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California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

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Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#161
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are all liberal/progressive policies enacted across the West Coast - Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angelas. Progressives believe in restorative justice not prison or punishment. They believe that justice is actually righting the wrong that caused people to behave this way in the first place . "The infinite perfectability of man". That's a core progressive belief. Thus they "catch and release" for non-vi…

> Suffice to say the experiment has failed entirely. You've described the justice systems of modern progressive countries and what would you know, they work fine. The US needs a firm hand because it's culturally savage. Folks think about themselves and corporate "culture" is enshrined as something good and expected. Everyone sees the exploitation of other human beings and denigration everywhere, is it any surprise th…

> No amount of localised niceness is going to undo decades of absolutely brutal culture.

Well said.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592645/ Why does it matter? Even if I do post from "trusted sources" no one takes it seriously. Children continue to be prescribed prozac to this day, and now we have the next prozac; MDMA. Get someone here with a degree in Psychiatry and they are a "trusted source" still giving out this medicine that doors not work for the vast vast vast majority of people.

"Even if I do post from "trusted sources" no one takes it seriously." People would take you more seriously if you didn't come on with the attitude that you know everything and anybody who disagrees with you is an idiot.

I do not care if people take me seriously, I care if they take the facts seriously. I know I know more about psychopharmacology than the majority of people on HN. I do not need to prove that to anyone.

I have been talking nicely about this stuff for years, it does not matter because the corporate propaganda for these meds is too powerful, so what you hear is a normal human response; frustration. I do not think most people are stupid, I think they are ignorant.

This method of treating symptoms of mood disorders is at best, harmful.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

> This is not something only I have seen but also something one of the best psychiatrist ever had has seen. This tone is off. This is the tone used politically for the last few years - the tone of: 'Trust me', 'The best people in the world think...' No citations, deliberately saying you won't share links. Or facts. Shame-inducing phrasing like "if you know anything..." Offering points for people who can agree with yo…

Just in case you all still think they are on the right track with these methods of treating mood disorders, look at the data you are basing your claims on.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/many-antidepressa...

"Meta-analyses by industry employees were 22 times less likely to have negative statements about a drug than those run by unaffiliated researchers. The rate of bias in the results is similar to a 2006 study examining industry impact on clinical trials of psychiatric medications, which found that industry-sponsored trials reported favorable outcomes 78 per cent of the time, compared with 48 percent in independently funded trials."

And if you think MDMA treatment is not about money you are worse than ignorant:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90720911/mindstate-psychedelics

Venture capital firms have taken notice—pouring money into startups developing psychedelic treatments for everything from PTSD to smoking cessation. A January analysis by Business Insider identified 11 venture capital firms (most of them founded in the past three years) that have collectively invested roughly $140 million in the psychedelics category. Funding accelerated after psychedelic startup Compass Pathways raised $146 million in its September 2020 initial public offering and an additional $144 million in a secondary offering in April 2021.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#164
post #128

I have always thought it is hysterical that there are street drugs (MDMA, Ketamine) that have an immediate impact on emotions, yet the global medical establishment only supports drugs that take 2-4 weeks to 'kick in' with a very slight change that a substantial amount of patients do not even get. What is going on when we measure competency that way.

I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but there's a difference between drugs that make you feel good by forcibly triggering your brain's happy paths for a few hours (often followed by severe depression of those paths), and therapies that try to jolt your brain into producing more happy-path-inducing chemicals naturally, without further assistance.

That's a severe misunderstanding of how these compounds work

On one hand you have a single acute dose (in your words "jolting") which can profoundly 'rewire' synaptic connections

On the other hand you have a compound administered chronically to induce changes that may not last after removing the medication. The goal is the same rewiring but considering dropout rates and success rates of treatment its absolutely lacklustre

Generally speaking, the compounds that are illegal are more profoundly impactful because if their high affinity and specificity than compounds available for prescription

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#165
I applied to take part in a psilocybin study to treat major depressive disorder in Chicago as I lost my 8 month old baby to her battle with heart disease. I had a day of intake, interviews, medical exams, etc, but ultimately wasn't selected to take part in the study. During the intake though, I realised I probably have PTSD, more so than depression. So, this is great news! Or, it's definitely a step in the right direction at least.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#166
post #128

I have always thought it is hysterical that there are street drugs (MDMA, Ketamine) that have an immediate impact on emotions, yet the global medical establishment only supports drugs that take 2-4 weeks to 'kick in' with a very slight change that a substantial amount of patients do not even get. What is going on when we measure competency that way.

I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but there's a difference between drugs that make you feel good by forcibly triggering your brain's happy paths for a few hours (often followed by severe depression of those paths), and therapies that try to jolt your brain into producing more happy-path-inducing chemicals naturally, without further assistance.

Without further assistance? Anti-depressants are notorious for developing tolerance in users and requiring larger and larger doses over time. We should hope for treatments that can yield results with less frequent dosage and lower chance for dependency.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#167

I applied to take part in a psilocybin study to treat major depressive disorder in Chicago as I lost my 8 month old baby to her battle with heart disease. I had a day of intake, interviews, medical exams, etc, but ultimately wasn't selected to take part in the study. During the intake though, I realised I probably have PTSD, more so than depression. So, this is great news! Or, it's definitely a step in the right dire…

My condolences for that loss.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#168
post #2

I don't think this stuff should be sold, say, in a gas station beside the humpty dumpty peanuts... but it does have its place. The mental health epidemic for returning veterans for example[1]: "More than 45,000 veterans and active-duty service members have killed themselves in the past six years. That is more than 20 deaths a day — in other words, __more suicides each year than the total American military deaths in A…

"I don't think this stuff should be sold, say, in a gas station"

You have two options- the drug can be sold legally or we can have an excess number of deaths from overdoses, impurities and black market violence.

For some inexplicable reason, the majority of people continue to chose the option that guarantees the most human suffering.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#169
post #2

I don't think this stuff should be sold, say, in a gas station beside the humpty dumpty peanuts... but it does have its place. The mental health epidemic for returning veterans for example[1]: "More than 45,000 veterans and active-duty service members have killed themselves in the past six years. That is more than 20 deaths a day — in other words, __more suicides each year than the total American military deaths in A…

"I don't think this stuff should be sold, say, in a gas station" You have two options- the drug can be sold legally or we can have an excess number of deaths from overdoses, impurities and black market violence. For some inexplicable reason, the majority of people continue to chose the option that guarantees the most human suffering.

> For some inexplicable reason, the majority of people continue to chose the option that guarantees the most human suffering.

The problem is that we are asked to decriminalize drugs (like fentanyl) at the same time that we are asked to dedicated massive public resources for the rehabilitation of those people who then used those decriminalized drugs. I would be happy if it were one way or the other, but right now it sucks.

Re: California study begins screening for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD

#170
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, it should be sold next to the other poisonous stuff at the gas station that has disclaimers for the consumer to keep it away from children. The public itself needs to readjust its role with the government, where availability doesn't mean endorsement.

YOU might be an adult, but honestly in the past few years, it seems pretty clear that plenty of people who are age 18 or 21 or even age 40 can't seem to act like adults. And I say that as someone who is a proponent of MDMA legalization. It is well known that humans can't make rational choices. If refrigerators with CFCs were still legal to purchase alongside non-CFC refrigerators, I'd be willing to bet the ozone laye…

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