Efficacy of Psychoactive Drugs for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review of MDMA, Ketamine, LSD and Psilocybin
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs September 15, 2020 Tracey Varker, Loretta Watson, Kari Gibson et al. 57 citations
A systematic review of nine trials found that the evidence for MDMA combined with psychotherapy as a treatment for PTSD is of moderate quality, while the evidence for ketamine—whether used alone for comorbid PTSD and depression or combined with psychotherapy—is very low to low. The review searched four databases for peer-reviewed literature up to October 2019 and included five ketamine and four MDMA trials. No trials of LSD or psilocybin met the inclusion criteria. The authors used a quality checklist and GRADE to rank the evidence, concluding that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy shows the strongest support among the psychedelics examined for reducing PTSD symptoms.