MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Using Low Doses in a Small Sample of Women with Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

In a small, prematurely terminated study, six women with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from sexual assault received low doses (50–75 mg) of MDMA during psychotherapy. The treatment was psychologically and physiologically safe for all participants. The study was originally planned for 29 subjects but closed early due to political pressures. The authors present these preliminary results and call for future research with larger samples and higher doses to better assess MDMA's safety and efficacy for PTSD.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety of different doses of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy administered in a psychotherapeutic setting to women with chronic PTSD secondary to a sexual assault, and also to obtain preliminary data regarding efficacy. Although this study was originally planned to include 29 subjects, political pressures led to the closing of the study before it could be finished, at which time only six subjects had been treated. Preliminary results from those six subjects are presented here. We found that low doses of MDMA (between 50 and 75 mg) were both psychologically and physiologically safe for all the subjects. Future studies in larger samples and using larger doses are needed in order to further clarify the safety and efficacy of MDMA in the clinical setting in subjects with PTSD.