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US could soon approve MDMA therapy

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Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#171

Post by AnthonBerg »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #24
hospitalJail wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in 2018 had just gotten a surprise extra TV from my friend for Christmas. Now we had a 48in tv and a 42in tv. I wasnt sure what to do with it, I wanted 2 TVs for my 2 monitor setup(PC + Wireless mouse and keyboard). My wife cared about appearance more than anything. This was quite contentious. We happened to take MDMA for the first time(at home) and we talked about the TV situation. We figured out a way to have…

You didn't use it in a medicinal context though. You used it recreationally and thought about a problem then arrived at a solution. There's only x ways you could have fit the TVs in, and I'm sure most people could have figured it out without taking anything, it's hardly a difficult task.

The production of a judgement according to criteria defining medicinal is not required for the substance to benefit people. This is a case where a meaningful emotional bond was built on top of a situation which would have been a lingering conflict—or so it seems—and this bond remains and has lasting benefits to the couple involved.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#172

Post by bluetomcat »

mardifoufs wrote: post #124
bluetomcat wrote: post #20

As an outsider, that American obsession with prescripted medication seems maddening. Many of these conditions are caused by underlying societal factors and are nowhere near as widespread outside the US. The American solution is to throw more pills at the problem, or ostracise the patients not willing to take that route. Even children are offered an ever larger number of pills, and are constantly challenged about thei…

Ok but this isn't really true. The country with the most anti-depressant intake is Iceland , the US is around second or third place, yet the other countries in the "top ten" of antidepressant usage per capita are almost all european nations. The USA isn't an outlier, but I guess we really can't escape the "do americans really, really do X?" even when it is trivially easy to verify. The funny thing is that the reason…

Iceland and the Scandinavian countries have, let's say, "weather-related" reasons for their depressions. They are introvert societies with the highest percentage of single-person households.

The reason for the US being close to them could be the high prescription culture and the social aggression inherent in everyday US life, masked behind curteous words, customer-oriented interaction and polished looks.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#173

Post by wmeredith »

bluetomcat wrote: post #20

As an outsider, that American obsession with prescripted medication seems maddening. Many of these conditions are caused by underlying societal factors and are nowhere near as widespread outside the US. The American solution is to throw more pills at the problem, or ostracise the patients not willing to take that route. Even children are offered an ever larger number of pills, and are constantly challenged about thei…

I rarely downvote, but this take is just straight-up factually incorrect and it is the top comment as of now. The facts and assumptions here are rebutted in other replies, so I'll leave them to it.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#174

Post by eimrine »

specproc wrote: post #59
thejackgoode wrote: post #7

Can someone share any relevant experience with this? Best would be if you did it properly under supervision of clinical professional, or if you are a professional here, by any chance. Doesn’t matter if it’s US or not.

Only recreational. I've taken MDMA many times in my life and -- presumably like most people who have -- can see why it's got therapeutic potential. Honestly though, I'm not convinced about it in a clinical setting, unless there's a particularly severe issue that needs addressing. I reckon most people are best off just buying some, getting together with a couple of very good mates on a nice day, rolling out into the c…

What a strange idea is to recommend a dose with respect to neither a weight nor a desired effect

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#175

Post by augment002 »

themitigating wrote: post #66
fasterik wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a few issues with your argument. Just because something has underlying social factors doesn't mean that it shouldn't also be treated with drugs and therapy. The latest wave of psychedelic research is not simply pushing a prescription drug; all of the research on MDMA, psilocybin, etc. is finding that these drugs work within a clinical setting paired with therapy. Also, I wasn't able to find a source saying that…

I think his argument is that the US should focus on trying to solve the underlying issues, either first or at least concurrently

The obvious counterargument would be that having a real treatment for PTSD and other fear related conditions would likely ameliorate the social issues.

Yes, taking guns away would reduce shootings, but so would helping people who are so fearful they feel the need to shoot someone who isn’t threatening them.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#176

Post by PragmaticPulp »

Glench wrote: post #42
bluetomcat wrote: post #20

As an outsider, that American obsession with prescripted medication seems maddening. Many of these conditions are caused by underlying societal factors and are nowhere near as widespread outside the US. The American solution is to throw more pills at the problem, or ostracise the patients not willing to take that route. Even children are offered an ever larger number of pills, and are constantly challenged about thei…

> As an outsider, that American obsession with prescripted medication seems maddening. Totally sympathize with that viewpoint, but I'm not sure if this commenter knows that MDMA will not be a prescription medication — no one is prescribed or goes home with MDMA. The treatment in the trials is only 3 medication-assisted therapy sessions with normal preparation and integration therapy sessions before and after. After t…

> It's been clear since the beginning that it's psychedelic-assisted therapy — not just psychedelics — that makes the treatment effective.

