MDMA/Ecstasy may boost psychotherapy by increasing clients ’ openness

By Christian Jarrett Researchers reported recently that MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine; also known as Ecstasy) can act as a catalyst for psychotherapy, apparently improving outcomes for clients with previously intractable PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Now a study from the same group in Journal of Psychopharmacology has uncovered what may be the key psychological mechanism: lasting positive personality change, especially increased trait Openness to Experience and reduced trait Neuroticism. Speculating as to how MDMA might facilitate these trait changes, the research team, led by Mark Wagner at the Medical University of South Carolina, and including Ann Mithoefer and Michael Mithoefer who’ve conducted a lot of the recent pioneering research on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, observed that “Qualitatively, a consistent subjective theme emerged, with our subjects reporting a profound cathartic experience, often described as going to a ‘place’ (in their mind) where they had never been before”. The data come from earlier research that involved twenty participants (17 women) with a diagnosis of PTSD related to crime or war-based traumatic experiences and which had so far been untreatable with either drugs or psychotherapy. The participants took part in up to 12 sessions of psychotherapy with a pair of therapists working together. Crucially, during two key experimental eight-hour long sessions in the middle of the course of therapy, ha...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Mental health Therapy Source Type: blogs