilitation of positive intrapersonal relating, potentially allowing individuals who typically attempt to ward off compassionate feelings to apprehend the hated, feared or wounded parts of the personality with gentleness and understanding,” Sunjeev K. Kamboj and his colleagues wrote in the study.
MDMA and brain functioning
A study published in 2014 used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how MDMA worked in the brain. The brain scans showed that MDMA decreases activity in the limbic system, while increasing communication between the amygdala and the hippocampus. The findings suggest the drug could help treat anxiety and PTSD, the researchers said.
MDMA and PTSD
A randomized controlled pilot study published in 2010 found that the use of MDMA during psychotherapy could safely aid the treatment of PTSD. The researchers found that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy was more effective than the same psychotherapy with an inactive placebo. A follow-up study published in 2012 found lasting benefits from MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
“There was an enduring, clinically meaningful benefit from MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to PTSD patients,” researcher Michael Mithoefer and his colleagues said. “No subjects reported any harm from study participation and all of them reported some degree of benefit… These results indicate that there was a favorable long-term risk/benefit ratio for PTSD treatment with just a few doses of pure MDMA administered in a supportive setting, in conjunction with psychotherapy. Should further research validate our initial findings, we predict that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy will become an important treatment option for this very challenging clinical and public health problem.”
