Treating posttraumatic stress disorder with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy: A preliminary meta-analysis and comparison to prolonged exposure therapy

@article{Amoroso2016TreatingPS,
  title={Treating posttraumatic stress disorder with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy: A preliminary meta-analysis and comparison to prolonged exposure therapy},
  author={Timothy Amoroso and Michael Workman},
  journal={Journal of Psychopharmacology},
  year={2016},
  volume={30},
  pages={595 - 600}
}
Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become a major area of research and development. The most widely accepted treatment for PTSD is prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, but for many patients it is intolerable or ineffective. ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) has recently re-emerged as a new treatment option, with two clinical trials having been published and both producing promising results. However, these results… 
View on SAGE
ia601906.us.archive.org
68 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
7
Background Citations
26
Methods Citations
3
Results Citations
5

Tables from this paper

68 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Implications for Social Work Practice and Research
The pervasive impact of trauma across populations and stages of life has made it imperative that the field of social work remain at the forefront of trauma-informed theory, research, and practice.…
Current Perspective on MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
TLDR
Empirical support for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, including the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trails that have been conducted since 2008, seems to support MDMA’s safe and effective use as an adjunct to psychotherapy.
MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Review of the Literature
TLDR
Evidence present in this literature suggests that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may reduce symptoms by improving patients’ mood, promoting a strong therapeutic alliance, and catalyzing fear memory extinction, which appears to be a viable treatment for some people with PTSD.
A comparison of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to non-assisted psychotherapy in treatment-resistant PTSD: A systematic review and meta-analysis
TLDR
These results demonstrate potential therapeutic benefit with minimal physical and neurocognitive risk for the use of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in TR-PTSD, despite little effect on Beck’s Depression Inventory.
MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Mixed-Methods Case Study of a Participant of Color From an Open-Label Trial
MDMA (±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)-assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) was shown in previous clinical trials to have promising efficacy and safety for alleviating treatment-resistant posttraumatic…
MDMA and PTSD treatment “PTSD: From novel pathophysiology to innovative therapeutics”
  • B. Sessa
  • Psychology
    Neuroscience Letters
  • 2017
Efficacy of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Efficacy of Psychoactive Drugs for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review of MDMA, Ketamine, LSD and Psilocybin
TLDR
A search of four databases for English language, peer-reviewed literature published from inception to 18th October 2019 yielded 2,959 records, 34 of which were screened on full-text and the evidence for ketamine as a stand-alone treatment for comorbid PTSD and depression was ranked “very low”.
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: An overview
TLDR
This review will address MDMA as a specific adjunct to trauma-based psychotherapy, confronting topics of PTSD, MDMA as both a recreational and a therapeutic drug, MDMA's chemical workings in the brain and body, ecstasy's positive and negative effects, and MDMA-assisted therapy opposed to existing PTSD therapies.
Progress and promise for the MDMA drug development program
TLDR
A series of recently completed phase 2 clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD show favorable safety outcomes and large effect sizes that warrant expansion into multi-site phase 3 trials, set to commence in 2018.
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 60 REFERENCES
MDMA assisted psychotherapy found to have a large effect for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder
  • H. Chabrol
  • Psychology
    Journal of psychopharmacology
  • 2013
TLDR
These subjects with resistant, chronic PTSD showed, on average, a substantial improvement in PTSD symptoms over the course of MDMA assisted psychotherapy, which is a potential solution to express the findings in terms of effect sizes using Cohen’s d.
Comparative efficacy of treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis
TLDR
Differences across treatment conditions were generally evident across symptom domains, with little matching of symptom domain to treatment type; SSRIs had some advantage over psychological therapies in treating depression.
Effects of Psychotherapeutic Treatments for PTSD: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Clinical Trials
  • J. Sherman
  • Psychology
    Journal of traumatic stress
  • 1998
TLDR
This meta-analysis synthesized the results from controlled, clinical trials of psychotherapeutic treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to suggest substantial promise for improving psychological health and decreasing related symptoms for those suffering from PTSD.
The relative efficacy of bona fide psychotherapies for treating post-traumatic stress disorder: a meta-analysis of direct comparisons.
MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Using Low Doses in a Small Sample of Women with Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
TLDR
It was found that low doses of MDMA were both psychologically and physiologically safe for all the subjects and 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.
A meta-analytic review of prolonged exposure for posttraumatic stress disorder.
Effective psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder: a review and critique.
TLDR
The need to address comorbid emotional, social, and physical health consequences of trauma, to implement treatments in community-based settings, and to incorporate larger systems of care into study designs is noted.
The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study
TLDR
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can be administered to posttraumatic stress disorder patients without evidence of harm, and it may be useful in patients refractory to other treatments.
A randomized, controlled pilot study of MDMA (±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine)-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of resistant, chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
TLDR
This randomized, double-blind, active-placebo controlled trial found that MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can be safely administered in a clinical setting and did not see statistically significant reductions in CAPS scores, although there was clinically and statistically significant self-reported PDS improvement.
The Psychopharmacology of ±3,4 Methylenedioxymethamphetamine and its Role in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
TLDR
The limitations on retrospective human studies and preclinical animal models of MDMA neurotoxicity are examined and the possible neurochemical mechanisms involved in MDMA’s efficacy in treating PTSD are reviewed.
...
1
2
3
4
5
...