Thank you for pointing this out. This is the key point that so many people miss by skimming the headlines.

These medication-assisted therapy trials are about the therapy first and foremost. Some of the trials have several dozen therapy sessions in their protocols and only a single or couple medication-assisted sessions.

People taking these drugs on their own at home are not doing anything resembling the therapy discussed in these trials. There are numerous stories of people taking psychedelics ad-hoc and ending up with worsened anxiety, derealization, persistent fears, delusional thoughts, and so on. The common wisdom in psychedelic circles was that set and setting is everything - Taking psychedelics while in a state of depression, anxiety, PTSD, or other conditions outside of the setting of closely monitored professional therapy is potentially quite negative.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#177

Post by thomastjeffery »

bluetomcat wrote: post #20

As an outsider, that American obsession with prescripted medication seems maddening. Many of these conditions are caused by underlying societal factors and are nowhere near as widespread outside the US. The American solution is to throw more pills at the problem, or ostracise the patients not willing to take that route. Even children are offered an ever larger number of pills, and are constantly challenged about thei…

If a treebranch falls on me, should I limit treatment to wind-based therapy?

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#178

Post by SoftTalker »

QuercusMax wrote: post #116
bheadmaster wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am fairly skeptical of the claim that banning guns would significantly reduce gun violence. People who commit the most gun violence crimes (criminals) will find a way to get guns regardless of the laws. I live in a country where it's very hard to get weapons legally, yet almost every drug bust in the news also contains a significant amount of confiscated firearms.

This past week in the US there have been several stories about people who were shot after ringing a doorbell or pulling into someone's driveway. Reducing the number of guns means that these people would not be able to enact this type of senseless violence. It would also certainly cut down on the numbers of toddlers shooting their siblings.

Way more people are run down by cars while crossing the street, but the media has decided to get hysterical over a blue moon.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#179

Post by PragmaticPulp »

bluetomcat wrote: post #172
mardifoufs wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok but this isn't really true. The country with the most anti-depressant intake is Iceland , the US is around second or third place, yet the other countries in the "top ten" of antidepressant usage per capita are almost all european nations. The USA isn't an outlier, but I guess we really can't escape the "do americans really, really do X?" even when it is trivially easy to verify. The funny thing is that the reason…

Iceland and the Scandinavian countries have, let's say, "weather-related" reasons for their depressions. They are introvert societies with the highest percentage of single-person households. The reason for the US being close to them could be the high prescription culture and the social aggression inherent in everyday US life, masked behind curteous words, customer-oriented interaction and polished looks.

> Iceland and the Scandinavian countries have, let's say, "weather-related" reasons for their depressions.

Seasonal Affective Disorder also occurs in the United States. Much of the US population lives in areas with significantly shorter days in the winter.

Re: US could soon approve MDMA therapy

#180

Post by Alupis »

KyeRussell wrote: post #122
adamq_q wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone has been spending a little too much time on Reddit

Oh please. Survey 100 random non-US residents and I’ll eat my hat if the majorly don’t say that US gun policy is absurd. The typical American argument is that the US is exceptional and that the views of “these damn foreigners” don’t matter. I on the other hand seldom hear Americans actively argue that US gun policy is looked upon favourably by the worldwide community. This is exactly what you’re doing by implying tha…

Foreigner views are readily dismissed because they are based on biased, sensationalized narrative-driven media coverage of rare events. You don't get US small-town local news in the EU, for instance, so have no reference for how many non-violent stories are aired by comparison - or how many stories cover a happy ending of a homeowner defending themselves successfully. You only get the bad stuff.

Imagine if we got week-long, wall-to-wall coverage of nearly every stabbing that took place in the EU... Americans would start to believe you Europeans really need to get that knife situation under control.

The reality is, by the numbers, legal gun owners are rarely involved in illegal violence while using their firearms... and there isn't a darn thing anyone can do to remove guns from illegal gun owners.

Therefore, the issue, as perceived by a foreigner, is usually reduced to irrelevant talking points. It's just unproductive.

Why have the gun laws not changed significantly in the past few decades? Because most Americans do not agree with the sensationalized views pushed by the click/eyeball driven media. It's that simple. So then, as a foreigner, you should consider why that may be... perhaps there is another viewpoint after all?

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